As Guyana celebrates Youman Nabi…
– other social, societal ills
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has called for a firm stance against racism, especially with national elections around the corner, and proposed a media campaign to aggressively fight such bigoted sentiments. “I ask all of you to work with us on this campaign to ensure that this country banishes racism from its midst,” President Jagdeo said yesterday during an address to a large gathering of Muslims, and others including members of the media, at the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) on Woolford Avenue, on the occasion of Youman Nabi. The Guyanese Head-of-State also called for activism against the growing trends of domestic violence in society and called on Muslims and other religious sects to let voices be heard in this regard.
The President believes that application of the messages in the Holy Quran to a society grappling with many social and societal ills, is enlightening enough to catalyse change for the better.
“The cardinal thing that we must all subscribe to is enlightenment of our minds through religious and secular education because, if we are educated, then we start freeing our minds,” the President said.
Youman Nabi is celebrated as a national holiday in Guyana, commemorating the birth of Prophet Mohammed, the last of 124,000 prophets and messengers sent by God to spread the gospel, according to the Holy Quran.
At the function, President Jagdeo opined that as much as the message of the Prophet is influential, it can only have life changing meaning when people make it an obligation to apply the messages to their daily lives.  
“If we ask ourselves, ‘how can the lessons of the Holy Quran personally change our lives’, then maybe these celebrations would mean something to all of us because, ultimately, each one of us would have to answer for our own lives and how we live,” the President said.
Shaikh Moen ul Hack, who delivered the sermon at the function, said the life and message of the Holy Prophet has influenced and continues to influence more than one third of the world’s population and is the fastest growing religion in the United States of America.
“This message influenced the people of Africa and the people of Indonesia, the country today with the largest Muslim population that does not speak Arabic,” Shaikh Moen ul Hack said.
Shaikh Moen ul Hack spoke of several societal ills which were forewarned in the Holy Quran including environmentally unsound practices, violence and alcoholism, all of which President Jagdeo described as vices.
On the issue of alcohol abuse, the Guyanese Head-of-State suggested a joint effort to fight the problem but believes that abstinence at the individual level can help in a major way.
“It is the teaching and the strength of character and the commitment and the belief that would allow us to overcome these vices,” President Jagdeo said.        
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the work of the CIOG also came in for praise by President Jagdeo for its charitable work, particularly care for children in orphanages.
PULL QUOTE:
“The cardinal thing that we must all subscribe to is enlightenment of our minds through religious and secular education because, if we are educated, then we start freeing our minds.” – President Jagdeo