Coexist peacefully - Muslim youth urged

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Muslim Youth Movement (GMYM) has organised a seminar on religious tolerance, with a call on the Muslim youth to co-exist peacefully with adherents of other religious faiths.
Attended by youth leaders, the workshop was on the theme: “Towards Transcending Religious Intolerance, the Role of the Youth.”
A lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Sheikh Seebaway Zakaria,said both Muslims and the West had common values, and indicated that they both cherished acts of charity.
However, he said, because of the experiences of the past, the two sides exaggerated their animosity.
Sheikh Seebaway, therefore, called for a frank dialogue between Muslims and the West to correct the misconceptions between them.
He said the West should study Islam to get a better understanding of the religion.
Besides, he said, the West should respect the independence and authority of other countries.
Sheikh Seebaway asked Muslims to “open themselves up in their dialogue with the West.”
Again, he said, Muslims must have a deep reflection of the misconception other people have about them with the view to correcting the misconception.
The Interim Chairman of the GMYM, Mr Muhammed Swagir Adamu, who spoke on: “Unveiling the new GMYM”, said the seminar sought to “unify the Muslim youth front, and to build a Muslim worker who would be prepared to serve Islam at all times, in every way and by every possible means.”
He said the vision of the movement was to an Islamic organisation that seeks to develop the human and material capacity of the Ghanaian Muslim youth through the use of better education, training and projects.
Mr Adamu mentioned lectures, leadership training programmes and courtesy calls on some embassies of Islamic countries as some of the programmes scheduled for the year.