Leocadia Bongben
22 February 2008
Imam Oumar Njimogny, President of the Islamic Cultural Association, Moujtahdine, has called for peaceful coexistence in society.
He made the call during the graduation ceremony of some 60 stage-one learners of the Holy Koran that took place recently at the esplanade of the Yaounde Conference Centre. Speaking on the role of the association in the promotion of knowledge through learning and interpretation of the Koran, the Imam said through faith, peaceful coexistence is encouraged.
He underscored the importance inviting of non-Muslims for the graduation ceremony as a way of shoving aside division.He expressed the need to constantly seek knowledge starting with the Koran and reiterated the need for knowledge before actions.
For the human being, Umar identified two vital things in life, the soul, which needs religiosity to live and the body, which needs food.Commenting on the graduating students, he said it was very difficult to inculcate the teaching of the Koran given that habits are hard to do away with.
The Imam added that the principle of religion is not easy to digest with children of tender age, as the youngest graduating student was three years old. The Secretary General at the Ministry of Transport, Mefiri Omarou, underscored the importance of the ceremony in that it revived some values that need to be encouraged to achieve success in life.
He also pointed out the spiritual force behind tolerance among other values. Alluding to the vicissitudes of life, Omarou said it takes tolerance to cope with life.Of the 60 graduates from the Islamic school created by the Moujtahidine Association, 40 were females from the age of three to about 70.
This huge presence of females was attributed to the fact that pride prevents more men from participating in religious activities, while women are flexible.Testimonials were given to the graduates clad in white to portray purity to mark the end of training in the domain of spirituality, moral and social development.
The men were turbaned as a sign that they have attained a level of knowledge in the learning of the Holy Koran.The Association, created in 2002, has graduated four batches of students.
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