Religion in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is officially a secular state, although Islam and Christianity are the two main and dominant religions in the country. The constitution of Sierra Leone provides for freedom of religion and the Sierra Leone Government generally protects it. The Sierra Leone Government is constitutionally forbidden from establishing a state religion, though Muslim and Christian prayers are usually held in the country at the beginning of major political occasions, including presidential inauguration.

According to a 2020 estimates by the Pew Research Center^[2] 78.5% of Sierra Leone's population are Muslims (mostly Sunni Muslims), 20.4% are Christians (mostly Protestants) and 1.1% belong to a traditional African religion or other beliefs. The Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone estimated that 77% of Sierra Leone's population are Muslims, 21% are Christians, and 2% are followers of traditional African religion.^[3] Most of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups are Muslim majority, including the country's two largest ethnic groups: the Mende and Temne.

Sierra Leone is regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world.^[4] Muslims and Christians collaborate and interact with each other peacefully. Religious violence is very rare in the country. Even during the Sierra Leonean Civil War people were never targeted because of their religion.

The country is home to the Sierra Leone Inter-Religious Council, which is made up of both Christian and Muslim religious leaders to promote peace and tolerance throughout the country.^[5][6][7] The Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Maulid-un-Nabi (Birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) are observed as national holidays in Sierra Leone. The Christian holidays of Christmas, Boxing Day, Good Friday and Easter are also national holidays in Sierra Leone. In politics, the overwhelming majority of Sierra Leoneans vote for a candidate without regard of the candidate being a Muslim or a Christian. All of Sierra Leone's Heads of State have been Christians except Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who was a Muslim.

The vast majority of Sierra Leonean Muslims are adherent to the Sunni tradition of Islam. Most of the Mosque and Islamic schools across Sierra Leone are based on Sunni Islam. Shia Muslims form a very small percentage, at less than half of one percent of Sierra Leone's Muslim population. Most of Sierra Leonean Muslims of the Sunni and Ahmadiyya sect regularly pray together in the same Mosque.^[8][9] The Maliki school is by far the most dominant Islamic school of jurisprudence across Sierra Leone and is based within Sunni Islam, though many Ahmadiyya Muslims in Sierra Leone also follow the Maliki jurisprudence.

The Sierra Leone Islamic Supreme Council, is the highest Islamic religious organization in Sierra Leone and is made up of the country's Imams, Islamic scholars, and other Islamic clerics across the country. Sheikh Muhammad Taha Jalloh is the president of the Sierra Leone Supreme Islamic Council ^[10] The United Council of Imams, is an Islamic religious body in Sierra Leone, that is made up of all imams of mosques throughout Sierra Leone. The president of the United Council of Imam is Sheikh Alhaji Muhammad Habib Sheriff.^[11] The two largest mosques in Sierra Leone are the Freetown Central Mosque and the Ghadafi Central Mosque (built by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi), both located in the capital Freetown.

Among the present most highly prominent Sierra Leonean Muslim scholars and preachers are Sheikh Abu Bakarr Cotco Kamara, Sheikh Muhammad Taha Jalloh, Sheikh Umarr S. Kanu, Sheikh Ahmad Tejan Sillah, Sheikh Saeedu Rahman, and Sheikh Muhammad Habib Sheriff. All of the Sierra Leonean Muslim scholars mentioned above are Sunni Muslims, except Sheikh Ahmad Tejan Sillah, who is a Shia Muslim; and Sheikh Saeedu Rahman, who is an Ahmaddiya Muslim.^[12]

The large majority of Sierra Leonean Christians are Protestant, of which the largest groups are the Wesleyan Methodists and Pentecostal.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} Other Christian Protestant denominations with significant presence in the country include Presbyterians,^[18] Baptists,^[19] Seventh-day Adventists^[20] Anglicans,^[21] Lutherans,^[22][23] and Pentecostals.^[24] The Council of Churches is the Protestant Christian religious organisation that is made up of all Protestant churches across Sierra Leone. Recently there has been an increase of Pentecostal churches, especially in Freetown.

Non-denominational Christians form a significant minority of Sierra Leone's Christian population.^[25] Catholics are the largest group of non-Protestant Christians in Sierra Leone, forming about 8% of Sierra Leone's population and 26% of the Christian population in Sierra Leone.^[26] The Jehovah’s Witnesses^[27] and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints^[28][29] are the two most prominent non Trinitarian Christians in Sierra Leone, and they form a small but significant minority of the Christian population in Sierra Leone. A small community of Orthodox Christians resides in the capital Freetown.^[30]

In September 2017, a Sierra Leone-based radical Nigerian Pentecostal Christian pastor name Victor Ajisafe was arrested by the Sierra Leone Police and held in jail after he preached an extreme religious intolerance and a fanatical hate speech against Islam and Sierra Leonean Muslims at his church sermon in the capital Freetown. Among other words in his speech; Ajisafe said Islam is an evil religion, and he further said there is no trace of Islam in the history of Sierra Leone; even though factually Muslim missionaries have taught Islam in Sierra Leone over 430 years ago and the country has remained a Muslim majority for centuries. Many Christian organizations in Sierra Leone, including the Council of Churches condemned Ajisafe's sermon against Islam and Muslims. Ajisafe"s church was temporarily shut down by the Sierra Leone government and his church license was temporarily suspended too. The incident brought religious tension in Sierra Leone, in a country known for its very high level of religious tolerance, as many Sierra Leonean Muslims at home and abroad were extremely angry. Many Sierra Leonean Muslims called for Ajisafe to be deported back to his home country of Nigeria, and few even threatened to attack the church. The pastor while in Sierra Leone police custody apologized to Sierra Leonean Muslims and to the government of Sierra Leone. After several days in jail, Ajisafe was released, his church license was given back to him, and his church was later reopened under strict government condition during several months of probation.