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Ghana Christianity and Islam in Ghana
The presence of Christian missionaries on the coast of Ghana
has been dated to the arrival of the Portuguese in the fifteenth
century. It was the Basel/Presbyterian and Wesleyan/Methodist
missionaries, however, who, in the nineteenth century, laid the
foundation for the Christian church in Ghana. Beginning their
conversions in the coastal area and among the Akwapim, these
missionaries established schools as "nurseries of the church" in
which an educated African class was trained. Almost all major
secondary schools today, especially exclusively boys and girls
schools, are mission- or church-related institutions. Although
churches continue to influence the development of education in the
country, church schools have been opened to all since the state
assumed financial responsibility for formal instruction under the
Education Act of 1960.
Various Christian denominations are well represented in Ghana.
The Volta Region has a high concentration of Evangelical
Presbyterians. Many Akwapim are Presbyterians, and the Methodist
denomination is strongly represented among the Fante. The Roman
Catholic Church is fairly well represented in Central Region and
Ashanti Region. Although no official figures exist to reflect
regional distribution of the various denominations, it is generally
agreed that the southern part of the nation is more Christian,
while the north is more Islamic.
The unifying organization of Christians in the country is the
Ghana Christian Council, founded in 1929. Representing the
Methodist, Anglican, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Evangelical
Presbyterian, African Methodist Episcopal Zionist, Christian
Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, F'Eden, and Baptist churches, and
the Society of Friends, the council serves as the link with the
World Council of Churches and other ecumenical bodies. The National
Catholic Secretariat, established in 1960, also coordinates the
different in-country dioceses. These Christian organizations,
concerned primarily with the spiritual affairs of their
congregations, have occasionally acted in circumstances described
by the government as political. Such was the case in 1991 when both
the Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Ghana Christian Council
called on the military government of the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC) to return the country to constitutional
rule. The Roman Catholic newspaper, The Standar, was often
critical of government policies.
In the north, Islam predominates. Islam is based on what
Muslims believe are the divine revelations received in seventhcentury Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad. His life is recounted as
the early history of the religion, beginning with his travels from
the Arabian town of Mecca about 610. His condemnation of the
polytheistic practices of the people of Mecca caused him to become
an outcast. In 622 Muhammad was invited to the town of Yathrib,
which became known as Medina (the city) through its association
with him. The move, or hijra, known in the West as the hegira,
marks the beginning of the Islamic Era and the Islamic calendar, as
well as the inauguration of Islam as a powerful force in history.
In Medina, Muhammad continued his preaching, ultimately defeated
his detractors in battle, and consolidated his influence as both
temporal and spiritual leader of most Arabs before his death in
632.
After Muhammad's death, his followers compiled those of his
words that were regarded as coming directly from God into the
Qura, the holy scripture of Islam. Other sayings and
teachings as well as precedents of his behavior as recalled by
those who knew him became the hadith ("sayings"). From these
sources, the faithful constructed the Prophet's customary practice,
or sunna, which they endeavor to emulate. The Quran, hadith, and
sunna form a comprehensive guide to the spiritual, ethical, and
social life of the faithful in most Muslim countries.
The God preached by Muhammad was previously known to his
countrymen. Rather than introducing a new deity, Muhammad denied
the existence of the pantheon of gods and spirits worshipped before
his prophethood and declared the omnipotence of God, the unique
creator. Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets," the last of the
prophetic line. His revelations are said to complete for all time
the series of revelations that were given earlier to Jews and
Christians. Islam reveres as sacred only the message, not the
Prophet. It accepts the concepts of guardian angels, the Day of
Judgment, resurrection, and the eternal life of the soul.
The central requirement of Islam is submission to the will of
God (Allah), and, accordingly, a Muslim is a person who has
submitted his will to God. The most important demonstration of
faith is the shahad (profession of faith), which states that
"There is no God but God (Allah), and Muhammad is his prophet."
Sala (daily prayer), zaka (almsgiving), saw
(fasting), and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) are also required of all
Muslims.
The spread of Islam into West Africa, beginning with ancient
Ghana in the ninth century, was mainly the result of the commercial
activities of North African Muslims
(see The Precolonial Period
, ch. 1). The empires of both Mali and Songhai that followed ancient
Ghana in the Western Sudan adopted the religion. Islam made its
entry into the northern territories of modern Ghana around the
fifteenth century. Mande or Wangara traders and clerics carried the
religion into the area. The northeastern sector of the country was
also influenced by Muslims who escaped the Hausa jihads of northern
Nigeria in the early nineteenth century.
Most Ghanaian Muslims are Sunni, following the Maliki version
of Islamic law. Sufism, involving the organization of mystical
brotherhoods (tariq) for the purification and spread of
Islam, is not widespread in Ghana. The Tijaniyah and the Qadiriyah
brotherhoods, however, are represented. The Ahmadiyah, a
Shia (see Glossary)
sect originating in nineteenth-century India, is the only
non-Sunni order in the country.
Despite the spread of Islamism (popularly known as Islamic
fundamentalism) in the Middle East, North Africa, and even in
Nigeria since the mid-1970s, Ghanaian Muslims and Christians 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 has also been responsible for arranging
pilgrimages to Mecca for believers who can afford the journey. In
spite of these achievements, the council has not succeeded in
taking initiatives for the upgrading of Islamic schools beyond the
provision of basic Quranic instruction. This may explain the
economic and technological gap between Muslims and non-Muslims. The
Ghanaian Ahmadiyah Movement, which has established a number of
vocational training centers, hospitals, and some secondary schools,
is an exception.
Data as of November 1994
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