‘Use Ramadan to maintain peace in Muslim communities’

The Coalition of Muslim Organisations, Ghana (COMOG), the umbrella Muslim body in the country, has called on the Muslim leadership to use this year’s Ramadan period to help maintain peace and stability in the Muslim communities.

Additionally, COMOG has called for steps to be taken to provide a legal succession framework for the Muslim Ummah (community).

The association further indicated that the succession framework would ensure smooth facilitation of the “imamship” arrangements in the newly created regions and at the district levels.

“It will also help in the selection of an Imam for the Volta Region, which has not had a regional Imam for some years now,” it further stated.

These were contained in a statement signed and released by the General Secretary of the COMOG, Hajj Abdel-Manan Abdel-Rahman, on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 following the commencement of the 30-days fasting and prayer period, which took off on Monday, May 6, 2019.

Effective use

The organisation, however, urged all Muslims in the country to make effective use of the Ramadan period to seek closeness to God, forgive one another and respect the rights of others.

It also urged them to respect the privacy of their neighbours, particularly non-Muslims and desist from excessive noise making during their midnight prayers and other activities to ensure peaceful co-operation throughout the exercise.

“As we pour our supplications before Allah, we call on Muslims nationwide to pray for His Eminence, the National Chief Imam, the President and his Vice as well as the government,” it stated.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad, according to Islamic belief.

This annual observance is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam.

The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in the hadiths.

During the period, fasting is obligatory for adult Muslims, except the aged, those who are suffering from an illness, travelling, pregnant, breastfeeding, and are diabetic, among other conditions.