Celebrate Salah soberly
Muslims across the world celebrate Eid-ul Fitr every year to mark the end of the month of fasting on the Islamic calender.
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Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam that makes it mandatory for all adult Muslims to observe either 29 or 30 days of fasting with intense supplication for spiritual purification and forgiveness of ones sins.
The end of the fast is climaxed with Eid-ul Fitr prayers which goes with a lot of merry making, alms giving and funfair.
Lately, however, ‘Salah jams’, youth riding dangerously on motorbikes and other indecent behaviours are becoming the trademark of the celebration.
Other celebrations such as Eid-ul Adha ('festival of Sacrifice'), wedding ceremonies, funerals and even naming ceremonies are assuming similar dimensions.
This year’s Eid-ul Fitr celebration got a dose of such rowdy behaviours resulting in nine people losing their lives in a stampede during a Salah jam at Asawasi, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
This unfortunate incident has left families devastated.
The excesses of these celebrations over the years seem to be eroding the real meaning of these Islamic celebrations.
Many scholars of Islam have strong views forbidding all forms of entertainment that makes man to forget about the main purpose of his creation which is to worship Allah.
In fact, even some scholars say any form of music with beats and instruments is ‘haram’ even if the lyrics are decent because music has the tendency to corrupt morals.
Such scholars base their argument on verses of the Holy Quran such as the following;
“So abstain from the pollution of idols and abstain from false vain words”. (22:30)
“And of the people there is he who buys a ‘vain talk’ so that he may lead others astray from the path of Allah without (real) knowledge and takes it (the revelation of Allah) for a mockery for these shall be a disgracing chastisement (punishment).” (31:6)
“Indeed successful are the believers those who in their prayers are humble and those who keep themselves from vain (words and deeds).” (25:72)
These verses and many others are interpreted to mean that patronising secular music and other unruly behaviours such as gossip, betting, gambling, ‘sakawa’ etc are forbidden in Islam.
From the foregoing analysis, it is, therefore, wrong for our Muslim youth to make it a yearly ritual to organise jams and engage in all sort of indecent behaviours, especially during Salah festivities.
Even though the National Chief Imam has over the years spoken against such acts, all key actors, i.e, opinion leaders and Imams should sensitise the youth to the significance of Ramadan and Eid as opportunities to increase good deeds, to atone for one’s sins in the past years rather than as an avenue to engage in vices such as reckless motor riding, partying and engaging in acts that may endanger their lives and that of others.