Ghana Deserves Recognition as the Role Model for Religious Tolerance and Peace, 2. Happy Eid-ul Fitri, 2024.
By
Benjamin Pulle Niriwa, 10.04.2024. In Religious Peace for Quality Health and Development.
Though it is true that no human being can please Allah without faith, the universe can be a junior Heaven if believers really practice the teachings of the Holy Books. Issues of violence that we normally see in the Holy Books are used to warn believers against violent acts. God rewards people who diligently worship Him with pure hearts (Hebrews, 11:6; Quran., 5:9; Quran 2: 82. Quran 45:30). Anyone who genuinely worships Allah with a purity of heart, in normal situation, will never plan evil against his neighbor; especially when that person has caused no harm or offense.
The Holy Books are however not teaching believers to be cowards, but a believer can fight for his or her right with not with the intention of destroying. One Surah that I like most in the Noble Holy Quran is the verse that encourages people to be tolerant about their religious differences. This verse says that: “There is no compulsion where the religion is concerned” (Quran, 2:256). This Quranic Surah is no different from what Jesus himself was telling the Pharisees lawyer who secretly planned to entrap him by asking him questions. Jesus did not use a blood relation of the Pharisees lawyer as his neighbor; rather he used someone who, in those days, was supposed to be his worst enemy as neighbor (Matthew 22: 34-40).
The parable that Jesus gave agrees with many verses of both major Holy Books – the Holy Bible and Holy Quran. The Holy Bible teaching Christians to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44-47) and even provide them with food when they go hungry (Proverbs, 25:21) is not different from the Holy Quran teaching Muslims to be religious tolerance (Quran, 2:256). The Holy Quran says that it is practicing “… The ways of peace” (Quran 5:16) where believers are always encouraged to reconcile (Quran 4:128) for peace, since Allah do not like violence and encourages peaceful co-existence (Quran 2:205).
Quran 56: 25-26 says that people who are true believers do no use abusive words on each other. All that you always hear them say is, “Peace, peace” (Steinhauer, 2016). Once peace loving is turned into hatred, human dignity becomes nothing but a mirage! Naturally when someone is tagged as an enemy, he/she is mostly considered as a threat. So, discrimination and stigmatization are normally meted out against that person. This is one of the reasons why both major Holy Books are always preaching that believers should love even those that they know hate them (Google.com, 2015; Matthew 5:44-47).
What normally creates problems between people is when they begin to see each other as competitors! Competing is not a bad thing if the competition is a healthy one (Otten, 2022). But when it is an unhealthy one, it could be very deadly (Otten, 2022; Barker & Barclay, 2016). Most political, religious, and Chieftaincy violence occurs as a result of this unhealthy competition but not the healthy one!
Irrespective of one’s status in society, in a violent environment everyone is vulnerable. Though a bullet might be directed toward someone specifically, what will happen if that person dodges the bullet and another person is standing behind? Everyone can be a victim during violence like reported in the Bawku’s old but recurrent Chieftaincy war and in Nigeria (Online, 2023; Lawal, 2022; Seidu, 2022). In the case of the Nigeria Boko Haram’s insurgence, even people who are very influential and mostly regarded as untouchable were also victims (Lawal, 2022). In the Bawku war in Ghana here, even someone who has no linkage with any of the fighting royalties became a victim; just because he was found at the wrong place at the wrong time (Seidu, 2022).
As Ghana is going into the polls this year, let us all be guarded by what we say, especially with respect to our religious differences. This is the first time that the contest is between a Christian and a Muslim. Our utterances must be about which of them can help save the nation but not about which religion the person belongs to! The good news for the nation is that both of them have been in governance and we know their strengths very well. If we really leave politics aside and put Mother Ghana first, we would realize that despite the too much politicization; some politicians are decent than others when it comes to being truthful to the electorates.
Whilst others steal the nation with heavy hearts and still do something for the nation, others are just purely in to steal without conscience. These are some of the issues that we should be thinking about as a nation that is thinking about development in a peaceful environment. It does not matter who is ruling Ghana! What matters is whether the person is taking Ghana to the promise land or Ghana is rather retrogressing.
Christians and Muslims in Ghana have been admired for long for their religious tolerance and understanding when it comes to issues of national development, like voting. As the competition is now between a Christian and a Muslim; though His Excellency Former President is half Christian, half Muslim, the expectation is still very high for Ghana. The global community is keenly watching at what will happen during this year’s general elections on 7th December 2024.
What would prove that Ghanaian Christians and Muslims really love themselves would be determined by how peaceful and transparent this year’s elections would be. With the sort of love that believers of different faiths in Ghana share, I am, however, optimistic but not over complacent that; at the end Ghana will be singing a peace song but not war song. The only way that we can easily do this is when we consider this year’s election as a contest between Ghanaians who all think positively about the welfare of Ghana. Once we deviate from this and see the contest as an unhealthy competition between Christians and Muslims as religious rivals, the nation is already divided.
If you are really patriotic, this is the time to prove this patriotism by being a good citizen that always puts his/her nation first before any other consideration. If we cannot protect the enviable peace that we have been enjoying, no one can do that on our behalf. There is no way that we can protect peace when we allow our porous inherent differences to divide us because of unhealthy competition. As we approach this year’s general elections; think Ghana, think PEACE, think development!
Thank you for Reading! I wish all Muslims around the globe a Happy Eid-ul Fitri. Alhamdulillah!
Some References
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Google.com. (2015, September 12). The Quran chapter 45. Love your enemy. Retrieved from Islam and the Quran: Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/islamandthequran/quran-chapter-45-love-your-enemy on 01.06.2020 at 4:15AM.
Hebrews. (11:6, KJV, 1611). THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE HEBREWS. In K. James, The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV) (p. 1118). London: Cambridge University Press.
Lawal, N. (2022). Just In: Popular Chief Imam, 3 Other Worshippers Killed as Terrorists Attack Borno Mosque. Nigeria, Retrieved from https://www.legit.ng/nigeria/1490052-tears-terrorists-attack-borno-mosque-kill-imam-3-others on 06.09.2022 at 4:01 AM.
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Online, G. (Graphic online). (2023). Bawku Conflict: 27 Pregnant Women Die over Inability to Access Hospital. News, General, Retrieved on 12.03.2023 at 7:12 AM from; http://www.businessghana.com/site/news/General/279805/Bawku-conflict-27-Pregnant-women-die-over-inability-to-access-hospital.
Otten, K. (2022). Human Competition Is Not Lower If Competing Is Socially Wasteful Instead of Socially Beneficial. Sci Rep, Sci Rep. 12:10740. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14891-7. Retrieved from; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-14891-7#citeas on 10.04.2024 at 8:35 PM.
Proverbs. (25:21, KJV). The Proverbs. In K. James, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (p. 635). London: Cambridge University Press.
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Seidu, S. (2022). Promoting Community-Based Conflict Resolution Can Save Lives. Blog Post, Retrieved from; https://wacsi.org/promoting-community-based-conflict-resolution-can-save-lives/ on 11.03.2023 at 7:30 AM.
Steinhauer, J. (2016, August 19). The Idea of Peace in the Qur’an. Retrieved from Blog: Retrieved from https://blogs.loc.gov/kluge/2016/08/the-idea-of-peace-in-the-quran/ on 01.06.2020 at 10:18PM.
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