Religion in Ghana
Islam is the main religion in Guinea , followed by an estimated 85% of the population as of 2013. [1] [2] "Most are Sunnis who follow the Maliki legal tradition and Qadiri and Tijani Sufi orders." [1]
| Islam by country |
|---|
 |
 Islamportal |
Islam is the main religion in Guinea , followed by an estimated 85% of the population as of 2013. [1] [2] "Most are Sunnis who follow the Maliki legal tradition and Qadiri and Tijani Sufi orders." [1]
Islam spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula to Africa. Sundiata Keita (c. 1217 – c. 1255), the founder of the Mali Empire (which encompassed part of present-day Guinea as well as other modern nations), was not a Muslim, but by 1300, his successors were. [3] The tenth ruler of the empire, Musa I (c. 1280 – c. 1337), made it the state religion. [3]
Fouta Djallon, a highland region of Guinea, has been a stronghold of Islam since the late 17th century. [4] The Imamate of Futa Jallon, a Muslim theocratic state ruled by the almami, was founded around 1725. [5]
Eventually, the area of present-day Guinea came under colonial rule, and French Guinea was established in 1891, but that had little effect on the spread of the religion. [3] In the 20th century, the Ahmadiyya movement was introduced into the country from Pakistan. [6]
After Guinea achieved independence from France in 1958, Ahmed Sékou Touré, its Marxist first president, sought to reduce Islam's influence, but as his popularity declined, in the 1970s he worked "to co-opt Muslim institutions to legitimize his rule." [1] Touré had the Grand Mosque built in the capital city of Conakry, with funding from Saudi King Fahd; [7] it opened in 1982. It is the largest mosque in West Africa, with an inner hall that can hold 10,000. [8]
The compulsory education curriculum does not include religious studies, but there are numerous Islamic schools throughout the country, particularly in Fouta Djallon. [2] Some madrasas are financially supported by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states. [2]
Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour was an ancient state of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire.
Ahmed Sékou Touré was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who became the first president of Guinea, serving from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary Guinean nationalists involved in gaining independence of the country from France.
Samory Toure, also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Muslim cleric, a military strategist, and the founder and leader of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic empire that was in present-day north and south-eastern Guinea and included part of north-eastern Sierra Leone, part of Mali, part of northern Côte d'Ivoire and part of southern Burkina Faso. Samori Ture was a deeply religious Muslim of the Maliki jurisprudence of Sunni Islam.
Fouta Djallon is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Alfa Yaya Maudo, was a 19th-century ruler of Labé, one of the nine provinces of the Imamate of Futa Jallon, in present-day Guinea.
Labé is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capital Conakry in term of economic importance. Labé is situated some 450 kilometres or 280 miles northeast of Conakry close to the geographic centre of Guinea.
The Toucouleur Empire (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Omar Saidou Tall of the Toucouleur people, in part of present-day Mali.
The Baga are a West African ethnic group who live in the southern swampy lands of Guinea Atlantic coastline. Traditionally animist through the pre-colonial times, they converted to Islam during the mid-eighteenth century under the influence of Muslim Mandé missionaries. Some continue to practice their traditional rituals.
Kouroussa or Kurussa is a town located in northeastern Guinea, and is the capital of Kouroussa Prefecture. As of 2014 it had a population of 39,611 people. A trade center and river port from at least the time of the Mali Empire, Kouroussa has long relied upon its position near the upstream limit of navigation of the Niger River to make it an important crossroads for people and goods moving between the Guinea coast and the states of the western Soudan and Niger River valley. The town and surrounding area is a center of Malinke culture, and is known for its Djembe drumming tradition.
Islam is the largest and majority religion in Sierra Leone. Based on the 2015 Pew Research Center research, 78% of Sierra Leone's population is Muslim.
Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from Southwest Asia, during the early 7th century CE. Almost one-third of the world's Muslim population resides in Africa. Muslims crossed current Djibouti and Somalia to seek refuge in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia during the Hijrah to the Christian Kingdom of Aksum. Like the vast majority (90%) of Muslims in the world, most Muslims in Africa are also Sunni Muslims; the complexity of Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices in many African countries. The practice of Islam on the continent is not static and is constantly being reshaped by prevalent social, economic, and political conditions. Generally Islam in Africa often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems forming Africa's own orthodoxies.
The Imamate of Futa Jallon or Jalon was a West African theocratic state based in the Fouta Djallon highlands of modern Guinea. The state was founded around 1727 by a Fulani jihad and became part of French West Africa in 1896.
The Susu people are a Mande ethnic group living primarily in Guinea and Northwestern Sierra Leone, particularly in Kambia District. Influential in Guinea, smaller communities of Susu people are also found in the neighboring Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
The Yalunka, or Dialonké, are a Mandé people who were one of the original inhabitants of the Futa Jallon, a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa. The Yalunka people live primarily in Guinea, particularly in Faranah, while smaller communities are found in Kouroussa. Additional Yalunka are also located in northeastern Sierra Leone, southeastern Senegal, and southwestern Mali.
There are various ethnic groups in Senegal, The Wolof according to CIA statistics are the majority ethnic group in Senegal. Many subgroups of those can be further distinguished, based on religion, location and language. According to one 2005 estimate, there are at least twenty distinguishable groups of largely varying size.
The Conakry Grand Mosque is a mosque in Conakry, Guinea, located east of the Conakry Botanical Garden and beside the Donka Hospital.
Islamic invitation work or dawah means to "invite" to Islam. After the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, from the 7th century onwards, Islam spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through either trade and exploration or Muslim conquests.
Kouroukoro is a town located in northwestern Guinea, and the capital is Kouroussa. It has an estimated population of a few thousands. The town and surrounding area is a center of Malinke culture. Kouroukoro was a district in upper Guinea, Republic of Guinea, West Africa. From early 2021 Kouroukoro was upgraded by the government to the rank of Sub-Prefecture i.e. it now has other districts that are under it politically. They are Districts of Niemen, Saramadia, Kankaya and of course Kouroukoro. It is part of the Prefecture of Kouroussa Kouroukoro lies about 500 km from the capital Conakry, about 50 km from the prefecture of Dabola and about 95 km from the prefecture of Kouroussa
The history of the spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Prophet Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories and built imperial structures over time. Most of the significant expansion occurred during the reign of the Rashidun from 632 to 661 CE, which was the reign of the first four successors of Prophet Muhammad. These early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and trading, the Islamic Golden Age, and the Age of the Islamic Gunpowders, resulted in Islam's spread outwards from Mecca towards the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and the creation of the Muslim world. Trade played an important role in the spread of Islam in several parts of the world, especially Indian traders in Southeast Asia.
Thierno Abdourahmane Bah was Guinean writer, poet, Muslim theologian and Fula political personality of Fouta Djallon. He is regarded as one of the most important representatives of Islamic science and Fula culture of Fouta Djallon.