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20.09.2011 General News

Muslims call for peaceful 2012 elections

By Ghanaian Chronicle
Sheikh Nuhu Sharabutu, National Chief ImamSheikh Nuhu Sharabutu, National Chief Imam
20.09.2011 LISTEN

The Islamic leadership in the  country has called on Muslim youth  to desist from actions that have the tendency to disturb the peace and tranquility as the country prepares to confront crucial elections in 2012.

The call was contained in a resolution passed in Kumasi at the end of three-day regional conference, organised by the United Forum for Islamic Affairs (FRONT) to deliberate on issues confronting the Muslim community in Ghana.

The forum further tasked leaders in Muslim communities to close their rank and file, and work towards the common good of the Islamic brotherhood in the country.

The conference, which was attended by 65 Muslim delegates in the region, including chiefs and Imams in the Ashanti Region, was purposely instituted as an annual occasion to bring together the various Islamic factions in the search for peace and unity.

It was under the theme 'Unity, the ultimate tool for Development.'

The conference resolved that a gathering of such was very necessary to forestall the occasional misunderstandings that often arise, in order to ensure sustainable peace and unity amongst the Islamic society.

The leaders at the conference, however, intimated that they were concerned about the compulsory church services that Muslim students in, particularly, senior high schools, are made to participate in, and therefore, called on the Ghana Education Service to quickly intervene to resolve the situation.

The conference was of the view that freedom of religion was a fundamental provision in the 1992 Constitution, and for that matter, forcing one to worship against his or her will does not augur well for peaceful co-existence and harmony in the country's educational institutions.

Alhaji Braimah Yussif, who read the resolution on behalf of the leaders, said there was the need for headmasters and heads of institutions to be tolerant and accommodating to all forms of religious orientations in Ghana.

The need for the strengthening and extension of the Islamic Education and Development Fund (ISED) to the district levels to assist in the development of Islamic education was also stressed at the conference.

An Islamic scholar and Chairman of the Conference, Sheikh Ameen Bonsu, urged Muslim parents to cut down on expensive funerals, weddings, and expenditure, and instead, channel their resources towards the development of their children's education.

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