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Title Al-Hajj Afa Sulemana Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies at University of Ghana and Head of the Alliance of Muslim Associations

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Title Al-Hajj Afa Sulemana Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies at University of Ghana and Head of the Alliance of Muslim Associations Title Al-Hajj Afa Sulemana Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies at University of Ghana and Head of the Alliance of Muslim Associations Creator Owusu-Ansah, David Sulemana, Al-Hajj Afa Mumuni Description This was a general conversation about the Muslim community in Ghana and its internal structures; the nature of traditional leadership and how it is evaluated by the western educated Muslims. We also touched on the issue of inter-religious tolerance in Ghana and the reasons for such a high degree of accommodation. Recorder ID: 001-A-002-OADavid.....2005-07-20. Length of interview 55:12 July 20 2005 University of Ghana, Mr. Mumuni Sulimana, Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies--teaching courses Quran, Hadith, Contemporary Islam in Ghana and Africa. His research interests are in Islam and Politics, Islamic education, and Muslim Non- Governmental organization (NGOs) Topic: Islam and Tolerance in Ghana. Interview following the introduction of the interviewee. Q. Do you perceive the Muslims and the Muslim Community of Ghana as tolerable (Muslim-Muslim relations and Muslim-non-Muslim relations)? A. Generally our followers share the view that Muslims are not tolerant among themselves. What I mean is that we have different doctrinal groups as far as Islamic in Ghana is concerned. In more cases we realize that each group takes its views to be absolute and finds it difficult to listen to the other side and this manifested in intra- Islamic conflict as it was the case in the late 1990s --the case of conflict between the Ahl- Sunni (radical vs. conservative Sufi oriented Tijanniya) on minor issues that could have been resolved. For example, the conflict over the "Maulite" religious celebrations or even over burial and fundamental spiritual issues-- these are issues that must be discussed and not lead to conflict. BUT on the other side, however, I will say that Muslims as a group are very, very tolerant to other religious traditions in this country. That is so because it seems Muslims have so much confidence in their religion and they think their religion is absolutely satisfying so in some cases they do not seem to worry about competition as far as their religion is concerned. You realize that Ghana is predominantly Christian; you see the [competition among the Christian groups] Evangelistic outreach programs, social developments and competitions that the Muslims seem not to care [or worried about]. I believe they have the ultimate trust that the Quran chapter 15 verse 9 says that "God will defend His Religion" and therefore they think that no matter what the other religious traditions do [Christian denominations do] their religion will still stay focused and therefore no to worry. And on this, I will say that they are more in tune [in Diversity and Tolerance in the Islam of West Africa (http://westafricanislam.matrix.msu.edu) agreement and get along] with the historic churches or orthodox churches. In few cases, there have been problems between Muslims and some Christian Charismatic/Pentecostal churches. Normally, the problem comes from the side of the Christians because you know the Charismatic people think that they have monopoly of spirituality and they make fun [disrespectfully make jokes] in condemning and attacking [Islam] in their preaching and outreach programs. They even attack the other traditional churches and Islam [too]. So in some cases there are problem [of intolerance in Ghana]. I will give you an example of [those who claim to be] Converted Muslim Christian Ministry. And this is a group of people who claim to be Muslims and have now become Christians and anywhere they go they would want to indicate that there is no spirituality in Islam and Islam is empty to the extent of debasing the Quran. They bring the Quran and put it on the ground and step on it and their activities were very strong in Sekondi [in the Western region] and Kumase [in the Ashanti Region] and this brought about inter-religious conflicts between Christian and Muslims in Ghana. This shows that anytime there is conflict in Ghana among religions, the conflict is NOT between Muslims and the mainline [historic orthodox churches]. More often than not [the conflict] is between the Charismatic/Pentecostal movements and the Muslim community. On that score, I am not being objective, but I think that the problem comes from the provocative preaching of the Christians. I will give you [another] example. [The case of Muslims at the Kejetia (car station and trading market] where Muslims made a make-shift mosque [spread their mat to pray at prayer time]. Then came this Christian group and anytime the Muslims [rose, sat, bowed