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01.03.2015 Press Release

Muslim Students Should Not Attend Morning Devotion

01.03.2015 LISTEN
By Ghana muslim students National

All praises belong to Allah, the creator, sustainer and nourisher of the universe. He alone we worship without associating partners (intermediaries) with him, he alone we ask for help in all our affairs.

We send salutations upon his last and final messenger, Mohammed (SAW), his family, his companions and all those who follow the right guidance till the day of reckoning.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, fellow countrymen, I bring you greetings of the people of paradise, Assalaamu aleikum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

We, at the national secretariat of the Ghana Muslim Students Association, have observed with rap attention, the interest of Ghanaians in issues bothering on religions discrimination. The conclusion is that the peace, security and stability of this country are non-tradable variables.

Having said that, we must first of all commend the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and by extension his government, for the seriousness they attached to this issue.

More than politics, issues relating to faith have the potential to sharply divide a people. This is the more reason why we should treat them with circumspect and the fairness they deserve.

The heat generated by this issue of religious discrimination is a blatant testimony of the importance of the topic and to our own interest and passion regarding ensuring that we have a peaceful and fair way of resolving these issues.

Whiles commending the government for the constitutional stance it has taken, we would also call on the authorities that be especially the GES to sanction the P.R.O of the Ghana education services. It is rather unfortunate that such a confused statement is coming from no less a person than the P.R.O of GES who ought to have known better the difference between 'Morning devotion' and 'Morning assembly'. What Allotey Parker did in our view is unpopular, draconian, unprogressive, war mongering, and does not support the peace process initiated by the Muslim community and the National Peace Council.

The divisive statement made by Allotey Parker, is not only a clear manifestation of bigotry but also a gross and blatant disregard to the president, parliament and by default, GES and the constitution of our dear nation.

We want to make it clear that nobody can sit at his corner and make laws that contravene the constitution and the biddable Muslim student is expected to comply without questioning. Ghanaians must understand that GES made the Lord's Prayer compulsory for us and we accepted it so they want to covertly add morning devotion. We vehemently reject both today.

By this, we are notifying all our members in all institutions to obey the directive of the president by obeying the constitution. None of our members should go for any devotion, being it morning or whatsoever.

All nurses and other professionals should wear the Hijab to work without any fear or favour. The only caution we send out is that, do not be confrontational. Ensure discipline, abide by the laws of the state and maintain peace in all your dealings in and outside your schools. We encourage you to report to [email protected]/0200746945 of any harassment.

Finally, we must say that we have absolute trust in the National Peace Council. We believe that the Peace Council will come out with a workable stratagem that can help us resolve the impasse without reaching a point of becoming a religious apartheid state.

Thank you

Long Live Ghana

Long live the rule of Law

SIGNED

Mohammed Andani Hussein
(National President, GMSA)

Cc: All Media Houses

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