President donates to Muslim Community in Wa

President John Dramani Mahama has donated 50 bags of rice and 50 boxes of cooking oil valued at Ghc13,500.00 to the Muslim Community in Wa to help in the celebration of the Eid-ul Adha.

Mr. Issahaku Nuhu Putiaha, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), presented the items on behalf of the Regional Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, to the leadership of the Muslim Community on Friday evening.

He said Eid-ul Adha was a festival of sacrifice, hence, the essence of the gesture by the President and appealed to the Muslims to continue to pray to Allah to guide the President and his team to take the nation to greater heights.

The MCE also called on them to pray for continued peace in the country for development to thrive, saying that it was only when there was peace that real development could take place.

Alhaji Baba Daud, the Representative of the Regional Chief Imam, thanked the President for his continued benevolence, which he said was in line with the essence of the festival.   Alhaji Daud prayed to Allah for the nation to progress in both material and spiritual wealth.

Eid Ul-Adha is an Islamic festival, which commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (known as Abraham in the bible) to follow Allah's command to sacrifice his son.    Muslims around the world observe the three-day event, also known as Feast of the Sacrifice.    According to Islamic scholars, it begins annually on the 10th of Islamic month of Zilhajj, a day after the day of Arafah, when millions of Muslims perform Hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

At Eid Ul-Adha, many Muslims pray and listen to sermons at the mosques.

They usually wear new clothes, visit family members and friends and may symbolically sacrifice a four-legged animal in an act known as qurbani. This represents the animal that Ibrahim sacrificed in the place of his son.

They divide the meat into three equal portions and can keep the first portion for themselves, but the second must be distributed among relatives, neighbours and friends while the third has to be allocated for poor in the community.

The sacrifice or qurbani should, however, be performed after Eid prayers.