Wa, Aug 28, GNA - The Bureau of Islamic Societies in the Upper West Region, responsible for fostering unity and cooperation among Muslim sects and other religious bodies, on Saturday organised Quran Commentary in Wa to run off the 2011 Ramadan. The forum brought large numbers of Muslim scholars including the Regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Yakubu Issahaque, who advised the youth to be bonded to the principles, tenets and practices of Islam to brand it as a peaceful and compassionate religion. He prayed for Allah's protection and guidance for President John Atta Mills and the entire leadership of the government as well as leaders of all other political parties and their followers in the country.

Alhaji Issahaque prayed for unity and peace among the people and asked Allah for his mercies against natural and man-made disasters and calamities in the country. Alhaji Dawud R. Yahaya, an executive member of the Bureau, in a welcoming address, noted that any religion that did not demand anything from its followers was an ineffective one. He said Islam did not fit that description because it was not a mere belief system but a total way of life; a complete system governing all aspects of man's existence both individual and collective.

He said it was in the month of Ramadan that the Holy Quran was revealed as a guide to mankind and as a clear evidence for judgment between right and wrong and all Muslims must associate themselves with that. Alhaji Issahaque Salia, Upper West Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, advised Muslim youth to refrain from acts that were likely to destroy them and that of the religion.

He appealed to the youth never to allow themselves to be used as destructive tools by society wreckers, pointing out that government needed absolute peace to work towards achieving its 93Better Ghana" agenda. The Regional Minister expressed his gratitude to the Bureau for helping to maintain peace and unity among Muslims and other religion organisations in the region. Alhaji Salia appealed to Muslims to take advantage of the pro-poor educational interventions initiated by the government and send their children to school and ensure that they supported them adequately to complete their basic education, especially the girl child, who had been marginalized for so long.