Ghana's Religion (Mackenzie V.)

   I would give Ghana’s religion a "C+" because Ghana’s religion is a mixture of supernatural and spiritual powers. The Ghanaians believed that plants and animals had spirits as well as humans and that these co-existed together. They believed that if they neglected their ancestors, that bad luck would be brought upon them. This meant that anytime something bad happened they believed it was their ancestors which led to them offering a sacrifice to please their ancestors. Then in the 9th century Islam was introduced to Ghana. Muslims came to trade and along with their goods came the Islamic religion. Many people practiced Islam along with other religions, and then in 1706 Almoravids (Muslims) conquered Ghana and tried to make the main religion Islam, but failed. By the 15th century, Christian missionaries from Portugal were known to be on the coast of Ghana, but until then the Empire consisted of Islam and traditional Ghanaian religious practices. Half of the town of Kumbi Saleh, which was the capital, was called El Ghana and was the traditional Ghanaian religious center of the town. The other half of the capital was the trading center or business district and since the Arab and Berber merchants were Muslim this side of town consisted of the Islamic faith.