1 INTRODUCTION.My
experience concerning the relations between Christians and Muslims
is situated in the Northern Region of Ghana whose administrative capital
is Tamale.
The population of this Region is composed of a variety of ethnic groups.
Some such as the Dagombas, the Gonjas, the Nanumbas are mostly Muslims,
others, the Konkombas and Nawuris are either Christians or Traditional
Religionists, few of them are Muslims.
Although the percentage of Muslims is only 18% in Ghana, the Northern
Region is in majority Muslim. The Christians come from neighbouring
dioceses of the North : Upper West, Upper East, or from the South
of the country. In Tamale and in Yendi, seat of the Ya-Na, paramount
chief of the Dagombas, we find many scholars in Arabic or/and in Islam.
Usually in West Africa, and in Ghana in particular, Christians and
Muslims cohabit peacefully. It is no exception to find Christians,
Muslims and Traditional believers living in harmony together in the
same extended family. However, in 1994, an ethnic conflict, based
on land ownership and chieftaincy broke out between the Dagombas,
Gonjas and the Konkombas. This conflict was interpreted later on,
as a religious one. The fact that the groups involved were mainly
Muslims on one side, Traditionalists or Christians on the other side
might have led to this conclusion. From time to time also, conflicts
erupt inside the Muslim community itself especially between the Ahl
al-Sunna and the Tidjanis, representatives of the two main mosques
in Tamale.
2. 2. THE BEGINNINGS My first
aim on arrival in Tamale, 13 years ago, was to create a kind of sensitization
towards the Inter-religious Dialogue in the Christian and in the Muslim
communities.
| On
the Muslim side, we tried to create social relationships and a
kind of 'dialogue of life' through personal visits, participation
in family events such as naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals,
presence at some religious gatherings, feasts and festivals like
Tafsir during the month of Ramadan, Night of Destiny, Mawlid,
prayer on 'Id al Fitr' and 'Id al Adha'. |
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For Christians, sessions, seminars
and talks were organized in the parishes for various groups and associations
on Islam, Muslim faith and practice, texts of the Church on Inter-religious
Dialogue.
Then in 1991, a Christian-Muslim reflection group was set up. This
group met regularly around a theme chosen by the participants and
alternatively presented by a Christian and/or by a Muslim according
to the subject treated. The talks were followed by a period of discussion
and sharing among the participants.
The group grew in number and soon structured itself to become the
Inter-Religious Dialogue Committee. Its Executive comprises an
equal number of Christians (Catholics and representatives of the Christian
Council) and Muslims (Sunnites and Ahmadis). The chairman is a Muslim.
3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The
Inter-religious Dialogue Committee gave itself some objectives. They
are mainly Formation and Education in order to:
· Promote peace,
understanding, mutual respect and appreciation among the different
religious denominations, particularly Christians and Muslims.
· Encourage co-operation and collaboration between
Christians and Muslims in dealing with common problems such
as poverty, illiteracy, disease, etc.
· Enhance religious freedom, promote and protect
the religious values of both Islam and Christianity
4. PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES
Our intention is to fight ignorance, which is the source of
most of the conflicts:
· ignorance of the
faith of the other or even of one's own faith,
· ignorance of the Christians concerning the teaching
of the Church on Inter-religious Dialogue,
· ignorance of the efforts made throughout the world
to improve inter-religious relations.
We are convinced that the more we know about the other 'different',
the less we fear him or her, the more we are ready to love him/her,
the more freedom we acquire with him or her.
Our first target has been the youth.
A survey carried out by the Committee indicates that the Youth are
more vulnerable when it comes to religious misunderstanding and
conflicts. Moreover they have the least access to information on
what is going on in the world about inter-faith relationship. Now,
the future and sustainability of the dialogue process depend on
them.
We therefore went to the different Secondary and Tertiary Institutions
and Training Colleges of Tamale, to give talks on Inter-religious
Dialogue from the Christian and from the Muslim perspectives. These
talks were delivered alternatively by a Christian and a Muslim to
the whole school and followed by free and open discussion among
the students, the staff and the lecturers. As a follow-up, we are
now trying to set up small Christian-Muslim Study Groups in these
schools and colleges. We continue to deliver talks as different
students come and go!The students are
mostly Muslims in Tamale with an important minority of Christians.
Very often at the time of elections of Prefects and Executive Board
of the students, conflicts broke out, the Muslims refusing a Christian
Prefect and vice versa. It seems that since our visits, some improvement
has been achieved.
