By Aji Fatou Jammeh
The Gambia is one of the most religious tolerant countries in the world. For most part, Gambians are inter-related regardless of their religious background. It is also not uncommon to find related Muslim and Christians belonging to the same family which has a residual history of religious tolerance. The country has over 90 per cent of the population as Muslims and about 10 per cent or so as Christians. Since political independence in 1965, its successive leaders and the people have deliberately maintained peace across religious divides.
During Muslim feast in The Gambia, their Christian friends and family always join them to celebrate the feast together because they are always happy to cook their best dishes and share them. Likewise, the Christian feast, their Muslim friends and families also join them to celebrate together in unison and harmony. This is something many countries do not have.
The Gambia is a sovereign secular Republic and the law guarantees everyone the right to practice for even not belonging to any religion. Therefore, no one has the right to castigate anyone for choosing any religious faith.
Promoting this culture of interfaith celebrations and sharing of food cannot only promote religious tolerance in The Gambia, but the world can also benefit from this if such practices are developed and exported as an antidote to religious intolerance and fundamentalist ideologies.
The peace and tranquility that existed among Gambians for so long can largely be attributed to this culture of religious tolerance. Gambians were brought up to learn about other religions through interfaith festivities which allows them to accept and respect their fellow citizens who believe in different faiths. Though this might look simple on the surface, it has far-reaching implications in harmonizing the society thus promoting peaceful coexistence.
Any deviation from this admirable culture of tolerance could lead to religious tension as seen in other nations. The state should therefore not only respect the constitutional stipulations of secularism, but must endeavor to promote this beautiful recipe for peace and harmony. Any attempt by the state to neutralize this long-standing social norm could lead to increased tension and religious intolerance.
The President of the Supreme Islamic Council, Sheikh Essa Darboe, who doubles as Secretary General of AMANA (the umbrella organization of all the Madrassas operating in the Gambia) described religious tolerance as to accepting the existence of other religions or faiths in the country.
“For example, Muslims need to recognise the Christians living with us here. In the same vain, they also have to recognize our existence. And also living together in peace because if you tolerate or recognise my existence as someone with a different religion, then what is next is to live together in harmony and peaceful co-existence,” he stated.
He added that religious tolerance is very important in maintaining peace in the Gambia.
“Religious conflict is the most dangerous thing in the society. It always comes with lots of problems and difficult to solve. It is important to allow all religions to practice their religion peacefully, without problems,’’ he said.
He further explained that since Muslims and Christians are living together, no one has the power to stop anyone. He emphasised the need to live together and show joy and happiness to the other faith on their feasts.
He said other faiths are our neighbors and that Islam preaches that one has to be kind to their neighbor, support them and live together in peace. He noted that these are the things we inherited from our ancestors.
He said that The Gambia has always had an impressive record of religious tolerance, with the different religious sects and denominations existing side by side in peace and harmony since time of immemorial.
Anta Secka, a Muslim woman said that it is unusual to find members of the same family adhering to different religious denominations and sects cut across the tribal and religion divide and there are hardly any distinguishing features between the different denominations and sects.
Also speaking to Seal Sylvester Jammeh, the Vice Chairman of the Pastors Alliance-The Gambia, who doubles as a member of Interfaith Committee of the Christian Council described religious tolerance as acceptance of the fact that another person believes something different but he/she is created in the image and likeness of God, crowned with glory and honor and should be respected and given space to exercise his or her rights as written in the constitution.
Pastor Jammeh highlighted the significance of religious tolerance in maintaining peace: “It is one of the underpinnings of our society. It aligns with the societal doxology of valuing people and intentionally doing the needful to show that we value people. Without it, our society will disintegrate into a destructive conflict zone’’.
He stated that in The Gambia, people enjoy an outworking of unconditional love (giving and receiving of gifts) and the reinforcement of the equality virtue-seeing ourselves as brothers and sisters, compassionate one to another.
