All too soon the month-long period of fasting by Muslims came to an end a couple of days ago, the highpoint of which was the Eid or celebration yesterday and the day earlier.
We join other compatriots in congratulating the Muslim segment of the population for undertaking the spiritual exercise as enjoined them by God, the Omnipotent and Omniscient.
It was a 30-day of sacrifice observed in conformity with the Islamic scriptures.
The discipline therein, when translated into our everyday lives, will impact positively in our drive towards development and nation-building.
The lack of discipline is responsible for most of the challenges we face in our everyday lives individually and as a nation.
The abstinence from food, water and bodily pleasures from dawn to dusk is an exercise steeped in discipline. When done properly, the individual is spiritually rid of the iniquities gathered over the past months. The born again spirit is the attribute the nation needs from her citizens to break away from the years of indiscipline and unpatriotic conduct.
The fear of God, as the beginning of wisdom, is the way out for us and the world at large.
Let not the Islamic faithful depart from the strict adherence to issues of moralities during the month-long journey of abstinence and high standard of morality.
Proper management of public property and office, whose benefits touch all and sundry, not forgetting corruption, slandering, and engagement in mendacity, are but some of the ‘don’ts’ of the month of Ramadan. Steering away from this path even as the curtains are drawn over the month-long spiritual journey is what the Islamic clerics insist upon at the end of every fasting period. This, we too endorse and rightly so.
The human frailties in many instances make the continuance of the religious discipline evaporate as some return to their pre-Ramadan bad ways.
We pray that the dictates of the Creator, which touched the hearts during the Ramadan fasting, continue to stand as bulwarks against our bad deeds.
We are excited about the inter-faith harmony that continues to exist between Muslims and Christians. The felicitations from Christians to their Muslim friends and neighbours continue to expand, something we must be grateful to God for.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and the National Chief Imam must be congratulated for their great works towards the inter-faith harmony. We pray that this waxes even stronger over the years. May God accept the prayers of the faithful and keep away the wicked and those with nothing to offer this nation but misery, away from power.