Let the Spirit of Eid be with us

Yesterday was Eid-ul-Fitr and as part of national celebrations, today has been declared a public holiday.

Notwithstanding, this year’s celebration, which marks the end of a month-long fasting or Ramadan, has been done under very trying and unusual circumstances of not having prayers in large congregations and also without the regular merrymaking and feasting with family and friends in large numbers.

This is as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which demands of us all to ensure strict social distancing, personal hygiene and safety health protocols.

In line with this, therefore, during the month-long period of fasting and prayers, certain aspects of the daily Muslim prayers, routine congregational prayers and the recitation and interpretation of the holy Qu’ran, could not come on and we wish to commend our Muslim brothers and sisters for the big sacrifices.

The Daily Graphic acknowledges the point that the occasion should be used to show love and care to all with the presentation of food to needy ones or the less privileged in society and the fact that every Muslim should have food to eat on the day.

 In his sermon yesterday at the virtual public broadcast, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu also underscored the importance of fasting in Islam and the virtues of sharing.

He asked Muslims to use the lessons learnt in the 30-day fast to show empathy to the poor and the underprivileged in society. They should also imbibe the virtues of peace and good neighbourliness as espoused by Islam in their respective communities.

We are aware that Eid affords the Muslim faithful an opportunity of spiritual stock-taking and a general self-diagnosis, with the view to looking at ways to improve on the past and ask Allah for mercies, a healthy life and forgiveness, especially in these difficult times of COVID-19.

While appreciating the prayers for a good and healthy life, we also wish to draw the attention of all to some of the things which have come up as a result of the coronavirus, which were elaborately stressed by the Chief Imam and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the virtual national broadcast to mark Eid yesterday.

We acknowledge the fact that COVID-19 has brought to the fore the issue of creativity, innovation and technical expertise, and wish to call on all to try to build on their technical and vocational skills, to also produce some equipment for personal protection.

Furthermore, we at the Daily Graphic wish to encourage not only Muslims but all other faiths to work on their mindset, reject anything that is filthy and ensure healthy surroundings.

Equally, we wish to use this special occasion to appeal to all to ensure a clean environment, especially during these COVID-19 times, when we need to maintain good health to avoid falling sick.

Undoubtedly, we witnessed moderate celebrations yesterday, but more especially, because today, which follows Eid, has been declared a public holiday, we wish to further appeal to all to avoid any excesses during the period.

Another point that has caught our attention, as a result of the coronavirus, is the fact that we all need to protect our own, and keep reminding ourselves that this is our country and we have to join hands to build it.

Certainly, we are currently not in normal times and things have to be done differently in our bid to overcome the global pandemic.

In so doing, we wish to acknowledge the fact that both Muslims and Christians have done well to co-exist peacefully and we further wish to encourage more of such gestures to maintain the cordiality, since it is in our collective strength that we can build a prosperous country.

On this special occasion, we wish all Muslims a Happy Eid and appeal to all to let the spirit of Eid develop further in our everyday activities to enable the larger society to live together in harmony and peace, as well as support each other.