All too soon, another session of fasting in the Islamic faith has come to an end. We are aware of the immense spiritual significance of the religious exercise which, we have also learnt, is one of the cannons of Islam and therefore incumbent upon all Islamic faithful to undertake, provided they are healthy.
Such religious obligations, being acts of discipline, are expected to instill a certain level of pity and spiritual renewal in those who undertake them.
It is in this direction that we hope that our brothers and sisters in one of the great religions of the world have been spiritually renewed and ready to impact this rare quality on the affairs of their country.
We have learnt too, with much satisfaction, about how some Muslims, during the holy month of fasting, prayed for the nation, especially as it heads for an election and salute them for the act of spirituality and nationalism.
Islam recognizes the responsibilities of citizens towards their countries, a recognition we associate ourselves with, given the fact that without an organized country, we cannot even practice our faiths.
It is therefore strange that regardless of the position of Islam on discipline and respect for the authority of the state, some Muslim youth engage in acts which are totally in contravention of the tenets of the religion.
Some, with little or no knowledge of Islam, therefore, live with a worrying stereotype about the religion, a regrettable trend. We ask that all should take time to learn something about each other’s religions.
This way, we can easily identify it when the bad nuts in each religion are active in their negative activities and ascribe these to them and not the religion they belong.
As the curtains draw over the Ramadan fasting, we pray that those who engaged in it, especially the youth, would maintain the prescribed way of life- doing good, supporting the needy and avoid negative tendencies.
Of what spiritual significance is it to engage in such a strenuous religious exercise and blow same away with dangerous and unreligious activities, in the name of celebrating the end of a 30-day fasting period?
Let the youth celebrate in moderation and avoid the dangers posed by reckless riding of unregistered motorbikes on the streets and engagement in activities which are anything but decent and morally acceptable.
We have, for instance, learnt about an organized celebration of the end of the religious exercise through street carnivals and other forms of entertainment scheduled for tomorrow.
At such functions, the possibilities of things getting out of hand and celebrants suffering avoidable bodily harm and even getting in trouble with the law cannot be over-looked.
We know for sure that the police would have a lot of trouble stemming the unruly actions of motor-riding youths in especially Nima, something which should not be the case.
Even as we ask that all stakeholders consider the foregone, as they mark the end of the religious obligation, we wish all Muslims a fantastic celebration devoid of untoward conduct. To employ the local parlance, we say Barka da Sallah.
