President Donald Ramotar told Muslims on Tuesday that many of the ills that Prophet Muhammad confronted are still plaguing society today.
Ramotar delivered addresses to mark the occasion of Youman Nabi at the Queenstown Masjid and the Peters’ Hall Masjid subsequently.
“What he was fighting for was to end poverty, to give people dignity. He was fighting for justice and freedom. Today we look around the world, we see some of those same things existing, and therefore, we need to continue to work to eradicate them in our society,” he said.
The president urged the gathering at both masjids to take inspiration from the example set by the holy prophet. He cited conflicts such as that in Sudan, noting, “what the holy prophet was trying to do was show the oneness of humanity – despite the diversity of our culture and our ethnic backgrounds – but if you look around the place, you will see many of these wars and struggles that are taking place are covered by differences that are created by people.”
He added, “In our country, we still have a lot to do, still have to fight to get our people out of poverty and the best way to do that is to try to help them to help themselves… we recognise that we have to do two things that are important; we have to create wealth in our country to satisfy the needs of our people, and we have to be able to distribute that wealth so that everyone benefits,” he said.
Social services
He noted that government has moved thus far in this direction, pointing out that Guyana is the only Caribbean nation where 30 per cent of the national budget goes to the social sector. “In that way, we believe we can distribute the wealth of society to the broadest amount of people we can find. Most of the 30 per cent goes to education, because we see education as the hook that can help people come out of poverty,” he said.
The president also pointed out that a significant amount goes towards improving healthcare and providing affordable housing. “Health is important for persons to really enjoy life and all that life has to offer. We must be healthy persons, and that is why we have been working very hard to expand health facilities and want to build a new specialty hospital so that those who cannot afford it can gain many services right here that only the rich now can go abroad and get,” he said.
The head-of-state explained that government, however, has to create more wealth in order to satisfy all the demands of its people. He said this was one of the reasons government is seeking to invest in a hydropower station in Guyana and urged the worshippers to work hand-in-hand with government in order to achieve this goal of having more wealth.
Message of peace
The Guyanese leader also noted that it is fitting that the prophet’s birthday be celebrated, since he brought forward one of the foremost religions into the world today. The head-of-state was joined by Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali at the Youman Nabi celebration at the Queenstown Masjid, and later by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and government Member of Parliament Manzoor Nadir at the Peters’ Hall Masjid.
Prime Minister Hinds, who made remarks, noted that the Prophet Muhammad’s message of peace and brotherhood is a message that is very relevant to Guyana. “We had significant improvement in our country over the last three decades, but I think that even with what we have today, which is not very much compared with other places, if we could be like the holy prophet demonstrated, we can be concerned, sympathetic and compassionate. If we can be respectful of all the creations of God, I think we can make a much better life, a much more enjoyable life for all here in Guyana.”
He also challenged the worshippers to improve their situation. “It is a challenge put here by who created us, and the best way that we can show our appreciation for his creation is to improve on our circumstances,” he said.
Youman Nabi is the observance of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, who is believed by Muslims to be a messenger and prophet of God. Muhammad is considered by Muslims as the last prophet sent by God for mankind and is the founder of Islam.
