GAHA holds Annual Islamic Conference, Iftar

Gold Award Holders Association the Gambia (GAHA), during the weekend held its annual Islamic conference and IFTAR (fast breaking) at the President’s International Award (PIA) hall, in Bakau on the theme “the role of young people on their parental and societal well-being in accordance with our religion”.

(GAHA) was established in 1980’s as an association to help sustain and encourage Award participants and also bring together Gold Award Holders nationwide and worldwide.

Speaking at the event, Rohiya Ceesay, who spoke on dress codes of women, noted that in today’s society modesty is seen as a sign of weakness or insecurity. This is not the case in Islam, where modesty is seen as a sign of respect for oneself and others.

According to her, Islam has a dress code for both women and men. Its purpose, she said, is to protect society as a whole and promote modest dressing and behaviour; creates a barrier between the sexes and allows them to conduct their lives with modesty, dignity and respect.

Ceesay added that Islam holds women in very high esteem and that the Islamic rule of covering is intended to protect and guard her dignity and honour.

According to Ceesay, all qualified Muslim scholars throughout the history of Islam have agreed that fulfilling the conditions of the dress code is an obligation on all Muslim men and women. They have based these conditions on evidence found in the Quran and the Sunnah.

For his part, Sheikh Omar Jasseh, said “Today, we live in a world where the Muslims do not even know why they are Muslims”.  According to him, many people today are just Muslims by name and they have no understanding of what Islam is or the basics of Islam.

He thus said that it is important for the youth to study their religion, which is Islam. “Islam is a beautiful way of life where there is no room for blind following, but Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) in the Quran encourages us to learn about this deen as much as possible,” Jasseh noted.