BETWEEN 4 and 6 September, 2023, an Islamic Symposium hosted by the Research Centre for Islamic History, Culture and Arts, an affiliate of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in cooperation with the Government of Guyana. The objective of the Symposium was to “illuminate the rich history and legacy of the Muslims in the Caribbean”.
All Guyanese, and Muslims in particular, appreciate the help and support our Muslim brethren abroad proffer in helping to elucidate and explain Islam, and their assistance in the noble effort of Dawah, that is, to bring the message of the Holy Quran to ordinary folk. Over the years, such efforts were always done with a local partner, and the Symposium was the first within living memory where the local partner was the State.
The Government of Guyana gave its full support to the Symposium, and was an example to other Governments in the Region. The President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, gave the opening and feature address, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, gave an impactful and very fine closing presentation. The Symposium was a successful event.
The media did not carry any of the content of the presentations, and this was something to which the public had been looking forward. However, the academic community and the CIOG may be able to compile the presented and unpresented papers in due course. Many matters of a universal Islamic interest, such as the presence of Muslims among the African slaves, or the Caribbean spirit of Islam where there is full and welcome cooperation between Islam and other Faiths could be studied.
The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), did offer its fullest support to the Symposium, and made it a point of individually informing prominent and important members of the society of the event. Many, however, had looked forward to the CIOG playing a more high-profile role in the event, but then this impression may be due to inadequate reporting by the media.
For the last three decades or more, the CIOG, under the leadership of Sheikh Moen ul Hack, has borne the leadership of the Muslim Community. That leadership has been creative, and has kept in close contact with the ordinary Muslim folk, for though the headquarters of the organisation is in the capital city, Georgetown, the “sub offices” have been active in the countryside, where the majority of the Muslim population reside. Recently, Bro Namdar, who lived and worked on the West Coast Demerara, and who was Vice-President of the organisation, passed away, and though his loss was a severe one, successful efforts are being made to have others fill the breach, since he was an example of a CIOG official who kept in touch with the ordinary folk.
The CIOG has been involved in many useful and necessary activities: It has helped in providing ambulance service to the poor; has had free medical outreaches; has assisted in the funerary expenses of less privileged Muslims; has been conducting wedding services throughout the country; has ensured that Muslim cemeteries are well kept; and those who are in need are financially assisted, not only during the holy month of Ramzan, but at all times. It has tried to ensure that the madrasas in all the various jamaats are well conducted.
In the last decade, it has realised that there is a need for schooling in Western education, so that more young Muslims can qualify themselves to serve in various aspects of the economy, and also to be able to qualify themselves for professional and technical studies. The main school of this type is the Muslim College at Thomas Lands, which caters for several hundred boys and girls. It should be mentioned that Sheikh Moen and his Executive, despite pressure of time, try to attend and give support to all Muslim functions and events.
The first all-Guyana Muslim organization, which the CIOG succeeded, was the Guyana United Sadr Islamic Anjuman, which was established in the 1930s. That organisation has many achievements to its credit, and among these are: It cemented the Muslim jamaats together, and gave the community national leadership when it was most needed; it founded an orphanage, which is still doing much-needed social work; it gave representation to the Muslim community in Parliament, and it was during the Hon. Yacoob Ali’s term of office that Eid-ul-Ahza and Youman Nabi were declared Public Holidays; it was also under the leadership of Haji Abdool Rahaman that Guyana became a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has recently lent Guyana several hundred million dollars to finance the major road from Linden to the Interior of the country.
During the long night of the Burnham dictatorship, the Anjuman had to struggle to survive, and when Haji Abdool Rahaman, who led that struggle, died, a pal of sorrow overtook the community, and it was feared that a vacuum would be created. Fortunately, the CIOG, under the devoted leadership of Sheikh Moen ul Hack, filled the breach, and stands ready to partner and participate in all national Muslim events.
