Islam in Ghana

Islam was the first Abrahamic monotheistic religion to arrive in Ghana. Today, it is the second most widely professed religion in the country behind Christianity. Its presence in Ghana dates back to the 10th century. According to the Ghana Statistical Service's Population and Housing census (2021), the percentage of Muslims in Ghana is about 19.9%.[2]

Ghanaian Muslims
Total population
19.9% of Ghana's population in 2021[1]
Regions with significant populations
Tamale, Kumasi, Accra (0.35 million and above; 2002)
Languages
English, French, Dagbanli, Hausa, others
Islam by country
World percentage of Muslims by country
Africa
Asia
Americas
Europe
Oceania
 Islam portal
Ahmadiyya Central Mosque, Tamale, Northern region.

According to a comprehensive report by the Pew Research, 51% of Muslims are followers of Sunni Islam, while approximately 16% belong to the Ahmadiyya movement and around 8% identify with Shia Islam, while the remainder are non-denominational Muslims.[3][4] Among Sunni Muslims, the Maliki school of jurisprudence is the most common, though Afa Ajura's reformist activities in the 1960s saw a rise in popularity of the Hanbali school, particularly as informed by the Salafi movement.[5] Sufism, once widespread, has waned considerably over the years; the Tijaniyyah and the Qadiriyyah Sufi orders, however, are still represented among Ghana's traditionalist Muslims.

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 National Hajj Council observes the responsibility of arranging pilgrimages to Mecca for believers who can afford the journey.[3] 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 was introduced by traders from the Sahel regions 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.[6] The introduction of Islam into Ghana was mainly the result of the commercial activities of Mande and Hausa Speaking traders.[7]

Spread of Islam in Ghana

Islam spread through several pathways; the Mande came through the north and north-western corridors of Ghana while the Borno and Hausa traders came from the north-east. Islam is thought 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".[8] Furthermore, the British colonial administration 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 incursion by Dagomba, Namumba and Gonja tribes depleted Muslim populations in the north while boosting that of the south.[9][10]

Population of Muslims in Ghana
Larabanga Mosque, built in the 15th century.

The 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 (Mandinka, Soninke, Hausa, Songhai, Fulani, etc.) 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.[11][12][13]

The official Ghana Statistical Service census reports approximately 20% as being Muslims[14] 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".[15][16] 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 17.6 percent.[17] Other accounts place the figure at 25 percent.[18][19][20][note 1] The government of Ghana's allocation of funds for national development is heavily influenced by population demographics.[21][22]

Geographical distribution

According to the 2017 Census, Muslims constitute about 18 percent of the population of Ghana.[23]

Region
Population
(2017 census)
[24]
Percentage Muslims
Northern7,479,46180.0%
Upper East1,046,54545.1%
Upper West702,11040.1%
Ashanti4,780,38020.2%
Brong-Ahafo2,310,98317.0%
Greater Accra4,010,05415.9%
Western2,376,0219.4%
Central2,201,8638.7%
Eastern2,633,1546.7%
Volta2,118,2525.7%
Ghana24,658,82318%

Muslims constitute a majority in Northern Region, the biggest religion in Upper East Region and a large minority Upper West Region. There a slightly less Muslims in the southern parts of Ghana.

Sub groups

Ahmadiyya
Main article: Ahmadiyya in Ghana

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at was formally established in 1921. By 1957, it had attracted about 100,000 converts, mostly from Christian backgrounds.[8][25] The first Ahmadi missionary to Ghana, Maulvi Abdul Rahim Nayyar, came upon invitation from Muslims in Saltpond.[26] According to the Pew "The World's Muslims" survey, 16% of Ghanaian respondents indicated that they identify with the Ahmadiyya movement.[3]

Sunni
See also: Sunni Islam

Islam reached the kingdom of Ghana during the ninth and tenth centuries, during a period of trade and competition with the Berbers of North Africa,[27] who had adopted Sunni Islam, according to the Maliki rite of jurisprudence. By the 14th century, Ghanaian kingdoms featured mosques and palaces, as well as Arabic-style Muslim poetry.[27]

Contemporary Sunnism in Ghana includes a majority that follows the Maliki school, which is predominant in West and North Africa, as well as a large contingent that follows the Hanbali school as interpreted by the Salafi movement.

The Sufi orders have a historic presence in Ghana and, as with much of West Africa, the predominant orders are the Tijaniyya and the Qadiriyya. Sufism is common among the immigrant Muslim population of Ghana, also known as the Zongos. About 37 percent of Muslims in Ghana say they belong to a Sufi order.[3]

Salafism was introduced into Ghana as part of the 1940s reformist activities of the late Ghanaian Imam, Afa Ajura. Ajura's campaign challenged the mainstream of Ghanaian Sunnism, which followed the Maliki school of jurisprudence and the Ash'ari school of theology. It was not until the 1970s that his movement gained popularity. From the onset of Ajura's mission, Salafism has been primarily propagated across Ghana in his native Dagbanli language. Recently Salafis in Zongo communities in southern Ghana (18% of Muslims)[3] 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.[28][29][30]

