1.
Variation in the Colonial Representation of islam and Muslims
in Northern Ghana
In 1910 the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh declared its protest
against – what was said to be – British pro-Muslim colonial policies in
Africa. According to Christian missionary organisations, British policy
tended to favour Islam and Muslims. Even worse for
the missionary societies, the British colonial government had closed some
regions, among others Northern Nigeria, to Christian missionary activities
and restricted their activities in others, such as the Northern Territories
of the Gold Coast. Furthemore, in some areas the British colonial government
was utilising Muslim authorities and administrative personnel in systems of
indirect rule, sanctioning Islamic education and law. Such a policy, the
missionary societies claimed, contravened the general goals of colonial
rule, namely spreading (Western) civilization and lifting up Africa from the
stage of barbarism and heathendom. It was argued that such a pro-Muslim
policy would enable the spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and
pose a serious threat both to Christian missionaries as well as to European
rule in general.
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2. Islam in Ghana - Report
[By
International Islamic News Agency(IINA)]
Ghana was formerly known as the
Gold Coast, because the mining of this commodity was the most profitable
commercial undertaking at the time in this West African country that
overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
Out of its population of 20 million, Ghana’s Muslims
account for 45 percent of that population.
Sheikh Hassan Khalid, a prominent Ghanaian Islamic Daawa
activist said that Islam reached through Daawa activists who visited the
country from the neighboring African countries, whose sole aim was to spread
Islam to their neighbors. Sheikh Hassan told DAAWA magazine that many
of Ghana’s Daawa activists got their Islamic education in mosques where the
activists from the neighboring countries used to give instruction to the
Muslims, adding that the mosque in Ghana is playing a prominent role in the
lives of the Muslims here.
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3.
The expansion of Muslim
NGOs in Ghana
[By
Holger Weiss]
One notable result of the societal crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has been
the expansion of NGOs during the last few decades, including, especially
since the 1990s, Muslim ones. Most regional Muslim NGOs often supported by
transnational NGOs, and, as one also has to stress, by foreign Muslim
governments, particularly the Gulf States and Libya. Tracing such links, the
author argues that while these connections are essential to their
activities, the dependency on external actors simultaneously limits their
effectiveness. |
4.
Muslims cry foul over population figures
[Published
in newsfromafrica.org]
A recent protest by the Coalition of Muslim Organisations about Ghana's
population statistics concerning religion highlights the age-old fear that
Islam is playing second fiddle to Christianity, and points to the
difficulties of gathering statistics in Ghana.
Amos Safo
The divisive and potentially explosive issue of which religion has the
largest number of followers in Ghana is causing sleepless nights for the
country's government. |
5.
Muslims Reaching
Out in Ghana
[By
IslamOnline(IOL)]
The Islamic Bureau for the Disabled and Service to Islamic Institutions is
based in Accra, Ghana. They provide many services to the people in their
area and they help anyone, regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity.
In the true spirit of Islam they provide immediate aid to the disabled,
financing their schooling and pressing needs. |
6.
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