The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra- The Minister of Inner Cities and Zango Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul Hamid has encouraged religious followers to embrace and appreciate the diversity of religion.

He said religion as a form of identity was a double-edged sword that could either serve as a rallying point for love and consideration or for division, war and chaos.

“Ibn ul Arabi said, the light is one but the lamps are many. That in my opinion is a very succinct definition of the diversity of human beings” he said.

Dr Hamid was speaking at the first African Ahmadiyya Peace Conference held in Accra on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.

Organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Ghana, the conference was on the theme, “Peace and Global Justice”.

It sought to promote a deeper understanding of Islam to inspire lasting global peace and justice.

For his part, the Dean of Academic Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso indicated that Islam as far as terrorism was concerned had been used as a tool to promote violence and hatred.

“If you ask my students, they will tell you all tools in the tools box are used when you are at war. And so those who want to fight the west and other civilisations are using Islam” he added.

Dr Danso also described the international order as sick, in the sense that, those at the forefront of setting its rules and guidelines are the ones flouting them.

“You have someone like Trump say, “I don’t like globalism I like patriotism and so UN if you like get away from here. UNESCO, I won’t give you money” he said.

He has urged global institutions like the UN to be firm and independent in disciplining its members who flout rules and regulations.