General News of Tuesday, 2 April 2002

Source: Ghanaian Times

Stoning of adulterers not in Quran - Maulvi

The Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana, Maulvi Wahab Adam, has said that there is no chapter or verse in the Quran, which prescribes stoning to death as punishment for adultery. “I challenge those Muslims who prescribe stoning to death as punishment for adultery to cite just one verse from the Holy Quran to support their contention. The truth is, there is none,” he said.

The Ameer was speaking at the 73rd annual convention of the Mission in Accra. In apparent reaction to the Sharia law been practiced by some Moslems in Nigeria, he said such unfortunate practices and other distortions, which had crept into Islam scared non-adherents of the religion.

Maulvi Wahab said that Islam, as a religion, was pure but had been unjustifiably painted black by its adversaries and followers alike and called on Muslims to study the Quran diligently in order to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Turning the spotlight on the spate of armed robbery, destruction of school property and spousal murders in the country, the Ameer blamed them on rap music, drugs, broken homes and Hollywood movies and advised the youth to avoid them.