Muslim scholar asks the youth to desist from Sakawa

Accra, June 21, GNA - Sheikh Hussain Abdul- Rahim, an Islamic Scholar has urged Muslim parents and community leaders to sensitize their children and condemn nefarious activities such as cyber fraud popularly known as "Sakawa".

He asked them to counsel the youth against thuggery, pick-pocketing, armed robbery and the "get rich quick by all means" approach to life, stressing that such immoral acts gives the religion a bad image.

Sheikh Abdul Rahim noted that a number of Muslim youth are devoting their time and energy in sakawa, while their parents are not questioning where they got their sudden wealth from.

Sheikh Abdul-Rahim gave the advice in a sermon after a dawn (Fajir) prayer at UN- Libyan Quarters, a suburb of Madina Zongo in Accra at the weekend.

He noted that such activities have gone a long way to tarnish the good image of Islam because some parents have failed to take up the responsibility for the upkeep of their children and to give them the needed training to become useful citizens. Sheikh Abdul-Rahim stressed the importance of spiritual exercises and keeping of the body and soul clean.

He asked Muslims to maintain good sanitary practices in their communities, which he said was in consonance with the teachings of the Holy Prophet Mohammed.

Sheikh Abdul-Rahim said there was the need for Muslims, to pursue their religious undertakings in a healthy body and purity, adding that short walks, jogging and other clean-up exercises were cardinal to the well-being of mankind.

He observed that it is not right for a Muslim to bath and make ablutions for prayers while refusing to clean his or her environment and continue to dump refuse indiscriminately and expect to be healthy. The Islamic Scholar expressed concern about the lukewarm attitude of the Muslim youth and parents in the pursuit of education in order to acquire professional knowledge at school facilities like the Institute of Professional Studies, Accra Training College and the University of Ghana, which are close to their localities.

He called on Muslim parents to send their children to school since education is one of the foundation stones of Islam.

Sheikh Abdul-Rahim explained that through education the youth could aspire to gain higher academic laurels to help in the propagation of the religion and to become future leaders.

"Muslim parents, teachers, community leaders and the youth must as a whole uphold the good virtues of the religion so that the community can develop and become successful to the benefit of the people," he said. 21 June 09