SIERRA LEONE-RELIGION: A Clash Between Faiths

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Nov 29 1996 (IPS) - Followers of a new indigenous religion in the poorer areas of the city here have encountered stiff resistance from Christians and Muslims, who have dismissed the new religion as a haven for the country’s outcasts.

Clashes between followers of the Dina Bayisor (which means No King Like God) religion and Christians and Muslims have been reported on more than 10 occasions in the poorer areas of Mabayla, Goverment Wharf and King Jimmy Wharf in the capital’s eastern area.

“Sometimes, when we get together to pray, our enemies come around and start hauling insults at us. They even pelt us with stones and physically attack us,” explained Lubiyor, a follower of the religion whose former name was Hassan Kamara.

“Some of our followers sustained injuries when we were attacked on our way to the national stadium where different religious believers recently converged to pray for peace in the country,” Lubiyor added.

The Dina Bayisor religion was founded by Issa Turay, who says he is about 33 years old. He is now known as Prophet Mahdissa. The son of a farmer, who is also a Muslim cleric, Mahdissa, who comes from Kambia district in northern Sierra Leone, claims to be self- taught.

The religion seeks to promote peace and harmony and it has two commandments: “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you; and Eat, drink and smoke whatever you think is good for you”.

Worshippers meet twice a day for prayers at their place of worship called Yorkrafi, which is sandwiched among run-down shacks in the Mabayla ghetto here.

According to Prophet Mahdissa, he received a vision when he was a child. He says the religion started in 1971. “I had a vision that I am God’s messenger. I will spread the message in spite of persecution from non-believers,” Mahdissa said.

“The last time I was brutalised right in front of the law courts. I was preaching to a group of potential converts when a mob of thugs descended on me and started beating me up,” the controversial prophet explained.

But persecution, Mahdissa said, is part of a prophet’s profile. “A prophet is never honoured in his home country. Even Jesus Christ was rejected by his people and persecuted,” Mahdissa said. “I know I will face all of this and I am thoroughly prepared.”

The new religion has attracted mainly the poor and youth, and other religious leaders have accused Mahdissa of leading them astray. “That man is a criminal and a child of Satan,” said Sheik Umar Sesay, a senior Imam at one of Freetown’s mosques.

The Sheik likened Mahdissa to the false prophets written about in Christian scriptures. “These are the last days. The scriptures said it and it is prophecy fulfilled. We are going to see the emergence of several false prophets like Mahdissa. I don’t think he should be taken seriously,” the Muslim cleric said.

But not everyone dismisses Mahdissa and his religion. Members claim the religious sect has thousands of followers in Freetown and in northern Sierra Leone, where it originated. The two dominant religions in the country are Islam (40 percent) and Christianity (30 percent).

The religion has adopted the Temne language, spoken by 40 percent of the about 4.3 million people in this West African nation, as its medium of communication and worship. Its Holy Book, called the Furkan (which means the Goodness of God) is also written in Temne.

While the tenets of the religion call for prayer and fasting, it also allows its followers to indulge in drugs and other practices, which are the main bone of contention with Christian and Islamic religious leaders here.

“Our religion does not stop anyone from smoking weed(marijuana) or drinking,” Mahdissa said. “We believe a man is best fit to determine what to eat, smoke or drink…”, he added.

A sociologist at the University of Sierra Leone, Ismail Conteh, believes that the Bayisor religion needs to be carefully studied as a phenomenon among the poor in the society.

“I think this is a growing religion. It is catching up quickly in the slums and ghettos. No amount of harassment can stop it,” Conteh said.