Correspondence from Northern Region

The King and Overlord of Dagbon has directed feuding Islamic Sunni sects in the Northern Region to cease attacking each other in their sermons or face his wrath.

Ya Na Abukari II is unhappy that the two leading Sunni communities in the Northern Region; the Anbariya Sunni Community and the Nuriya Sunni Community, otherwise known as Masjid-ul Bayaan have been at loggerheads with each other over the past weeks, verbally attacking each other while casting vituperations against the leadership of the two Islamic communities.

The Ya Naa warned that he would be compelled to take punitive measures against any Imam who defies his directives, including handing them over to the police for prosecution.

A high-powered delegation of Dagbon chiefs including the Gulkpe-Naa, Nanton Naa, Banvim-lana, Sagnari Naa and Lamashe-Naa, representatives of the Peace Council and the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) met the leadership of the two feuding Islamic communities to deliver the Ya Naa’s directives to them in Tamale.

The Chiefs warned the leadership of the two to ensure no attacks came from either side by speaking no more on such issues.

The Ya Na’s intervention has been seen as timely as it came at a time of continuous attacks and counter- attacks on social and mainstream media.

Background

The two Sunni sects have over the years had heated disagreements with each other, with each side accusing the other of instigating unwarranted verbal attacks on the other.

They have also attacked each other’s Aqidah or Creed and have both professed why the other’s ideology is wrong and why theirs is right.

One of the biggest points of their disagreement is usually prayer times and the sighting of the Ramadan Crescent.

Whiles Anbariya follows the Islamic school of thought that says Muslims should sight the crescent locally before commencing Ramadan, Nuriya follows the jurisprudence that says Muslims should follow the global sighting of the crescent before commencing fasting in their localities.

Even though both schools of thought are accepted in Islam, the two have over the years questioned each other’s decisions during Ramadan.

It was not different last Ramadan and the heated arguments which started during that period continued with both sides openly attacking each other on radio, TV, and social media until the Overlord of Dagbon intervened. Many feared that but for the intervention, the attacks could have led to a full-blown physical confrontation.

The Anbariya Sunni Community, led by Sheikh Saeed Abubakar Zakaria is said to be the largest Sunni organization in Ghana, while the Nuriya Sunni Community, an offshoot of Anbariya, led by Sheikh Ibrahim Basha, known widely as Dr. Basha has become one of the fastest-growing Islamic communities in Ghana.