This essay is part of a weekly feature on my blog that presents interesting stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, Israel and Iraq.
You hear a lot about a mythical 'war on Christmas' that's allegedly plaguing America, even though I've never met anyone who's been offended by 'Merry Christmas,' nor have I met anyone who knew anyone who was offended by the phrase. So I was intrigued to read this piece in South Africa's Daily Mail and Guardian paper about how Christmas is celebrated in the Republic of Senegal, West Africa.
Senegal is approximately 95 percent Muslim, but it hasn't stopped the selling of inflatable Santa Clauses and Christmas trees.
"It's our tradition, this cohabitation. When we're born and baptised, our Muslim neighbours are there. They help us all the way, even into the grave," explains one worker in Senegal's capital Dakar. "We're all the same before God, who allows us to recognise him in all others."
A neighboring merchant adds that Muslim extremists elsewhere are sullying Islam's reputation with their false interpretation of the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an.
"The Qur'an says Muslims mustn't force their religion on others. Aggression has no place in Islam," he says.
He added, "Officially, we Muslims don't celebrate Christmas. But the Catholics are our neighbours. So, we all celebrate all the religious holidays."
As someone who's lived in Senegal, I find this piece pretty accurate. In Senegal and Guinea, where I also lived, religious tolerance was the norm. While both countries are overwhelmingly Muslim, they were very open to and engaging of non-Muslims. They seemed to have more trouble wrapping their mind around the concept of a non-believer than of accepting someone of a different faith. Senegal's also a very conservative, traditional country, which makes this article even more intriguing.
1 comment:
Thanks for this perspective. For me, Senegalese Muslims will always be represented in my mind by Mbaye Diagne, the UN captain who disobeyed orders and personally rescued hundreds of (Christian) Tutsi from being killed in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide, until he himself was killed by mortar fire. Reading more about the culture in Senegal, I guess I'm less surprised now.
Post a Comment