Muslims urged to seek knowledge

Sheihu Imam Rashid Salawatia, Spiritual Leader of the Salawatia Muslim Mission of Ghana said Muslims should consider the acquisition of knowledge as part of their lives.

He said the first verses revealed by Allah to the Holy Prophet Muhammad talked about the acquisition of knowledge.

Sheihu Salawatia made reference to a verse in the Holy Quran which reads: “Read for your Lord is Most Bountiful. Who taught the use of the pen for the purpose of keeping records of what he has learnt and taught man that which he knew not.”

Sheihu Salawatia was speaking at the launch of a Quran Interpretation known as Tafsir in Accra on Thursday.

He said this year; the tafsir would be based on using the Quran to address contemporary issues such as health, education, curbing violence and child abuse, criminal tendencies in communities, development, business and nation building.

Sheihu Salawatia said the event would also be based on knowing the Lord and oneself and using the Quran to achieve permanent peace in Ghana and the world as a whole.

He said the verses of the Quran revealed by Allah pointed out the relevance of education to the Muslim and shows the importance of religious and secular education in the life of mankind.

Sheihu Salawatia said Prophet Muhammad stressed the importance of education and said: “Seeking knowledge is incumbent on… Muslims.”

He said this means that the acquisition of knowledge for solely the development of mankind is compulsory to Muslims irrespective of their sex.

Sheihu Salawatia said the Quran contains academic disciplines such as Islamic studies, mathematics, science, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.

“If any Muslim scholar finds him or her self on a platform to explain Islam without emphasising on peace, harmony and peaceful co-existence, then that would mean something else and not Islam.

“From the dawn of Islam, It has emphatically stressed that Islam was to guarantee total and permanent peace in the world,” he said.

Mr Julius Debrah, Greater Accra Regional Minister said the tafsir was an opportunity for Muslims to address some challenges in their communities.

He said: “In as much as the occasion provides for devotion and sober reflection, I believe it provides opportunity for the scholars to organise forums and seminars to educate Muslims to understand what the Holy Book entails.

Mr Debrah said to make the Islamic religion very practical; Muslims need to understand what is in the Quran.

He noted that the period of Ramadan cleanses and purifies the Muslim and draw him or her nearer to Allah and so it is not out of place to use the period to impact knowledge of Allah into Muslims especially the youth who are challenged by the nexus between modernity and Islamic beliefs and practice.

Source: GNA