Eid Mubarak to all Muslims

Our Muslim brothers and sisters yesterday joined their counterparts in other parts of the world to celebrate the end of the Ramadan fast with prayers to their Maker for good health and prosperity.

That was after 30 days of dawn-to-dusk fasting, during which they denied themselves food and some pleasures of the world.

The Eid-ul-Fitr (Feast of Breaking of the Fast) is an important religious festival celebrated by Muslims throughout the world to mark the end of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam.

The Eid has particularly become a very significant festival in Ghana in recent times because of the bond of friendship it builds between Muslims and Christians and, indeed, adherents of other religious faiths.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo alluded to this peaceful coexistence when, at the Eid prayer session at the Black Star Square in Accra yesterday, he described Ghana as a nation where people of different faiths lived together in peace and harmony.

He urged Ghanaians to cherish that long-standing bond existing among the various religious denominations and use it as a basis for advancing the cause of nation-building.

As we make merry after the 30-day fast, we need to remind ourselves of some of the values of Islam that encourage us to love one another, respect the laws of the land, adhere to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed (Peace be onto His name) and share what we have with our neighbours.

We know our Muslim brothers and sisters cherish these values because of the way they carried themselves before Allah during the prayer session yesterday.

Even after the prayers, our Muslim brothers and sisters shared what they had with friends and the needy.

While we commend Muslims for attaining this religious feat, the Daily Graphic reminds them of some of the perceptions out there that they ought to work at to redeem their image.

It is generally held that our Muslim brothers especially serve as a corps of machomen whom some unscrupulous people use to visit mayhem on perceived enemies.

There is also the perception that some Muslims have become tools in the hands of religious fundamentalists who the fundamentalists use to unleash bomb attacks on innocent citizens.

Here again, President Akufo-Addo advised Muslims to be wary of ideologists who might want to destroy the beautiful Islamic religion for their selfish interest.

Other sources of worry to peace-loving people, including some Muslims, are the excesses associated with the celebration of Eid. After prayers, some Muslims, especially the youth, take to the streets, riding motorbikes and vehicles dangerously, thereby endangering the lives of peace-loving people in the communities.

We add our voice to the tonnes of admonition out there to our Muslim brothers and sisters to celebrate Eid in moderation, mindful of their lives and other lives that may be put at risk through their actions.

Be that as it may, Muslims deserve to celebrate the Ramadan, both in a solemn mood and with pomp and circumstance.

We wish all Muslims Eid Mubarak.