Millions of Muslims around the globe, including those in Ghana, yesterday celebrated Eid-ul-Adha.
It is an occasion to commemorate the sacrifices made by Quranic Prophet Ibrahim due to his unwavering faith in Allah.
The festival is also significant because it has come to be associated with the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, a sacred pilgrimage required of all Muslims at least once in a lifetime.
Eid-ul-Adha is celebrated on the last day of Hajj, the sacred pilgrimage performed by Muslims at the holy mosque of Masjid al Haram in Mecca.
Muslims believe the physically-demanding pilgrimage performed at the holy mosque offers a chance to pray for past sins and start afresh before Allah.
Those who understand things spiritual would tell you that any time you accept or believe that God or Allah has done something of value for you such as forgiving your sins, you find a way to express thanksgiving.
We believe it is in this spirit that Muslims, even if they are not at the Hajj physically, celebrate the Adha to show gratitude to Allah for all He has done for them during the Islam calendar year and also express love and brotherliness to people around them, including even non-Muslims.
Therefore on this day, Muslims wear the best of clothes and
gather at designated places to pray to Allah after which they return home for feasting and sharing of food and raw meat of goats, sheep or cow with the family, friends, and the underprivileged, with some Muslims also donating money and food items to charity or to poor families.
Whether Muslims or not, Ghanaians must learn some useful lessons from Eid-ul- Adha.
We must accept that we have a Creator we are accountable to and so we should find out what He demands of us and adhere to them and ask for forgiveness where we have faltered.
Also, we should understand that our good fortunes are not for us alone as part of them must be shared with under-privileged people for them to feel cared for or about for them to accept that after all, life is worth living.
As significant as yesterday was for Muslims and the entire country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo deemed it necessary to attend the Eid-ul-Adha prayers in Accra led by the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu.
The President painted a picture of an economy being resuscitated from the effects of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Our take on his speech relates to his appeal for support from the Muslim community and the country at large to make the government able to deliver the needed progress and prosperity that all Ghanaians seek.
We wish to remind Muslims that they have an obligatory role to play in national development.
We believe if their support comes in the form of eschewing and exposing corruption in all places in addition to their already hardworking nature as the Quran demands from them, many dubious characters would adopt the only option of abandoning their sinful ways that undermine the progress of the nation.
Our stand dovetails into the Khutba (sermon) delivered by the revered Sheikh Sharubutu, in which he entreated Muslims to submit their lives to Allah as Ibrahim did to be on the path of righteousness and eschew anything satanic.
May Eid bring us all Allah’s blessings.
Congratulations to all Muslims on celebrating a successful Eid-ul-Adha. Eid Mubarak!
