Morning Devotion in Schools – Let us learn from the Nigerians

Over the years Ghana seems to have been enjoying some semblance of both religious freedom and tolerance. Incidentally, this road to peace in the country is under threat as a result of our own myopic interpretation of religious tolerance.

Reference is made to a statement attributed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) on its notice to all students in missionary secondary schools to attend morning devotion sessions if it is a school rule. “We are trying to encourage our students notwithstanding their faith to come together to worship and it brings about national unity. If a Muslim takes part in morning worship, it doesn’t mean the person is being forced to convert to Christianity,” the Public Relations officer of the Ghana Education Service, Charles Parker Allotey (Parker) explained. According to the Service, failure to attend compulsory morning devotion sessions may lead to indiscipline among students.

The reaction of the GES followed a directive by President Mahama to all heads of public institutions, including schools, to desist from forcing Muslim students to compulsorily join Christian fellowships.

The Muslim Community in the Western Region on Friday (2/20/15) demonstrated to: protest their displeasure over the compulsory church service policy in some Senior High Schools in the country; force government to compel schools to allow female Muslim students to put on veils; prevent the attendance of church services in schools that make such gatherings compulsory.
For the first time in Ghana’s history aggrieved Muslim students vented out their frustration and displeasure through legally accepted procedure. This very act itself should be commended by all peace loving Ghanaians. President Mahama set the pace with his prompt positive response to the issue. GES disrespected him by sticking it into the noses of the Muslims.
The reaction of the GES to the Muslim Community is at best very insensitive, incendiary if not outright provocative. No wonder the swift and harsh response from the Ghana Muslim Students’ Association (GMSA) rejecting the directive from the GES and called on all Muslim students all over the country to do the same. In a statement released to the media the GMSA said “We want to make it clear that nobody can sit at his corner and make laws that contravene the constitution and the biddable Muslim student is expected to comply without questioning. Ghanaians must understand that GES made the Lord’s Prayer compulsory for us and we accepted it so they want to covertly add morning devotion. We vehemently reject both today.”
Such is the beginning of hostilities. The Muslims have thrown the first salvo. It is very unfortunate that individuals would want to impose their belief on others under the guise of education even if that would create chaos. Ghana underrates religious belief and feelings at its own peril. Christians should know that Muslims do not attach the same reverence to Jesus Christ as they (Christians) do. In the same way Muslims uphold Mohammed in a higher esteem than Christians. This should not be interpreted as one being better than the other. It should be seen as a sign of individual differences.
The missionary schools are public schools. They teach and prepare students to take the same examinations and they are open to all. This policy should continue since it has served Ghana very well. If after so many years of attending morning devotion in missionary schools Muslims are raising resentment, they should be listened to and appropriate measures taken to address their concerns.
A way out of this is what this writer observed as a teacher in a teachers’ training college in Lagos, Nigeria. The principal was a Muslim – an Alhaji. During morning devotion all Christians assembled in one area while the Muslims also met at a different spot for five to ten minutes of prayer or “kraming”. After this all students would be together for the morning assembly. This worked well for all and sundry. It could be easily replicated in Ghanaian schools.
If Parker is insisting that all students should attend morning devotion irrespective of religion, there is nothing wrong with it. Rather Muslim students should not be forced to observe Christian method of devotion. Within a given time frame all Muslim students should be grouped in one special place under the supervision of their leader(s) (where there is no Muslim teacher in the school) to go through their own rituals for morning devotion. When the Christians finish their morning devotion the Muslims would join them for the morning assembly. The same can be said about church services.
Since no Christian would like to be forced to “kram” they should be sympathetic towards the Muslims’ apprehension towards prayer and issues involving Jesus Christ. Christ did not force anybody to follow Him. He presented an alternative to the various religious practices at His time and called on all who believed to follow Him. The Muslims in missionary schools should be given some few minutes for their type of morning devotion if that would fulfill Christ’s request “That They All May Be One.”
Credit to OPANIN KWABENA MENSAH

