Delivering his sermon at the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan at the Heritage Mosque, Gurley Street, Monrovia, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Liberia, Sheikh Abubakar M. Sumaworo, entreated Liberians to maintain the peace and unity in the nation as the October 10 presidential and legislative elections draw nearer.
Sheikh Sumaworo, an acclaimed Muslim scholar and peacemaker, also admonished the citizenry to shun tribalism and other vices that have the proclivity to terrorize the nation and stall the peace and tranquility subsisting between the Government of Liberia (GOL) and the people.
Turning to his congregation, Grand Mufti Sumaworo said he wants Liberian Muslims to be united and live in oneness in order to resist the “virus” among members of the Islamic community bent on inciting others against Islamic religious leaders and government for their personal aggrandizement.
He observed that for the past fifteen (15) years Liberian Muslims have been in disunity, but pointed out that in recent years Muslims have continued to live in oneness and ending the Ramadan together on the same designated time across the country.
“We need to uphold this cordiality amongst us as Muslims by propagating Islam in Liberia. Do not allow anyone or group of people to incite you against your religious leaders to breed division in the Muslim community,” Grand Mufti Sumaworo noted.
Sheikh Sumaworo called on fellow worshippers of Islam to strive to be peacebuilders and not troublemakers. “I urge you Muslims not to educate your children with tendencies of violence or terroristic ideologies, which have the propensity of eroding our unity and putting us in conflict with the government,” he stated.
He warned Liberian Muslims not to allow politics to sway them from propagating Islam, as has been the case with some members who, in disregard of the teaching and practice of the religion, ventured in sowing seed of disunity through the conduct of a leadership election of the National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL), which was recently rejected and considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Council of Imams and Mosques.
“Let the lawyers remain in the court to practice their profession; politicians stick to politics, the doctors remain in their medical practice and religious leaders be left to preach and execute their duties as religious leaders,” Sheikh Sumaworo uttered.
Sheikh Sumaworo’s utterance was in reference to some Muslims meddling with religious matters in the National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL) with politics to breed disunity or send the signal that members of the Muslim Community in Liberia are somewhat divided, which he said is far from the truth.
Grand Mufti Sumaworo used his end of Ramadan sermon to extol the Government of Liberia (GoL), headed by President George Weah, through the UAE for the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital in Bopolu, the Capital of Gbarpolu County, where an Islamic Chief who spread Islam resided prior to the coming of the freed slaves from the United States.
The learned Muslim cleric did not stop there; he made a passionate appeal to President Weah and the government to assist the Muslim community as it contemplates building what he called a national central mosque in the Republic of Liberia to accommodate the scores of Islamic worshippers in the country.
He also gave special thanks and appreciation to President Weah and the government for the donation of a huge quantity of rice to the Muslim community for use by worshippers to break their fast during the end of the Ramadan. “This goodwill gesture of the Liberian leader is highly commendable,” he added.
On the flipside, Grand Mufti Sumaworo is urging religious leaders of Liberia to begin to educate their respective members on the importance of the on-going biometric voter registration (BVR), in order for them to get registered to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general and presidential elections slated for October 10.
He also prayed for peace to reign in conflict-prone Sudan with an amicable solution to the conflict involving the generals and their forces, which is said to be intensifying by the day in that part of Africa, with more than 400 persons killed and countless number of civilians reported injured in the fighting.
Commenting on the increasing drug abuse by the youth, Sheikh Abubakar M. Sumaworo said drug abuse by young people has a negative impact on the Liberian society. He stated that, in order to curb this menace, government needs to step up logistical support to the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) to weed the city center and other parts of the nation of narcotic drugs, marijuana and harmful substances to secure a better future for victims of drug abuse.
