Kumasi, Aug 26, GNA - Sheikh Ismail Saeed Adam, an Islamic scholar, has appealed to Muslims to use the period of the Ramadan to pray for Ghana's progress.

He said they should use the fasting month to reflect on the tenets of Islam and to renew their faith as well as their commitment to the nation's development. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Tuesday, Sheikh Adam reminded Muslims that Ramadan was a time for piety, kindness to the poor and the promotion of good neighbourliness.

He expressed worry about the attitude of some Muslims who go back to their "old ways of sinning just after the Ramadan period" and said the greed, selfishness, adultery, covetousness and indiscipline exhibited by some of them just after the fasting and prayers had the potential to bring Islam into disrepute."

"Ramadan is a period of holiness and as a result all well-meaning Muslims should endeavour to be tolerant of each other, donate to the needy and preach to unbelievers to shun vices." This, he said, was necessary to enhance peace and peaceful co-existence in the society.

Sheikh Adam appealed to the youth to use their youthful exuberance for productive ventures to sustain Ghana's progress since they are the backbone of the nation's economy.