10 March 2008
The Gambia celebrated one of the country's biggest pilgrimages and religious gatherings near Gunjur village last weekend.
Residents welcomed thousands of Muslims who flocked to Gambia to attend the event with Islamic scholar Sheikh Omar Futiyou Taal, reported the Daily Observer.
While 90 per cent of the western African country's population is Muslim, with only nine per cent of the inhabitants belonging to the Christian faith, the two religions have always enjoyed friendly relationships and often celebrate each other's ceremonies.
At last month's meeting at the Kanifing Community Centre, Muslims and Catholics agreed on principles to support the Gambian community as a whole.
Pa Joof, former principal of Saint Augustine's junior school in Banjul told the Point: "I met them and we came together and we signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to share in each others joys and or sadness."
The country boasts an important Islamic heritage dating back from the seventh century when the Berbers of north Africa introduced the religion. Christianity appeared much later in the 15th century through the influence of Portuguese traders.