618 expats embrace Islam in Riyadh

The Office of Call and Guidance in north Riyadh reported on Monday that 618 people from France, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Ghana had embraced Islam.
Deputy Director Sheikh Abdul Hakim Al-Jasser said that the reversions occurred only in the first quarter of 1436. Thanks to incentive programs, the reversions were made because of special programs carried out on a regular basis.
He said these programs included the “Great Promise Forum” designed for the expat communities during which 12 forums were organized, attended by 927 people, with 97 of them embracing Islam.
Another program was “Outreach Preaching Yours” at expatriates’ accommodations in north Riyadh; this program was sponsored by the Saleh Al-Rajhi Endowment. He said that during the past three months the group had made 43 missionary tours and targeted 1,294 people with 119 accepting Islam as their new faith.
He added the number of internal and external lectures and lessons which were carried out in several languages was 800, attended by more than 29,000 people both male and female.
He said that during the course of these programs, the office distributed 5,000 books, audiotapes and translated pamphlets. They also organized seven Umrah trips, which benefited 350 people from among the new Muslims as well as others.
He added that his office had visited sick people in major hospitals in Riyadh.
Al-Jasser spoke about women’s programs during the first quarter of this year. In the “Women’s Concern” program, there were 188 visits by women to various expatriate women’s work sites in the north of Riyadh. He said that 34 women had embraced Islam because of this program.
Another program designed for domestic helpers at the shelter of “Social Affairs Center” included 21 visits with 9 women embracing Islam as a result of the visits.


According to him, 507 people benefited from these programs and 279 assorted gifts were distributed.
Al-Jasser concluded by calling on philanthropists to support these activities and programs to ensure the continuity of their successes.
Credit to ABDUL HANNAN TAGO

Ghana Muslims hail president's stand on hijab

Ghanaian Muslims have welcomed a recent presidential directive emphasizing the citizen's right to freedom of faith as spelled out in the national constitution.

"It's like our prayers have finally been heard," Kausar Mohammed, a nursing student, told The Anadolu Agency.

"It's good because it will help us practice our faith," he said.

In his annual state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, President John Mahama reiterated his commitment to Article 21 of the constitution, which guarantees citizens the freedom of religion and the freedom to express their religious beliefs.

"It is wrong under our constitution for Muslim students to be compelled to attend church services, or for Christian students to be compelled to attend Muslim congregational prayers," he explained.

"It is also wrong to prevent Muslim women from wearing the hijab or [Catholic] nuns from wearing their habits to work or school," Mahama added.

"Heads of institution must note this for strict compliance," he warned. "Appropriate sanctions will be taken against any head of institution who acts contrary to constitutional provisions."

Prior to the president's directive, many female Muslim high-school students – and female Muslims working in the public sector – had been forced to take off their veils.

The issue was more pronounced at missionary schools and nurse-training colleges.

Therefore, the president's speech came as a relief for Kausar, who says seeing her colleagues humiliated for wearing the veil deterred her from wearing one herself.

"Growing up wearing a veil everywhere you go and then going to a tertiary institution and there's a law that you have to remove the veil – you feel like you've been cheated," she told AA.

"Everybody is used to you wearing the veil; then, people see you one morning going to work with your hair uncovered," she added bitterly.

"You feel like you are naked because your uniform is short and you're not dressed like a Muslim lady," she lamented.

The president's speech was also music to the ears of Sadia Isaaka, a student nurse at the government-run Ridge Hospital in Accra.

"I have received a [phone] text that it is OK for us to wear the veil," she told AA jubilantly.

"I will go for clinicals next semester. I will try wearing my veil and see what happens," said Isaaka.

She has had bad experiences in the past wearing her hijab to the hospital.

"Once I wore the veil to work and our supervisor said she didn't ever want to see it again," she recalled.

The supervisor had told Isaaka, the student said, that her hijab was "not part of nursing ethics."

"She said it in front of people. I felt really bad, but I didn't have a choice," she recalled. "Being a Muslim, you can't dress in your uniform with your veil. As soon as you enter the ward you have to take the veil off."

According to a 2010 population census, 71.2 percent of Ghana's population is Christian, while Muslims account for some 17.6 percent of the populace.

-No church service-

Muhammed Andani Husseini, president of Ghana's Muslim Students Association, likewise hopes the presidential directive will end the challenges Muslim students face at high schools and universities.

