Interfaith dialogue in Ghana: A cause for celebration
Ghanaians recently celebrated a new two-day public holiday in fulfilment of President John Dramani Mahama’s election pledge.
The Federation of Muslim Councils, an umbrella organisation that brings together various Muslim groups and organisations, recognised by article 166 [1] (a)[v] of the 1992 Constitution, expressed appreciation to President Mahama for declaring Monday, March 31 and Tuesday, April 1, as public holidays to mark Eid-ul-Fitr.
The aim of the new public holiday is two-fold: to enable Ghana’s Muslims to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival with their families and loved ones and to promote a national sense of community and social cohesion, helping to promote unity, inclusivity and religious tolerance.
The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has congratulated Ghana’s Muslim community on the successful completion of this year’s Ramadan and the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.
In a recent press release, Rev. Dr Cyril Fayose, Head of CCG, acknowledged the significance of the Ramadan period, noting that it offers Muslims an invaluable opportunity for closer communion with Allah and prayers for themselves and others.
In addition, the Council highlighted continuous efforts in building strong and cordial interfaith engagements with Ghana’s Muslim community, saying: “These collaborations focus not only on fostering peace and harmony but also on empowering both religious bodies to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s development”.
The CCG statement noted several collaborative initiatives, including the Faith in Alliance Ghana initiative, the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa and the Ghana Conference for Religion and Peace, all of which exist to facilitate meaningful engagements between Ghana’s several faiths.
Beacon of hope
The Christian Council’s response to the new public holiday for Ghana’s Muslims to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival with their families and loved ones and to promote a sense of community and social cohesion underline Ghana’s interfaith relations, which stand out as a beacon of hope in a neighbourhood increasingly divided both politically and religiously.
In a recent report, the USA-based Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect examined recurrent and expanding jihadist violence perpetrated in Ghana’s neighbour Burkina Faso, some of which is directed against the country’s minority Christian population, an estimated 26.4 per cent of Burkinabès.
Thankfully, Ghana has escaped anything similar.
Unlike Burkina Faso, where Christianity is a relatively recent arrival, both Christianity and Islam arrived in what is Ghana today in the 15th Century.
Over time, both have been influenced and shaped by local cultural values.
Today, the faiths share identity characteristics and both are well integrated into the country’s culture.
Islam is said to have preceded Christianity in Ashanti, the dominant power in pre-colonial Gold Coast/Ghana.
The Asantehene, monarch of the historical Ashanti Empire and ceremonial ruler of the Ashanti people, sought to accommodate both harmoniously.
Over the next four centuries, indigenous Ghanaian society was refashioned by the arrival and development of the two faiths.
In the early 1900s, both Christianity and Islam were followed by about 10 per cent of inhabitants of the then Gold Coast.
By the 1940s, Christianity was followed by a quarter of the population, while Islam remained around 10 per cent.
By 1960, 40 per cent of Ghanaians were Christians, while the percentage of Muslims was growing very much more slowly.
Interfaith dialogue
Between 1948 and 2021, the percentage of Ghana’s population which classified itself as Muslim rose from four to just under 20 per cent, that is around seven million people in an estimated population of 35 million.
Today, Islam is the second largest faith in Ghana, second only to Christianity. During the same period, that is, from the late 1940s to the early 2020s, Christianity grew from around 30 per cent to 71 per cent, approximately 25 million Ghanaians.
Christians and Muslims generally maintain positive relationships with one another, including among Ghana’s elites.
For example, President Mahama is a Christian while his parents and siblings are Muslims.
The late Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and Vice-President Dr Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia, both Muslims, agreed to deputise for Christian presidents.
In addition, the well-known Joy Sports personality, Fentuo Tahiru, is a Muslim, and his wife, Hannah Tilgah Sinnnibah, is a practising Catholic.
These examples underline the peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims rather than the competition to win over new converts for each faith.
How can we best explain Ghana’s commendable history of good relations between the country’s most popular faiths, Christianity and Islam?
A key reason is the sustained ability of interfaith dialogue to resolve problems before they become a serious threat to social stability.
What I mean by the term ‘interfaith dialogue’ is the positive and cooperative interaction between people of different religions, faiths or spiritual beliefs working together to promote understanding between different religions to bolster both acceptance and tolerance.
The overall aim is to foster understanding and cooperation between different religious groups in Ghana, address conflict and promote peace and social cohesion.
Interfaith dialogue goes beyond merely talking to each other or having regular conversations.
It also includes regular interactions and the building of long-term positive relationships.
While sustained social peace is the key objective of interfaith dialogue, there are also other important benefits, including improved understanding of each other’s religion.
Interfaith dialogue has a long and successful history in Ghana, with a commendable ability to have good interfaith relations.
It is crucially important that this continues for the well-being and development of Ghana.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor at the London Metropolitan University, UK.
tsjhayn1@londonmet.ac.uk
