Yesterday Ghanaian Muslims, as well as others elsewhere, ended this year’s Ramadan, a month of fast.
Today, the Ghanaian Muslim community is observing Eid-ul-Fitr, an Arabic expression translated as “Festival of Breaking Fast”.
We congratulate all Muslims on their endurance of going through the one-month fast and also on their special occasion.
We know every true Muslim believes by going through the fast, they have become stronger or better followers of Allah.
This is because Ramadan is a time for Muslims to reflect on their actions, repent, and seek forgiveness from Allah and thus have a stronger relationship with their Maker.
Besides, it is time to develop or improve on one’s self-control, discipline and patience and thereby relate better with others.
This is to say that Muslims should not take Ramadan as just an annual ritual but an occasion to do introspection to check where they fall short in their walk with Allah and repent for a better life.
Once human, Muslims are prone to falling short of the demands of the word of Allah but the way out is to repent and pursue the high calling of Allah.
We know Muslims are one group of people who are empathetic towards others and very charitable and they are showing these traits the more today as they share food with both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Also, because the Eid-ul-Fitr has fallen today, a Saturday, officially a non-working day in the country, the government has declared Monday as a public holiday to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.
This means even though not every Ghanaian took part in the Ramadan, every Ghanaian is enjoying Eid-ul-Fitr, which is a remarkable sign of national solidarity with Muslims in the country.
Ghana is a good example of a country where religious differences notwithstanding, there is excellent peaceful co-existence, which is very good for national development.
However, there are some negative attitudes among all the people which undermine national progress.
Some of these are corruption, unbridled profiteering, smuggling, demonstration of extreme partisanship in certain national issues, money-laundering, nepotism and favouritism as against meritocracy.
We, therefore, appeal to Muslims that as they reflect on what they have gained from Ramadan in particular, they should reflect on how they can use their “reborn” lives to influence others for the national good.
In fact, religion should not be practised for the sake of it but for the improvement of lives, communities and nations.
All religions demand some righteousness and when adherents pursue such, life at where they are would be more enjoyable than could be envisaged.
After all, religious adherents should be bearers of good deeds and so as Muslims celebrate their feat of fasting for a whole month, we appeal to them to identify weaknesses in the national life they can help to change for the better this year and do similarly with subsequent Ramadans.
That way, every year’s Ramadan would have meaning that reflects on individual and national lives and not just a religious ritual to observe for its own sake.
Once again we congratulate the Muslim community in the country on their successful Ramadan.
