COMOG HOLD FORUM FOR MUSLIM CLERICS (PAGE 20)

THE Coalition of Muslim Organisations, Ghana (COMOG) has held a forum for Muslim clerics in Tamale where they deliberated on human rights issues from the Islamic perspective.
The regional advocacy programme attracted Muslim scholars, Imams, women and youth leaders from the area. Other matters discussed were the population dynamics in the Northern Region and their impact on the development of the area.
The programme was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the European Union.
According to the Project Co-ordinator of COMOG, Mr Abdul-Manan Abdul-Rahman, the programme is being organised in five regions comprising the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta and Central regions.
He explained that the fora were being used as platforms to sensitise the Muslim community in those areas to their rights and obligations under the Constitution from the Islamic perspective.
“It is also high time we organised such forums to discuss matters that affect us directly instead of dwelling on issues that divide us as Muslim brothers and sisters,” the co-ordinator stated.
Mr Abdul-Rahman, who is also the National Organising Secretary of COMOG, further observed that it was as a result of the importance Islam attached to human rights issues that it fashioned out modalities for its redress to ensure harmony and peaceful co-existence among families and societies.
According to him, Islam acknowledged the equality of all human beings and quoted a portion of the Holy Quran that states that, “O Mankind, We created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye know each other, not that ye may despise each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you-(49:13).”
In a speech read on his behalf, the UNFPA Country Representative, Mr Makane Kane, explained that as an international agency, the fund promoted the rights of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.
He said there was also positive relationship between gender equality and development.
“This suggests that societies that do not invest and positively promote gender equality pay a significant price; more poverty among its people, weaker participation by the people, slower economic growth and a lower quality of life,” Mr Kane indicated.