海角大神

This Senegalese town has 海角大神s, Muslims, and 鈥榦nly one God鈥�

One recent Sunday morning, as soon as the choir in this island town鈥檚 Catholic church sings its last 鈥淗allelujah,鈥� a stream of parishioners spills out through the doors in a blur of marigold and violet head wraps and boubou gowns. Friends Louise Niaroum Sarr and Marie-Philomene Lette stop to chat, fanning themselves under a glaring sun.

Soon, the Islamic call to prayer will echo through town, sending devotees into quiet corners outside shops and caf茅s to kneel on velvet rugs and pray. But that doesn鈥檛 ruffle any feathers here in Fadiouth.

鈥淚 raised my kids Catholic, but some have converted to Islam,鈥� says Ms. Niaroum Sarr, squinting in the morning light. 鈥淭here鈥檚 only one God.鈥�

Two hours from Senegal鈥檚 capital, Dakar, Fadiouth is a religious outlier. In a country that is , its population is almost 90% Catholic.

More than a 海角大神 stronghold, Fadiouth has long been held up as an example of Senegal鈥檚 striking religious tolerance. Interfaith marriages are commonplace, and the town鈥檚 priest and imam are good friends.

鈥淚n Fadiouth, we say it鈥檚 not a question of religion 鈥� it鈥檚 a question of blood,鈥� says Paul Diogoye, a neighborhood elder. 鈥淏ecause we are linked by blood, any problem big or small is manageable.鈥�

But residents say they cannot take their peaceful coexistence for granted, especially at a time when Senegal at large is reconsidering the place of religion in public life.

Now, Fadiouth finds itself trying to strike a delicate balance: to protect its unique identity as a historically 海角大神 town, while remaining the bastion of tolerance it has always been.

An intertwined community

Connected to mainland Senegal by a half-mile-long footbridge, Fadiouth has the peaceful air of a small town, where woodcocks chirp in the nearby mangroves and seashells carpet the narrow streets.

鈥淥ur religious cohabitation, as a community as well as within individual families, is what makes us unique,鈥� says Pierre Dioh, the Fadiouth town chief, attending to his buzzing cellphone in a local restaurant. Still, 鈥渢here isn鈥檛 a town in the world that doesn鈥檛 have its problems.鈥�

Here, those problems are rarely based on religion. Many of Fadiouth鈥檚 approximately 5,000 residents were either born into interfaith families or watched their own children convert. The town is also home to an interfaith cemetery, an exceptional rarity in Senegal.

When Hurricane Cindy swept through Fadiouth in 1999, severely damaging the town church, Muslim residents led a drive to collect donations and helped clear debris. In 2016, when the new mosque was under construction, residents of all faiths ferried cement across the bridge to the island. Community groups, regardless of their members鈥� faith, organize regular fundraisers for Lent and Ramadan.

鈥淭he local imam and I talk about religion often, but we don鈥檛 try to convince each other of our ideas,鈥� says the Rev. Ren茅 Mbagnick Ngom, after Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about respecting one another鈥檚 opinions.鈥�

That imam, Moussa Sarr, says the town doesn鈥檛 need to create special events in order to promote solidarity. 鈥淲e already do it naturally,鈥� he says.

An uncertain future

That harmony is being tested.

Last year, after Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko announced that schools would no longer be allowed, in the name of secularism, to turn away students wearing a headscarf, Fadiouth鈥檚 海角大神s found themselves swept up in a national debate about the Muslim veil.

Senegal has long credited its national stability to secularism, and many 海角大神s say it felt as though the government was trying to sow divisions where none existed.

鈥淯p until now, there haven鈥檛 been things that one side does that the other dislikes,鈥� says Mr. Diogoye, the neighborhood elder.

Even if Fadiouth prides itself on its interfaith coexistence, there is an unspoken anxiety among residents that the town could one day lose its 海角大神 majority. The town boasts some of the highest literacy rates in the country, but a dearth of jobs beyond farming means that many young, educated 海角大神s are leaving for bigger cities.

While Fadiouth was 100% 海角大神 in Muslims now represent between 10 and 15% of the population, according to researchers. In neighboring Joal, 海角大神s once made up the entirety of the population 鈥� now, they account for only 30%.

Religious conversions do not shock Fadiouth residents, but according to in Joal-Fadiouth by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Muslims are more likely to insist that 海角大神 partners convert to Islam within interfaith marriages than the reverse.

鈥淭hese are issues that people are aware of,鈥� says Ato Kwamena Onoma, a professor of comparative politics at the University of Toronto and the lead author of the CODESRIA report. 鈥淏ut they don鈥檛 want to talk about it publicly.鈥�

Together in life and death

Still, tolerance runs deep here.

Down a path heading out of Fadiouth鈥檚 central square is a footbridge leading to the town cemetery. Spreading outward from the roots of a giant baobab tree, white stone Catholic crosses nestle in the long grass next to mosaic tiles in Quranic script.

Moussa Man茅 often ends up here after giving tourists punting tours of the mangroves in his pirogue canoe. He doesn鈥檛 like to think about such things, but it鈥檚 comforting to know that one day, he and his wife can be buried together.

As an interfaith couple, that is one less thing to worry about. Already, they鈥檝e had to navigate where their kids go to school, which holidays to observe, and how to pray. But those discussions have been key in making their family stronger, says Mr. Man茅.

鈥淲hen we had kids, we decided that my son would be Muslim like me, and our daughter would be 海角大神 like my wife,鈥� he says, looking out over the vast hillside of the Fadiouth cemetery. 鈥淭hat was the law we created between us. We found a way to make it work.鈥