Representing Islam In Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah Is Not Obliged And Mohammed Naseehu Ali’s The Prophet Of Zongo Street

Abstract

Islam is one of the major religions of Africa. Islamic issues in society are prominent in some contemporary African fiction, and often these issues are in conflict with social, economic and political forces. This thesis studies the conflict between Islam and the socio-economic and political forces in Ahmadou Kourouma (2000) and Mohammed Naseehu Ali (2005). One observation coming from the study is that Islam succumbs to material realities. Muslim characters often adulterate or renege on their faith in ways that contradict the dictates of the religion. The next observation is that Muslim characters often find no protection in Islam when they are confronted with material realities. How these writers portray Islam as it confronts socio-economic, political, and other religious forces, is what this thesis examines. It makes a comparison between the two works set in different socio-economic and political spaces .Kourouma.s in war-torn Liberia and Sierra Leone on the one hand and Ali.s in the relatively peaceful Ghana on the other.