DAKAR, Senegal — After prayers at the mosque, Ibrahim Lo is off to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. Soon he is eyeing the rows of dolls wrapped in plastic bags on a wooden table as he searches for gifts for his four children.
A bouquet of inflatable Santa toys tied to a nearby tree bobs in the air at this outdoor market in the seaside capital as he makes his picks.
It looks a lot like Christmas in Senegal, where 95 percent of the 12.8 million residents are Muslim.
Even the Grande Mosquee, a mosque that dominates the city’s skyline, is aglow in holiday lights.
“When they go to school, the children learn about Santa,” said Mr. Lo. “We are born into the Senegalese tradition of cohabitation between Muslims and Christians. What is essential is the respect between people.”
Senegal, a moderate country along Africa’s western coast, has long been a place where Christians and Muslims have coexistedpeacefully. Most Christians here are Catholic and live in the south of country and in the capital.
Hadim Thiam, 30, normally sells shoes, but during December he has expanded his wares to include an elaborate spread of tinsel, cans of spray snow and fireworks.
“It’s not linked to God. It’s for the children,” says Jean Mouss, 55, a Christian out shopping for holiday decorations at Thiam’s stand. “We wish Muslims a Merry Christmas and invite them into our homes for the holiday.”
Signs of Christmas are prevalent in this tropical seaside capital.
Green and flocked plastic trees of every size are sold on street corners alongside Nescafe carts and vendors splitting open coconuts.
“My First Christmas” baby sleepers are folded neatly on the top of the piles of second-hand clothing for sale on the streets. There are French “buches de Noel” and chocolate snowmen for sale in the upscale patisseries.
At lunchtime, a chorus of schoolchildren singing “Silent Night” echoes across a courtyard. The main cathedral is now a spectacle of lights each night — no easy feat for a city often subjected to power cuts.
Still, not everyone in Senegal thinks embracing Christmas is a good idea.
Mouhamed Seck, a Koranic teacher and imam for a mosque in a Dakar suburb, said taking part in the holiday is supporting a non-Muslim’s religion.
“Islam forbids Muslims from taking part in these festivities,” he said.
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