Date: February 26-28, 2020

Venue: Accra, Ghana

The theme of ‘territoriality’ reflects the view that tensions between Christians and Muslims – and, indeed, between other societies – have mainly to do with the question of who is in control in a particular place. The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies has identified territoriality as an important theme of a major research project which will aim to identify and understand the territorial elements underlying current issues.

This conference will seek to explore the theme of territoriality from the Islamic, Christian and Traditional African perspectives with the view of setting the tone for conversations around key topics and issues identified for research by The Sanneh Institute.

In particular, This typically involves a triangle of people (be they a family, a tribe, a religious group or another ethnic group), power (decision makers) and land (the place where they live)–see Ida Glaser, The Bible and Other Faiths, IVP/Langham, 2005, the African continent has often demonstrated that the harmonious co-existence of Christians and Muslims even within families is related to African traditions of hospitality.

The Sanneh Institute offers a new context which seeks to challenge the polarities of current discourse: this exploration of territoriality and hospitality promises not only to develop fresh understandings for a rapidly changing Africa, but also to contribute new insights to global conversations and to point the ways forward for study and future engagement world-wide.

Source: The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies