The Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) has announced that it will be observing the upcoming Youman Nabi celebrations with a series of special programs in Georgetown, West Coast Demerara, Linden and Berbice.
The theme of this year’s CIOG’s Youman Nabi celebration is ‘In the Footsteps of Prophet Muhammad: Serving Humanity with Love, Decency and Kindness’.
“We believe that the horrendous events in the world have created an image of Islam and Muslims that is far removed from the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,” the CIOG said in a release.
The CIOG believes that the occasion of His birth anniversary – Youman Nabi – is an appropriate time to remind ourselves of why God reveals in the Glorious Quran that He sent Prophet Muhammad as a mercy, not only to Muslims, but to all of humanity.
CIOG has invited Shaykh Faid Muhammad Said, an Eritrean born Muslim scholar based in London, U.K. to deliver a series of lectures in relation to the above theme.
Shaykh Faid is currently the resident scholar at Harrow Central Mosque in north London and the director of the Larayb Institute of Education (LiFE). He is a master of the Arabic language and the sciences of Quranic exegesis and the life of Prophet Muhammad (Sira) having studied for years with many outstanding scholars in the blessed city of Madinah and in the country of his birth in East Africa.
Joining Shaykh Faid on his speaking tour will be Ustadh Nader Khan, a prominent Toronto based reciter of classical Islamic poetry in Arabic, Urdu, Persian and English, and award-winning Canadian journalist who is no stranger to Guyana, Nazim Baksh.
In addition to delivering the Friday khutbah at the Queenstown Jama Masjid on Friday Jan. 8, Shaykh Faid will participate in programs at the West Meten-Meer-Zorg Masjid, the Muslim Youth Organization headquarters in Thomas Lands, various masjids in Berbice on Sunday Jan. 10, and a visit to Linden Masjid in the evening of Monday January 11.
On Jan. 13 Shaykh Faid will depart Guyana for a similar tour of Trinidad and Tobago.
These religious hardliners must be watched very carefully. Their Wahabist brand has no place here.