However in Tamale, a great number of children have not had the opportunity
to go to school or they have been prevented from attending it because
of lack of finances or poor performance. These youth become petty
traders, daily workers or even street children. Being uneducated
and uninformed about inter-religious relations, they are a prey
for fundamentalists and fomenters of conflicts. For these "out
of school youth" we have organized talks, one or two day-workshops
on Muslim and Christian faith and practice, and Muslim-Christian
relations.
For adults, we have organized sessions on Inter-Faith relationship
in some parishes and districts of the Northern Region. To allow
Christians or Muslims (imams, malams, preachers) to freely express
their feelings, prejudices and even hurts during the discussions,
we first invited the groups separately. Later on Christians and
Muslims were brought together. But whatever the session, a Muslim
would give a talk to the Christians and a Christian to the Muslims.
| Our presence
together being a witness by itself. |
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Here also we try to establish
local Christian-Muslim reflection groups in view of creating peaceful
relationships and to permit better collaboration. A few groups have
been constituted and animated. They are now doing activities on their
own.At the time of the 1994 ethnic-religious
conflict, the Christian-Muslim Group played an active role in the
Northern Region. It allowed the representatives of the two communities
to meet and share their viewpoints.
At the end of the conflict, some members of the Inter-religious Committee,
both Christians and Muslims went as a team, on a mission of reconciliation
to the different conflicting areas of the Northern Region. This
was eventually climaxed by an Inter-Religious Prayer at Yendi.We
also went to the neighbouring dioceses of Northern Ghana to
encourage the formation of new groups. The Chairman of our Committee,
well known in the various Muslim Communities of the North, can explain
to his coreligionists what Inter-religious Dialogue is and its aim..
In order to reach out to the
different villages, to open them up to Inter-religious Dialogue and
to a better understanding of the "other community", we started
a programme on Radio FM-Tamale. The programme takes the form
of talks, discussions and interviews, either in English or in Dagbanle
and Gonja, the main local languages of the Region. These broadcasts
provoked a lot of reactions in town. The chairman of our Committee,
Al Hajj Zakaria, has often been invited by Muslim groups or associations
to prolong the discussion or, especially by the Ahl al-Sunna, to answer
challenging questions.
We also organize lectures for the general public, on topics
concerning Islam, Christianity or other matters of concern for both
communities. We run a small library specialized in Religions,
mostly Islam, Christianity and Traditional Religions, which is open
to all. Students, particularly Muslims, take advantage of it.
Each year the Archbishop of Tamale writes a letter of good wishes
to the Muslims on the occasion of 'Id al-Fitr. This letter, attached
to the message of the President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious
Dialogue is sent to the main imams and sheikhs of Tamale and its surroundings.
In return, last year, the imam of the Central Mosque expressed his
good wishes for Christmas to the Christians, through Radio FM.
We have a number of projects yet to be
implemented.
We intend:
· To publish a bulletin
(Information-Formation) on Islam, Christianity and Inter-religious
Dialogue which would be accessible to both Muslims and Christians,
· To link Christian and Muslim Women associations together
and
· To build an Inter-religious Centre within easy reach by both
Muslims, Christians, and others. This would include the library and
facilities for meetings and seminars.
But for this last project, we still need some financial support.
5. CONCLUSIONToday in Tamale, thanks
to these different activities, particularly to our Radio programmes,
only few people can ignore what Inter-religious Dialogue is. The word
has even become "jargon". Many Muslims look at Christians
differently. Others still doubt our intentions. The Ahl al-Sunna except
a few, refuse to participate in our activities.
A great number of Christians and even priests are not yet convinced
of the importance of Inter-religious Dialogue. Suspicion persists.
However at the last Pastoral Congress of the Archdiocese, Inter-religious
Dialogue has been recognized as a pastoral orientation for the diocese.
We are privileged in Tamale because a certain number of Muslims with
a high level of Arabic and Islamic education, some of them with university
degrees in secular Education, who are respected in their Muslim community,
are members of our Committee and have understood from inside what
Inter-religious Dialogue is. This, in addition to the support from
the Church and the Mosque leadership would go a long way to sustain
the gains of the Inter-religious Dialogue Committee in the Northern
Region.
Praise be to God! AL HAMDULILLAH
Marie-Renée Wyseur,
MSOLA
Co-ordinator IRDC
Tamale
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Sister
Marie -Renée Wyseur, 
