THE Ministry of Social Cohesion, along with the Muslim community, on Thursday hosted a cultural programme at the Umana Yana as part of the Youman Nabi celebrations.
The programme themed: ‘Beauty in Diversity: Celebrating Inclusivity through Religion’ featured a demonstration of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, a Quranic Recitation, a Qaseeda and other presentations.

Delivering the feature address, Minister of Social Cohesion, George Norton, said that he was proud of Guyana’s practice of religious freedom and encouraged religions within the country to continue to live in harmony.

“I urge you all, let the word of Prophet Muhammad inspire you…guiding to break every fictitious barrier that separates us as a people,” the minister urged. “When we leave here today, let us promise to look at our differences as something that

means nothing to us…If we should do this, it will certainly point to us achieving the noble ideal of being socially cohesive.”

Also delivering presentations was Director of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), Shaykh Moen Hack, who informed the audience that social cohesion was a feasible goal. “When we examine the scriptures, the Quran, the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita and the other scriptures followed by the Rastafarians, the Bahá’í, what do we find?” the Shaykh began, “We find that we have more in common; we have more similarities than differences.”

Youman Nabi celebrates the birth of the founding prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and promotes a message of love for all, kindness, forgiveness, justice and peace.