By Ibrahim Sillah, Saudi Arabia
Under the supervision of the Embassy of Sierra
Leone in Saudi Arabia, the Sierra Leone Nationals' Union (SLNU) in Riyadh, in
collaboration with the Dawa and Guidance Committee, made it a point of national
duty to converge at the Chancery on all the four Fridays of the holy month of
Ramadan.
They met to listen to lectures on the Islamic teachings and to to
offer most heartfelt supplications beseeching Allah the Almighty to bless the
concerted efforts of His Excellency, President Ernest Bai Koroma and his
Government aimed at eradicating EBOLA, this deadly scourge that is
menacing the nation in its entirety.
It is worthy to note that, since its formation by
former Ambassador Umaru Bond Wurie in 1993, the SLNU has invariably taken it
upon itself to pray for Sierra Leone's stability, security, development and
prosperity. It is important to inform that during the senseless rebel war in
the 90's, the Union converged at the Chancery on every Friday and recited the
holy Quran several times and prayed for the war to come to an end and for peace
and security to prevail in Sierra Leone. Undoubtedly, it is a firm belief of
this Union that those fervent and nationally motivated supplications
significantly contributed in bringing that brutal war to an end.
Under the circumstances, the President of the
Sierra Leone Nationals' Union, Mr. Uthman Mohamed Kargbo and the Dawa and
Guidance Committee Chairman, Sheikh Omar Bah, and members of their executives
and the entire Sierra Leone community are fervently appealing to the Government
of His Excellency, President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the medical community and
all the masses to have all hands on deck to fight against EBOLA with the steadfastness
and tenacity required to ensure that this epidemic is appropriately taken care
of once and for all.
The Sierra Leone community in Saudi Arabia is
calling upon all the forces on the ground to consider putting a definitive stop
to this plague as a national priority. It would also like to make it abundantly
clear that EBOLA is a blind disease that knows no tribes, no regions, no
religions, no classes and no political parties in Sierra Leone. Hence, if
effective measures are not taken to contain the plague, everyone (may Allah
forbid) will be prone to acquire the virus, which, if not diagnosed and cured
at its initial stage, would turn out to be fatal. This is not the time for
making political scores by eliminating political opponents; this is no time for
running behind political gains of whatever nature. Rather, now is the time to
make concerted and sincere efforts to arrest the situation before EBOLA
infiltrates into the densely populated areas and cities in our country.
The SLNU in Saudi Arabia hereby salutes the
physicians, nurses, paramount chiefs, volunteers and the media apparatus for
their patriotic stances as far as rendering the needed services to the EBOLA
affected patients is concerned. They have proven that in such trying times
there should be no room for futile political bickering. Instead, every
well-meaning Sierra Leonean should heed the clarion call made by President
Koroma a couple of weeks ago in which he officially informed that EBOLA is now
a reality in Sierra Leone and that it is everyone's responsibility to help stop
the spread of the menacing epidemic by all affordable means. That act of
President Koroma is highly commendable because he did what every concerned and
responsible leader ought to do when a threat of such magnitude as that of EBOLA
is forcefully looming through the nation affecting and killing at such an
alarming rate.
Also, the Union wishes the souls of those
compatriots who have fallen dead due to this scourge to rest in perfect peace.
By the same token, it wishes the affected ones to be cured and save the entire
nation from the deadly disease.
On the other hand, this epidemic should be enough
cause for countries of the Sub-Saharan African counties, especially the three
Mano River Union countries-Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone- that have been so
far affected by the EBOLA epidemic to ponder over the root cause of its
emergence this time around. Indeed, it might not be that easy to pinpoint a
certain cause for this scourge simply because people have almost certainly
ceased to deem the possibility of the divine hands being responsible for
inflicting this plague upon these impoverished countries. History reminds us
that whenever people totally deviate from the path traced for them by Allah, He
punishes them by plagues unknown to them so that they would refrain from
committing sins against Allah the Almighty and deist from committing atrocities
to their fellow humans. Some people may consider this reading as hilarious or
unthinkable.
However, what everyone, irrespective of their
religious beliefs, should be aware of is that we, mankind, were not created to
oppress and suppress our fellow humans as we so wish; we were neither created
to commit crimes and offend others at our free will simply because we believe
in the law of the jungle where might is believed to be absolutely right.
Rather, it should be clear to all and sundry that
the divine purpose of our creation is, first of all, to worship Allah the
Almighty. How should we worship God? Apart from the known rituals that we
perform in the mosque and church, we should fear Allah in the open and in
secret by doing the things that God has either enjoined upon us or has ordered
us to do towards our fellow human beings, and to refrain from perpetrating all
the things that Allah has forbidden. The Torah, the Bible and the Quran are all
full of stories of nations that were annihilated and destroyed by various
methods when those nations totally deviated from the right path and got engaged
in committing crimes and wrong doings without the least fear and thought of God
and without the least pinch of the conscience. A food for thought!
On a separate development, a couple of months ago,
the Sierra Leone Muslim community in Riyadh woke up in one bright morning to
hear the good tidings that a new member has reverted to the Islamic faith. The
person who declared her embracement of Islam is Mrs. Marion Mabinty Dura, the
wife of the Minister Counselor/Head of Chancery at the Embassy of Sierra Leone
in Riyadh, Mr. Umaru Sesay Dura.
Upon hearing these good tidings of having a new
member in their Muslim fold, the Sierra Leone Nationals' Union headed by Mr.
Uthman M, Kargbo and the Dawa and Guidance Committee headed by Sheikh Omar Bah,
and the Sierra Leone community in Riyadh saw it as a befitting Islamic
tradition to formally welcome their new sister in Islam. To demonstrate their
joy and to express their appreciation, the Union and Dawa and Guidance
Committee invited Mrs. Marion Mabinty Duran to attend a congregational meeting
of her brothers and sisters at the Embassy of Sierra Leone on the second Friday
of Ramadan (July--, 2014.
During that meeting, the Sierra Leone
community under the leadership of Mr. Uthman Kargbo warmly welcomed
Mrs. Dura and gave her valuable and precious gifts in appreciation of her free
volition to revert to the Islamic faith, wishing her steadfastness and all the
best in her direction.
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