Tijaniyya Muslim Ends Delegates Congress

The delegates’ congress of the Tijaniyya Muslim Council of Ghana has ended in Koforidua the Eastern regional capital of Ghana.

There was Maulid celebration to climax the event which was well attended by chiefs, Ulama, politicians, some members of the council and people from other works of life.

At the two-day congress, stock on the activities of the Council which transpired in the past was taken, and new course chartered to brighten the future of the council.

Speaking on the theme “Global Peace, Religious Tolerance Responsibility of Tijaniyya Council of Ghana”, Sheikh AbulFaidi Abdulai Maikano Jallo urged all to respect and tolerates one another’s religion.

He reiterated the need in dispensing justice which according to him will ensure the peace everyone is calling for. Sheikh Abul-Faidi expressed his appreciation for the good work the council is embarking and urged them to do more.

The Guest of honor was the ambassador of Royal Norwegian Madam Hege HERTZBERG.

The spiritual leader further stated that, the best protection we can create is to speak well of each other, value our differences, enjoy diversity – it makes life more exiting! – and respect each other’s right to practice our religion and live our life.

“I have a challenge to you. Next year, Ghana will hold the general election again. We have already seen fights and loss of lives in political parties. We see a heated debate about the voters roll, and a demonstration against it that turned more violent than Ghana has seen in years. I shall of course not involve myself in the party politics of Ghana, be it internal issues within the parties or the relationship between them, nor shall I take any side in the debate on the voters roll. But I am sincerely convinced that in Ghana, one can express one’s opinion in all this cases, and will be heard and respected. One will of course not always get support for ones views, but that is democracy. The better arguments you have, the better chances you have to win the debate.”

He added that, “Therefore, there is no need to use violence to promote ones’ view. As religious leaders, you have an obligation to tell the people that. Violence for better democracy is a contradiction of terms.

Ghanaian people are in general very religious. I therefore believe that leaders from the various religious faiths have an important role to play in the year to come. You could create an interfaith platform to promote inclusion, transparency and harmony in Ghana before, during and after the 2016 general elections. The platform could have tasks such as deploying conflict-management intelligence for the gathering of early warning signs, and prepare for meetings and mediation to resolve imminent conflicts.”

Again, he related that, “Since I took up this post, I have tried to “sell” Ghana to Norwegian companies as a Safe Haven in West Africa, as a peaceful country with a very friendly people. And I also get a lot of requests from organisations in Ghana that would like to travel to Norway and learn from the various Norwegian experiences. I think it is about time to turn that around.

“Ghana’s unique experience as a country where the various religious groups can live peacefully together is something you can export. You know much more about this than the Norwegian religious organisations. I wish we could see a delegation from various faiths in Norway visiting Ghana and learning from your experience. If they could come home to Norway and start some new practices and explain that this was something they learned in Ghana, who knows – that may make companies setting their eyes on this wonderful country and look for investment opportunities here.”

The Chairman of the occasion AlhajiBalaFaida congratulated participants and invited guest who graced the occasion. The national Chief Imam of the Eastern region Imam Amudani prayed for the council, the nation, Africa and the world for justice, peace and tranquility.