Bawumia urges Christians, Muslims to live in peace
The running mate of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on Muslims in the country to leave at peace with Christians in order to sustain the peace in Ghana.
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According to him, Islam taught tolerance towards Christianity, making it obligatory for Muslims to coexist with their Christian counterparts.
“I also urge Ghanaian Muslims to continue to coexist peacefully with the Christian community as Islam itself, by scripture, is very tolerant of Christianity since that is the surest way to remain a united, politically stable nation,” the former deputy governor of the central bank stated when he spoke as a guest speaker at the 9th Annual University for Development Studies (UDS) Ghana Muslims Students Association (GMSA) Congress in Tamale.
These comments were contained in a lecture titled “Islam in the 21st Century: The Role of Muslim Youth in Combating Extremism and Radicalism for Political Stability,” delivered at the 9th Annual Congress of the (GMSA) of the UDS last Friday.
Knowledge
Dr Bawumia also urged Muslim youth to be bold and speak up against the ills in society and also eschew religious radicalism.
“I identify the need for the youth to seek knowledge to avoid being misled into radicalism, pursuing socio-economic development and creating jobs, fighting corruption, shunning divisions, tolerating divergent views in especially matters of religion, mentoring and forgiveness, as key to combating radicalism and extremism.
"I call on all to speak out against groups such as ISIL, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram, which have hijacked the ‘Religion of Peace’ and are committing dastardly acts and for us to also speak out against other evils such as corruption that hamper our development,” he said.
He also cautioned Ghanaian Muslims to be on the guard against extremists and their influence and appealed to the Muslim community to shun all divisions and continue to coexist peacefully with the Christian population, as it is the only way to guarantee the stability of the nation.
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“As young people, we ought to guard against the evils of exclusivism. It is important that we realise that if Allah so desired, He would have made all of us one people. But as He states in the Qur’an, He allows us to wallow in our differences, which He shall settle on the Day of Judgment.
“There shall be no compulsion in religion,” so states the Qur’an. Let us, therefore, respect one another’s views on matters of religion. Intolerance in matters of religion is what breeds extremism and radicalism, which trigger political instability,” he said.
Touching on the relationship between faiths, Alhaji Dr Bawumia explained that radicalism and extremism were the products of exclusivism and intolerance.