their heads in prayers] the Christians imitated them and insulted them as wasting their time [in worship]. So by the time the Muslims finished praying, the group that was teasing the praying Muslims had run away. Unfortunately, the Muslims [now angry] rushed on a rampage and destroyed chairs and things. The issue here is that the provocation from the Christian side. But what appeared to be intolerance was demonstrated by the Muslims and they even went beyond the level of provocation [in their destructions]. This is a classical example of Muslims/Charismatic Christian conflict. Another example happened in Takoradi in the same way. Then let us talk about Muslims and the African Traditional culture. You realize in Ghana, particularly in Accra, there is the period known as the no-noise making [during the annual Homowo festival of the traditional people of Accra, the Ga]. This no-noise making custom is enforced by the Traditional authorities. This is the case the month before this annual festival. As far as the Muslim "Zongos" communities in Accra and in the Southern sector of the country is concerned, they have never had any problem with this traditional rule or custom regarding this "no-noise making" rule of the traditional worship. But every year, it has become almost a ritual of violence between the Charismatic churches and the Pentecostal churches and the traditional Religious peoples of [Accra]. If you are interested in the History of Islam in Accra, most people will date it to about 1850 and since 1850 the leadership of the Muslims community have had a perfect, harmoniously relations with the leaders [and people] of the Ga [Accra] traditional areas and there is yet to be any serious, or violent conflict between the two communities. In short, this means that to a larger extend, as far as inter-religious relations are concerns, Muslims [in Ghana have proven to be] a bit more tolerant compared to other faiths. Diversity and Tolerance in the Islam of West Africa (http://westafricanislam.matrix.msu.edu) Q. Your presentation brings to the front the level of tolerance among the main religious groups in the country--the Muslims, the Traditional Authorities [African Traditional Religions], and the main Christian orthodox denomination, EXCEPT the Charismatic/Pentecostal Evangelists who see Islam and even traditional customs as something to be confronted. So this is not a Muslim problems but a Christian problem that needs to be redressed. The second issue is the intra-Muslim conflict on theological interpretations. Let me pick the second one first--the intra-Muslim conflict. If you read John Hunwick's work--Professor Hunwick who did work on the history of Islam in West Africa--he once made the observation that the Muslims in West Africa, especially in Ghana and less so in Nigeria, have not been participants in so far as the intellectual and theological discussions of Islam are concerned therefore they have become followers of Islamic ideas and interpretations that come from the Middle East. Would you [therefore] attribute the intra-Muslims disagreement--that is the conflict within the Muslim community over theological conflicts to these Muslims following what develops in the Middle East or have they themselves over time come to certain conclusions that they can interpret the Quran, the hadith and the practices of Islam on their own and therefore the disagreements are the result of their own interpretations? A. I think I will start from the teachings of the exceptions. You realize that what is missing in the he nature of Islam in Ghana or in the Volta Basin is that there has never been any radical [jihadist] Islamization. You see all the jihads [in West African Islamic history] were not linked to the Volta Basin, so you come to see, [if we] take Northern Nigeria and parts of Mali there has been [history of jihad] and you therefore realize that one characteristic of jihad is that it make intellectual activities to triumph. Most scholar [of Islam in West Africa] will agree that [those who led the jihad in Northern Nigeria such as] Uthman dan Fodio and his brother Abduala, and Muhammad Bello in fact began a new intellectual movement in the Hausa States [where the jihad took place and this intellectual tradition0 has stood the test of time. That is why you come to see that the Hausa States had their own internal Islamic position on issues that are at times different from the Middle Eastern positions. Unfortunately, in the Volta Basin of Ghana, we have not had that radical history so there is yet to be found a serious intellectual movement to be found from the Volta Basin of which Ghana is a part. We can say that initially [pre- independent era], the Hausa States were the centers of learning for Ghanaian Muslims. So obviously they will come back with views already expressed in the Hausa-Northern Nigeria region and they just implemented them at home. After political independence (post-1957], when Ghana developed intimate relationship with the Arab world a new movement or chapter was drawn.
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