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Ghanaian Muslims

Hilla Limann Alhaji Grunshi Inusa Dawuda André Ayew Samata Abudulai Mohammed Ali Muhammad Mumuni
Total population
4.5-7.5 million (18% - 45% of Ghana's population; 2012)
Regions with significant populations
Tamale, Kumasi, Accra (0.35 million and above; 2002)
Languages
English, Dagbanli, Hausa, Fanti, others
Religion
Islam (majority Sunni (100%), Islam by country World percentage of Muslims by country Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Western Sahara Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Réunion Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor Georgia Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen Americas Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador French Guiana Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela Europe Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Tatarstan San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Oceania Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Fiji Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Northern Mariana Islands Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Islam portal v t e 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. 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 whiles 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 whiles boosting that of the South. Majority of Muslims in Ghana are followers of Sunni Islam url=http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Muslim/the-worlds-muslims-full-report.pdf

</ref> 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 represented still 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 relating Muslim affairs in Ghana.

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 education and Tertiary education.

Population of Muslims in Ghana

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 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 puts the population of Muslims in Ghana at 30 percent. Other accounts place the figure at 45 percent. Government of Ghana allocation of funds for national development is heavily influence by population demographics.

Sub groups

Sufi

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

Sunni Islam was introduced into Ghana as part of the 1940's reformist activities of late Ghanaian Mujaddid, Afa Ajura. Afa Ajura's campaign challenged the status quo of the Sufi doctrine and purged him against the already establish Sufi social structures. It was not until the 1970s that his message of Tawhid gained wide acceptance, resulting in majority of Muslims representing 51 percent (2014), now affiliating with the Anbariyya Sunni Community. Recently Sunni adherents in Zongo communities in southern Ghana (18‰ of Muslims) have formed the "Ahlusunnah wal Jamaa" organization although they still draw inspiration from the parent Anbariyya leadership.

Other denominations

• Shia
• Non-denominational

See also

• Office of Chief Imam of Ghana

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 30 and 45% 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. "Islam in Ghana - Report". HI/OB/IINA. IslamicPopulation.com. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
2. Cite error: The named reference oasis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. J. A. Braimah, J. R. Goody (1969). Salaga: The Struggle for Power. Historical Society of Ghana. p. 222.
4. Abdulai Iddrisu (2009). Contesting Islam: "Homegrown Wahhabism," Education and Muslim Identity in Northern Ghana, 1920--2005. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: ProQuest. p. 283. ISBN 9781109220643.
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.
6. Cite error: The named reference TheWorld'sMuslims:UnityandDiversity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. "300 Year Stay In Ghana Does Not Make You A Ghanaian". Al-Hajj. Accra - Ghana. GhanaWeb. 29 March 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
8. Yahaya, Tanko Ali (skiliwonda@gmail.com) (31 July 2013). "NDC's Phanton Sympathy For The Zongo And Northerners". Independent Minded Zongorians. Accra - Ghana. GhanaWeb. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
9. Yahaya, Tanko Ali (5 August 2013). "Zongo:the eleventh region?". Accra Ghana. GhanaWeb. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
10. Field Listing :: Religions.cia.gov. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
11. Amos Safo (2002). "Muslims cry foul over population figures". Ghana. NewsFromAfrica. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
12. "International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor". US State Department. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
13. Ed. John L. Esposito. "Ghana, Islam in". Oxford Islamic Studies. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
14. Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around the World: A Pictorial Presentation. USA: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 2008. p. 352. ISBN 9781882494514.
15. Hashim, M. Ali Mahdi (PhD) (1 March 2013). "A Journey Through Islam: Muslims have come up well in Ghana". Arab News. Saudi Arabia. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
16. h olger Weiss (2007). "the expansion of Muslim ngo's in ghana" (PDF). Retrieved December 17, 2014.
17. Branoah Banful, Afua (abanful@fas.harvard.edu). "Can Institutions Reduce Clientelism? A study of the District Assemblies Common Fund in Ghana" (PDF). Harvard University.
18. Steven J. Salm (2002). Culture and Customs of Ghana. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 224. ISBN 9780313320507.
19. ^ Cite error: The named reference pew was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
20. "Al Sunni Muslim sect gets new leader". GNA. Tamale Ghana. Ghana Web. 23 June 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
21. "Brief history of the coming together of the Ahlusunnah wal Jama'a in Ghana". Retrieved December 19, 2014.
22. "Anbariya Sunni Community". Retrieved December 19, 2014.

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.

• Islam by country
• Islam in Ghana
• Religion in Ghana