(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The program is to “deepen healthy community relations between Muslims and their neighbors in government or corporate organizations,” Professor Ishaq Akintola, a leading Muslim rights activist said. “We start by urging organizations to avoid fixing provocative or stressful events in Ramadan as this could strain relations with the Muslim community.” “Apart from fasting from dawn till dusk, Muslims are expected to engage in rigorous spiritual exercises,” Akintola said in an email exclusively sent to OnIslam.net. “It hurts Muslims when they are compelled to be part of certain social events during the month of Ramadan when indeed it is a religious duty to remain on the celestial plane throughout the period. “MURIC uses this opportunity to remind those at the helm of affairs to consider the sensibilities of the Nigerian Muslim population when planning events for the months of July and August 2013.” A similar awareness program was launched by a leading Muslim group to educate employers and Muslims alike on how to relate especially during the fasting month. “It is our belief that as many non-Muslims and employers as possible need to be properly educated on what this month demands of Muslims and the need for them to understand their Muslim employees therein,” Kamor Disu, of the Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC said. “It is our belief that as many non-Muslims and employers as possible need to be properly educated on what this month demands of Muslims and the need for them to understand their Muslim employees therein,” he added. The program included designing a pamphlet containing the guide to Muslim-employers’ relations during and after Ramadan. “It is our intention to foster unity and harmony in the society,” Disu said. It will be wrong to assume that employers know everything about the religious obligations of their workers, and it is against this background that we set out to fill that gap. “Part of the message is calling on employers to allow their Muslim workers perform their prayers as and when due and, except it is genuinely feared that it would affect productivity, they should allow Muslims to do their tilaawah (Qur’an recitation) as they may deem appropriate. We of course made it clear for Muslim employees to respect the sensitivities of their work.” The initiative won plaudits of Muslim activists. Not only Muslims. The new interfaith programs were welcomed by Reverend Bamidele Isaac Isola, who worships at the popular Redeemed Christian Church of Christ in Lagos. “I don’t think our Muslim brothers are asking for too much or anything impossible,” he told OnIslam.net. “Respect begets respect, and I would expect people to respect the sanctity of the holy month. In fact, respect for one another should not be restricted to Ramadan or lent but it should be an everyday affair. “It is by doing that that Nigeria can move forward.”/149
source : On Islam
Tuesday
23 July 2013
7:30:00 PM
444507
Seeking better communication with the government, Nigeria Muslims have launched an enlightenment program during the holy fasting month of Ramadan to enhance healthy interfaith relations in their community.