"I am very happy. It means we have our future in our hand and the law is in our favor," he told AA.

Husseini hopes the president's speech will change the public perception regarding the challenges faced by Muslims.

"We hope all Ghanaians will understand that this issue [anti-Muslim discrimination] is real and that we must confront it as a people," he said.

"Muslim students in about 70 percent of senior high schools are forced to attend church services," Husseini noted.

"Every morning, you are forced to attend church service. If you fail, you are fined a maximum of 20 Ghanaian cedi [roughly $6]," he fumed.

"If you're in school to acquire knowledge, do you have to go to church to acquire this knowledge?" Husseini asked.

He lamented that many educational institutions in the country did not provide places of worship for Muslim students.

"Some students have a place of worship, but they are not permitted to erect a building. So they worship under the scotching sun, and when it rains it becomes difficult for them to observe their daily prayers," he said.

The student leader noted that female Muslim students were not allowed to wear veils while at the schools' boarding houses.

"You live at home as a Muslim girl and you always wear a hijab. Then you enter a senior high school and you're asked to wear a very short dress and you can't wear a veil," he said.

Husseini is cautiously optimistic that the president's speech will help end these malpractices.

"While jubilant over the statements made by the president, we also worry about statements from the implementers of state policy on education, the Ghana Education Service," he told AA.

"The important thing for us is that we have the law on our side and that we can wear the hijab without any fear or favor," the student leader asserted.

The Muslim caucus in Ghana's House of Parliament has long advocated for Muslims' religious rights.

"If care is not taken, we will destabilize the peace… because if you are going to force others to believe what you believe, this is a breach of the constitution," lawmaker Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak told AA.

"We don't want a situation where there will be a confrontation," he added.

Credit to worldbulletin.net

Nations Cup 2015: Algeria Handed Tough Nations Cup Draw

 

Algeria, the highest-ranked side on the continent, face a tough draw for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The Desert Foxes, who reached the second round of this year's World Cup, will face Senegal, Ghana and South Africa in Group C.
Hosts Equatorial Guinea will play neighbours Gabon, Congo and Burkina Faso in Group A.
Group B features Zambia, DR Congo, Cape Verde Tunisia while in D it is Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon and Mali. 

The opening match of the tournament will see hosts Equatorial Guinea take on Congo on 17 January.
Congo will be coached by Claude LeRoy, who will be appearing at his eighth Nations Cup tournament with his fifth different country.
Both Equatorial Guinea and Gabon reached the quarter-finals when they co-hosted the tournament in 2012.
Burkina Faso who will be looking to prove their run to the final in 2013, when they lost to Nigeria, was not just a one-off achievement.
Zambia, who are the seeded side in Group B , lifted the trophy in 2012 in the Gabonese capital Libreville but only after playing all their matches before the final in Equatorial Guinea.
Tunisia were also at the 2012 finals but played their games in neighbouring Gabon while DR Congo and Cape Verde did not qualify.
In Group C , Senegal will be hoping to forget their last trip to Equatorial Guinea when they lost all three of their matches, despite being some people's tip to win the tournament.
However Alain Giresse's side will have their work cut out for them as they face what many will no doubt be calling the 'Group of Death.'
It includes a resurgent South African side who were unbeaten in the qualifiers, an Algerian side ranked number one in Africa by Fifa and Ghana, who will be under the leadership of the experienced Avram Grant.
Group D reunites Cameroon and Ivory Coast after they were in the same pool for the qualifying stages.
Cameroon managed to put a poor World Cup behind them to go unbeaten to reach the 2015 finals, a run that included a 4-1 win over Ivory Coast in Yaounde.
Ivory Coast conceded 11 goals en route to the finals and lost 4-3 at home to DR Congo along the way.
The Guinea squad will be representing a nation that has been ravaged by the deadly Ebola virus and will be determined to give fans back home something to cheer about.
The Syli Nationale had to play all their matches away from home after being prevented from playing in Conakry because of Ebola.
Mali will have fond memories of Equatorial Guinea as it was in the capital Malabo that they clinched the first of their consecutive third place finishes at the Nations Cup.