Ameer Commends Peace Amongst Religious Faiths

The Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Mission in Ghana, Maulvi Wahab Adam, has commended Christians, Muslims and people of other religious faiths in the country for co-existing peacefully, despite their diversities.

He said the prevailing peaceful co-existence of the religious bodies had enabled them to collaborate “in many things, including the observation of elections”.

Maulvi Adam was speaking on Wednesday when he led a four-member delegation to call on the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal.

The visit was to strengthen the ties between the GCGL and the Ahmadiyya Mission and also discuss how to collaborate towards the centenary celebration of the Ahmadiyya Mission.

The Ameer and members of his team later toured the Editorial, Packaging and Administration departments of the GCGL.

Maulvi Adam stressed the need for the prevailing harmony among religious groups to be maintained, since it had a bearing on their image.

For instance, he said, it was only when religious groups were at peace with one another that they could garner “the moral right to talk to politicians and ethnic groups” in the event of any infraction.

He said one important philosophy of the Ahmadiyya Mission was to co-exist with all religious groups.

Maulvi Adam noted that the mission had been in the country for quite some time and had been instrumental in education, health and other social issues.

According to him, the mission was confronted with the problem of education when it emerged in the country, as many Muslims were afraid that they might be converted to Christianity if they pursued secular education.

Maulvi Adam said the mission started establishing educational institutions, known as English-Arabic schools, and later put up clinics and hospitals throughout the country.

He said the schools were open to Christians and that they were not compelled to practise Islam, stressing that several prominent Ghanaian Christians attended Ahmadiyya schools.

On the upcoming centenary celebration, the Ameer said about 100,000 people from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries were expected for the celebration from April 17 to 19, 2008.

He said the celebration would create an avenue “to showcase the progress and peace in the country”.

Maulvi Adam lauded the management of the GCGL for publishing credible and organised stories in the Daily Graphic, saying that “the stories are so credible, the way they are organised is good, while the editorial and printing are also encouraging”.

“We never miss reading the Daily Graphic. We make sure that we read the paper every day,” he stressed.

Mr Awal said the GCGL was non-partisan and that it was the only media house in the country that had seven publications in circulation throughout the country.

He said the newspapers did not only inform but also educate the public and create the avenue for national discourse.

Mr Awal asked the Ahmadiyya Mission to double its subscription of the Daily Graphic and gave the assurance that the mission could call on the GCGL for coverage of any of its activities.

In Ghana, the message of Ahmadiyyat was first introduced in 1921 by Alhaj Maulana Abdur Raheem Nayyar, a companion of the Founder, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru