Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, National Chief Imam
• The National Chief Imam has donated GH¢50,000 towards the construction of the National Cathedral
• He has in the past been a strong advocate for peace and interfaith harmony
• During his 100th birthday, we was feted by both Muslims and Christians alike
The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu has long been celebrated at different times for the roles he plays in advancing interfaith harmony in the country.
A long respected and revered figure in the Muslim community, his capital has increased in the eyes of the Christian faithful in the last few years as a result of a number of actions that he has taken.
His open door policy to persons from across all divides and willingness to engage means he has hosted the high and mighty to the ordinary Ghanaian as and when available.
He could pass simply as the most photographed religious leader in the country as barely a week goes by that photos of the Imam receiving one visitor or the other is posted on social media platforms.
His most recent move is a donation of 50,000 cedis towards the construction of the National Cathedral project. GhanaWeb looks back at three instances when the revered clergyman steered inter-faith discussions in a positive light.
Call for calm after Owusu Bempah’s 2019 prophecy
Pastor Owusu Bempah in his traditional New Year prophecies listed a number of high profile citizens who he claimed will die in 2019. Among those listed was Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, the Chief Imam.
The ‘prophesy’ which received wide media coverage did not sit down well with a group of young Muslims who took matters into their hands and attacked a branch of Bempah’s church.
The attackers destroyed materials within the church including musical equipment, they smashed glass windows and pulled down billboards in front of the church.
In a later statement, the Imam urged for calm and tasked the youth to maintain all ties of unity and fraternity that the two religions had maintained over the decades. He later hosted Owusu Bempah at his offices where the pastor apologized for his utterances.
Attending Easter service in 2019
Later in May of 2019, the Imam made the news again when he joined Christian faithful for an Easter Service at the Christ the King Church in Accra.
The news was widely covered in local media and even received coverage by the BBC via a feature titled: “Ghana’s 100-year-old Imam who went to church.”
“The chief imam is changing the narrative about Islam from a religion of wickedness, a religion of conflict, a religion of hate for others, to a religion whose mission is rooted in the virtues of love, peace and forgiveness,” his spokesperson Aremeyaw Shaibu told the BBC.
This was in response to some Muslims who had expressed reservation at the decision of the Imam to join a Christian service.
Donating towards the National Cathedral project
The National Chief Imam on Thursday, August 26, 2021; announced that he has supported the construction of Ghana’s National Cathedral with an amount of GH¢50,000.
Sheikh Sharubutu made the donation when the Chairman of the National cathedral Board of Trustees, Apostle Prof Opoku Onyinah and President of the Ghana Bishops Conference, Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle paid a courtesy call on him at his Fadama residence.
According to him, he believed that his contribution will go a long way in helping construct the edifice which is being championed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government.
As part of efforts to finance the project, the general public has been asked to willingly donate an amount of GH¢100 towards the building which has received stiff opposition from a section of the public.
The Vice-President recently called on faith-based organizations to willingly donate funds to build the Cathedral.