Shia
See also: Shia Islam

Shia Islam is also present in Ghana, primarily among the Lebanese immigrant community that arrived starting in the 1980s. 8% of percent of Ghana's Muslim population identify as Shi'i.[31] Shias freely operate religious schools and mosques.[32]

Notable Muslims

See also

Notes
  1. Ghana's Muslims have previously raised concern over the census figures which states that 17% of Ghanaians belong to the Muslim faith. It is claimed that Muslims represent somewhere between 20 and 25% of Ghana. Under this, the Ahmadiyya population would number almost 2 million. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community itself gives an estimate of over 2 million Ahmadis in Ghana. See:
    • "Muslims cry foul over population figures". News From Africa. Retrieved April 30, 2014. (ref 8)
    • Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques around the World. p. 70 (ref 11)

References
  1. "2021 PHC General Report Vol 3C, Background Characteristics" (PDF). Ghana Statistical Service.
  2. "Ghana". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  3. The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity (PDF) (Report). Pew Research Center, Forum on Religious & Public life. August 9, 2012. pp. 29–31. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  4. Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Religion and Society".
  5. Mohammad Saani, Ibrahim (2011). The decline of Sufism in West Africa: Some factor contributing to the political and social ascendancy of Wahhabist Islam in Northern Ghana. Montreal: Institute of Islamic Studies - McGill University. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  6. "Islam in Ghana - Report". HI/OB/IINA. IslamicPopulation.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  7. Pontzen, Benedikt (2021). Islam in a Zongo: Muslim Lifeworlds in Asante, Ghana. The International African Library. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-83024-9.
  8. Turkson, Peter-K. (1 October 2007). "Ghana, if Islam Becomes an Enigma". Oasiscenter. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  9. J. A. Braimah, J. R. Goody (1969). Salaga: The Struggle for Power. Historical Society of Ghana. p. 222.
  10. Abdulai Iddrisu (2009). Contesting Islam: "Homegrown Wahhabism," Education and Muslim Identity in Northern Ghana, 1920--2005. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. p. 283. ISBN 9781109220643.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. "300 Year Stay In Ghana Does Not Make You A Ghanaian". Al-Hajj. Accra - Ghana. GhanaWeb. 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  12. Yahaya, Tanko Ali (31 July 2013). "NDC's Phanton Sympathy For The Zongo And Northerners". Independent Minded Zongorians. Accra - Ghana. GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  13. Yahaya, Tanko Ali (5 August 2013). "Zongo:the eleventh region?". Accra Ghana. GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  14. Field Listing :: Religions Archived 2014-05-12 at the Wayback Machine.cia.gov. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  15. Amos Safo (2002). "Muslims cry foul over population figures". Ghana. NewsFromAfrica. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  16. "International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor". US State Department. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  17. "Field Listing :: Religions". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  18. Ed. John L. Esposito. "Ghana, Islam in". Oxford Islamic Studies. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  19. Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around the World: A Pictorial Presentation. USA: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 2008. p. 352. ISBN 9781882494514.
  20. Hashim, M. Ali Mahdi (PhD) (1 March 2013). "A Journey Through Islam: Muslims have come up well in Ghana". Arab News. Saudi Arabia. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  21. h olger Weiss (2007). "the expansion of Muslim ngo's in ghana" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  22. Branoah Banful, Afua. "Can Institutions Reduce Clientelism? A study of the District Assemblies Common Fund in Ghana" (PDF). Harvard University.
  23. "Ghana Census 2010 statistics". Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  24. Ghana Archived 2014-11-13 at the Wayback Machine at GeoHive.
  25. Nathan Samwini (2006). The Muslim Resurgence in Ghana Since 1950: Its Effects Upon Muslims and Muslim-Christian Relations Christentum und Islam Im Dialog Christian - Muslim Relations Series Volume 7 of Christentum und Islam im Dialog Christian - Muslim Relations. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 342. ISBN 9783825889913.
  26. "Jamia Ahmadiyya International Ghana". Jamiaghana.org. 17 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  27. M., Lapidus, Ira (2009), A history of Islamic societies, TPB, OCLC 939580144, retrieved 2023-02-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. "Al Sunni Muslim sect gets new leader". GNA. Tamale Ghana. Ghana Web. 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  29. "Brief history of the coming together of the Ahlusunnah wal Jama'a in Ghana". Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  30. "Anbariya Sunni Community". Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  31. The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity (Report). Pew Research Center, Forum on Religious & Public life. August 9, 2012. pp. 29–31. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  32. "Muslims in Ghana". 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

Further reading
  • Hanson, John H. The Ahmadiyya in the Gold Coast: Muslim Cosmopolitans in the British Empire (Indiana University Press, 2017).
  • Ryan, Patrick J. "Islam in Ghana: its major influences and the situation today." Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 28.1-2 (1996): 70–84.
  • Skinner, David E. "Conversion to Islam and the promotion of ‘Modern’Islamic Schools in Ghana." Journal of religion in Africa 43.4 (2013): 426–450.
  • Weiss, Holger. "Variations in the colonial representation of Islam and Muslims in Northern Ghana, Ca. 1900–1930." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 25.1 (2005): 73–95.
  • Wilks, Ivor. "The growth of Islamic learning in Ghana." Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 2.4 (1963): 409–417. online
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