Islam in Ghana

Ghanaian Muslims

Total population
4.5 million 18% of Ghana's population
Regions with significant populations
Tamale, Kumasi, Accra (0.35 million and above; 2002)
Languages
English, Akan, Dagbanli, Hausa others
Religion
Islam (majority Sunni (51%), also Ahmadiyya (16%), Sufi (27%), Shia (4%), non-denominational Muslims (2%))

Islam is one of the major religions practiced widely in Ghana. Its presence in modern-day Ghana dates back to the 10th century to coincide with the demise of the Ghana Empire. The population of Muslims in Ghana quoted from different sources stretch from 18 to 45 percent.

The majority of Muslims in Ghana are followers of Sunni Islam, with approximately 16% belonging to the Ahmadiyya movement and approximately 2% belonging to Shia Islam. The Maliki school of jurisprudence was the most common until Afa Ajura's reformist activities in the 1960s saw an overwhelming shift toward Hanbali doctrine. Sufism, once widespread, has waned considerably over the years; the Tijaniyah and the Qadiriyah brotherhoods, however, are still represented among Ghana's traditionalist Muslims.

Despite tensions in the Middle East and North Africa since the mid-1970s, Muslims and Christians in Ghana have had excellent relations. Guided by the authority of the Muslim Representative Council, religious, social, and economic matters affecting Muslims have often been redressed through negotiations. The Muslim Council observes the responsibility of arranging pilgrimages to Mecca for believers who can afford the journey. The National Chief Imam of Ghana is the highest authority on Muslim affairs in Ghana.

Some metropolitan areas and cities, especially in areas with a significant Muslim population, have Islamic or Arabic schools offering primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and tertiary education.

History of Islam in Ghana

Islam made a momentous entry into the Northern Territories of Ghana at the beginning of the fifteenth century, mainly due to commercial (trading) activities of sahelian tribes of West Africa. Prior to that, Da'wah workers had made contact and written extensively about the people including inhabitants of Bonoman states located in the hinterlands of contemporary Ghana.

Spread of Islam in Ghana

The arrival and spread of Islam in Ghana followed several and different pathways; the Mandens came through the North and North-Western corridors of Ghana while the Borno and Hausa peoples came through the North-East. Islam is though to have successfully penetrated southern Ghana following the "collapse of the Bono and the Begho states, and its increase was encouraged by the fact that the slave trade became more lucrative and competitive". Furthermore, the British colonial government in the nineteenth century enlisted people from various northern predominantly Muslim communities into the colonial army. Finally, the mass exodus of immigrants into forest areas of Ghana following the 1892 Sack of Salaga by joint forces of Dagomba, Namumba and Gonja Kingdoms significantly depleted Muslim populations in the North while boosting that of the South.

Population of Muslims in Ghana

Larabanga Mosque, built in the 15th century. Taken in March 2006.

Muslim population is concentrated in Northern Ghana and in Zongo communities scattered across the country. Zongo communities are settlements predominated by immigrants from Sahelian areas of West Africa who have adopted Hausa language as a lingua franca. Members of the Zongo community are mistakenly but commonly regarded as Northerners. However, the two communities are distinct, having different cultures and languages.

The official Ghana Statistical Service census reports 18% as being Muslims although that figure is being protested by independent organizations. The Coalition of Muslim Organizations maintain that the final figures released in 2002 "contained serious flaws and as a result could not be used as reliable data for planning and projecting the country’s development agenda". The call came at the same time groups mainly from the North petitioned the government to withdraw the results, expressing concern that some ethnic groups were underrepresented in the population count and that the service should open up their procedures for public scrutiny. CIA statistics put the population of Muslims in Ghana at 30 percent. Other accounts place the figure at 45 percent. The government of Ghana's allocation of funds for national development is heavily influenced by population demographics.

Sub groups

Muslims in Madina

Ahmadiyya

Main article: Ahmadiyya in Ghana

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community, formally established in 1921, is the oldest continuous Muslim community in Ghana. Ahmadi Muslims were among the earliest Muslim missionaries in Ghana, and by 1957, they had converted over 100,000 (mostly Christian) people to Islam. The first Ahmadi missionary to Ghana, Maulvi Abdul Rahim Nayyar, came upon invitation from Muslims in Saltpond. At 16%, Ghana hosts the largest proportion of Ahmadis to Muslims by major country.

Sufi

See also: Sufism

Sufism is the most traditional form of Islam in Ghana because of its long presence, close association and tolerance for the culture of the indigenous peoples even though they have never come together to form an establishment or a unified community. Prominent Sufi orders represented in Ghana are the Tijaniyya and Qadiriyya. Sufism is common among the immigrant Muslim population of Ghana, also known as the Zongos. Sufis make up 27 percent of Muslims in Ghana.

Sunni

See also: Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam was introduced into Ghana as part of the 1940s reformist activities of late Ghanaian Mujaddid, Afa Ajura, since the 1940s predate the tenth century. Afa Ajura's campaign challenged the status quo of the Sufi doctrine and pitted him against the already establish Sufi social structures. It was not until the 1970s that his message gained wide acceptance, resulting in a majority of Muslims, 51 percent (2014), now affiliating with the Anbariyya Sunni Community. For most of its established time in Ghana, Sunni Islam was propagated across the country in Dagbanli - the mother tongue of Afa Ajura. Recently Sunni adherents in Zongo communities in southern Ghana (18% of Muslims) have formed the "Ahlusunnah wal Jamaa" (ASWaJ) organization in order to reach the Hausa-speaking population. ASWaJ still draws inspiration from their parent Anbariyya leadership, headed by Afa Seidu in Tamale.

Other denominations

• Shia
• Non-denominational

See also

• Office of Chief Imam of Ghana

External links

• Muslims cry foul over population figures. Amon Salo. Feb 2002
• International Religious Freedom Report Ghana 2006. US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

The introduction of Islam into Ghana was mainly the result of the commercial activities of Mande and Hausa Speaking traders.