The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: Mufti Ismail Ibn Musah Menk, the Grand Mufti of the Zimbabwean Muslim community, says Muslims must be willing to contribute and invest in organising dawah (propagation) events, especially outside the masjid (mosque).

He observed that religious events that take the form of motivational evenings, conventions, and so on come at a huge cost to organisers, who most of the time do not break even and often receive little support to hold such programmes.

He therefore said it was unfair to criticise organisers of such events who raise funds through the sale of tickets to cater for costs such as transportation of speakers, hiring of venues, catering for volunteers, venue decoration, technical support, and so on.

“Don’t come and say it (the ticket) is too much or too little. You are considered a sponsor of that event, and you will get a reward for coming and making it possible. Because if you didn’t buy a ticket, you would not have been able to afford the venue in some cases,” he said.

In a video recorded from a lounge at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra after the two-day Peace and Unity Convention 2023 in Accra and Kumasi, the scholar highlighted the importance of organising some dawah events outside the masjids.

“If a programme is done in the masjid, it doesn’t really cost that much, and what you would probably need to pay for is the sound, the videos, the recordings, and so on. But you wouldn’t have to pay for the venue because the masjid is the house of Allah.

“However, not everyone comes to the Masjid. Females, especially non-Muslims, and sometimes people who are not connected to the masjid. And so, if your message is reaching out to people who are far away from the Deen, you need to consider having it at a different venue,” he said.

He said it was also erroneous to chastise scholars for economically benefiting from the programmes they attend as speakers.

Mufti Menk disclosed that there were times his team would cover the cost of events on the blind side of the public, adding that “many people accuse the scholars by saying these people are making money out of the events. No way!”

“Personally, I don’t charge; I haven’t charged a penny. But some others expect you to do a little bit, and so on. The team that I work with is all moving fisabillilah [for the sake of Allah]. Allah has blessed us in other ways. We don’t need to use this to make money,” he said.

The issue of paying to attend Dawah events became topical among young Ghanaian Muslims on social media, where a section believed the message of Allah should be free for all.

This was after the announcement of the upcoming maiden Peace and Unity Convention, which had tickets going for GHS 100 and GHS 150.

Others were also of the view that it was worthy of spending in the path of Allah as opposed to Muslims paying to attend musical concerts and other non-religious events.