A Religious Scholar, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has called on Ghanaians to respect diversity and co-exist peacefully, and preserve unity among Christians and Muslims in the country.
He cautioned that Ghana’s long-standing reputation for religious tolerance is facing a deliberate and dangerous threat from political actors seeking to set Christians and Muslims against each other.
Delivering the 2026 Liberty Lecture Series of the Danquah Institute (DI) at Alisa Hotel on Tuesday on the theme: “One Nation, Many Faiths: Emerging Threats To Religious Tolerance In Ghana”, the Islamic scholar and Research Fellow said recent events have exposed hidden cleavages that are being weaponised for partisan gain.
“Recent developments threaten that tradition. There is a deliberate attempt to set Christians and Muslims against one another,” he said.
Dr Abdul-Hamid cited a series of recent controversies, including the lawsuit by Shafic Osman over Muslim worship rights at Wesley Girls High School, the Ministry of Education’s plan to introduce Arabic as an optional subject at the primary level, and the Bank of Ghana’s consultation on allowing interest-free banking.
He said sections of the Christian population have interpreted these as a subtle agenda to introduce Sharia law.
The tension, he noted, was inflamed by viral videos — a Muslim cleric urging Muslims to behead anyone who insulted Prophet Muhammad, in response to a pastor who called the Prophet “a false prophet and a porn star.”
“What should have been an academic banter between Muslims and Christians has assumed a political dimension. Political actors and religious bigots have taken advantage to whip up anti-Muslim sentiments to instil in voters the ‘dangers’ of a Muslim presidency,” he said.
He revealed that on Sunday, 9th August 2026, a prominent charismatic pastor declared, “I shall curse any member of my church who votes for the NPP. We shall not allow them to come and disturb Christianity.”
The former Information Minister traced historical flashes of Christian-Muslim tension — including clashes in Kumasi, Walewale and Sekondi in the early 90s that forced a 1995 Takoradi meeting between the Christian Council and Federation of Muslim Councils, and the 2008 death of Adisadel College student Mustapha Gafaru while fleeing a teacher for not attending church.
Drawing on his academic work, including “Christian-Muslim Relations in Ghana: A Model for World Dialogue & Peace (2011)”, Dr. Abdul-Hamid argued that both Christianity and Islam are exclusivist religions whose strong sense of identity can “kill with abandon” if not managed, quoting Amartya Sen’s Identity and Violence.“
Religion helps people find meaning, moral purpose and hope in life; it must never become a political weapon,” he argued.
He said Ghana’s peace has largely been sustained by the accommodation of Muslims by the majority Christian population, citing examples like Presbyterian Hospital in Muslim-majority Bawku, Baptist Medical Center in Nalerigu, and the late Dr. David Abdulai Choggu’s Shekhinah Clinic in Tamale, where the Christian doctor wore a jalabiya and inscribed “In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful” on his dispensary wall.
He also cited National Chief Imam Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu’s decision to allow ICGC to paint the Central Mosque at Abossey Okai and his attendance at Christ the King Church on Easter Sunday 2019 at age 100.
“Ghana is one nation of many faiths, but also one nation largely united in belief in one supreme being,” he said, quoting Rumi that “the light is one, though the lamps are many.”
“We must resist those who exploit religious differences for partisan gain and divide a people whose faith traditions have long coexisted in mutual respect,” he added.
‘No Agenda To Islamise Ghana’
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said there is no grand agenda by Muslims to Islamize Ghana, and that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as NPP flagbearer for the 2028 general election should not be seen as an Islamic project.
He noted that voting pattern of Muslims in the 2024 general election disproves the claim that electing a Muslim president would shift religious balance.
“From the political choices of Muslims in Ghana, it does not seem to me that there is a grand agenda or a collective aspiration of Muslims to Islamize Ghana. Were such an agenda to exist, the candidacy of Mahamudu Bawumia would have been the catalyst,” he argued.
The NPP stalwart who is vying for the position of the First National ViceChairman noted that Muslim-dominated constituencies like Ayawaso East, Ayawaso North, Asawase, Ejura, Tamale North, Tamale Central, Tamale South and Sagnarigu “all voted massively for the Christian John Mahama against the Muslim Mahamudu Bawumia.”
“Conversely, Mahamudu Bawumia garnered more votes than many of his Christian parliamentary candidates in Christian-dominated constituencies, the most prominent one being Assin South, where he beat his parliamentary candidate, who is a Minister of the gospel,” he said.
Dr Abdul-Hamid added that even the polling station near Kumasi Central Mosque at Asawase did not vote for the NPP after Dr. Bawumia refurbished it in 2023.
Citing election data, Dr Abdul-Hamid said President Mahama secured about 1.38 million votes from the five northern regions alone — Savannah, Northern, Upper East, Upper West and North East — representing 21% of his total 6,591,790 votes.
Dr Bawumia secured 759,108 votes from those same regions, just 15.56% of his national tally of 4,877,611.
“You cannot therefore dishonestly repackage this evidence to prophesy that electing Dr. Bawumia on an NPP ticket will suddenly shift the balance of power from the south and from Christian to Muslim,” he said.
On the NPP flagbearer’s credentials, he said, “Mahamudu Bawumia is not seeking the presidency of Ghana to re-order the religious destiny of our country. Throughout his education and training, he has studied economics… His lifelong occupation has been propounding solutions for the health of economies.”
He reminded the audience that former President Akufo-Addo in 2016 explained his choice of Bawumia: “I chose Mahamudu Bawumia because I trust him. He is honest, hardworking, loyal and always searching for solutions… I know Ghana will be in safe hands.”
Teaching Arabic in Ghana
Dr. Abdul-Hamid also defended President John Mahama’s proposals to teach Arabic optionally alongside Mandarin and to introduce interest-free banking, saying neither is part of an Islamization agenda.
“Arabic is a language separate and distinct from Islam. Arab Christians speak Arabic and refer to God as Allah,” he said, noting that the top five Muslim-majority countries — Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria — do not speak Arabic. He said the 22 Arab League states constitute a $4 trillion market Ghana can tap into.
On interest-free banking, he said the concept predates Islam, citing Aristotle’s criticism of usury, and pointed to sharia-compliant banks such as Al-Rayan Bank in the UK, with over £3 billion in assets. “Interest-free banking is interest-free banking.
“The European experience demonstrates that Islamic banking is not about Islamizing a country. It is about expanding financing options,” he argued.
He cautioned Ghanaians ahead of 2028: “There will undoubtedly be people willing to spend money and manufacture fear by claiming that a Bawumia presidency would turn Ghana into an Islamic state. That suggestion is not merely false; it is an insult to our constitution, our history, and the good sense of Ghanaians.
By Collins Adu-Gyamfi
