COMOG organizes Hajj Conference
Atiku Iddrisu | Posted: Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Following the unimaginable hardships and other traumatic experiences Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims to Hajj in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia go through over the years, the Coalition of Muslim Organisations - Ghana COMOG) has organised a conference with other stakeholders to find out suggestions and ideas from the Ghanaian Muslim community on how to resolve the problem.
The two-day conference, which ended last Sunday, was attended by Muslims in all the ten regions of Ghana and from a wide spectrum of Islamic organisations across the country.
The President of COMOG Alhaji (Major retd) Muhammed Easah said upon the return of pilgrims from the recent Hajj his office was inundated with calls and complaints about the harrowing and traumatic experiences that the pilgrims were made to endure.
He said the accounts were so horrifying that COMOG upon consultations with the office of the National Chief Imam, National Council of Muslim Chiefs and other stakeholders organised a press conference to defuse the growing tension and usher in the preparation towards holding a national conference on Hajj.
The purpose of the conference therefore, he said, was to get concrete suggestions and ideas from the Muslim community as to how to inject sanity, order and discipline into the organisation of the Hajj in Ghana.
He said the conference was not going to provide the platform condemning and maligning fellow Muslims or for apportioning blame in the matter of Hajj organisation in Ghana.
He said whether the perennial Hajj problems in Ghana were the result of incompetence, irresponsibility, deliberate manipulation or mismanagement, it is only Allah who knows and it is only He alone who can judge.
He appealed to pilgrims who went through past unpleasant Hajj experiences to put all those bitter experiences behind them and chart a new course in search of solutions and better ways of organising the Hajj.
He said COMOG would present to the government a report containing specific recommendations and proposals made at the conference, and expressed the hope that the report would be given the attention and consideration that it deserves.
President of the Federation of Muslim Women's Associations of Ghana (FOMWAG) Dr Rabiatu Ammah said women suffer most during unfortunate Hajj situations, as they constitute between 60 to 70 percent of Ghanaian pilgrims and therefore cannot be left out regarding their representation on boards and committees of Hajj.
She called on the authorities to offer pilgrims at least some orientation on Hajj, before they embark on the spiritual journey.
Present at the opening of the conference were the Saudi Ambassador to Ghana, and other diplomats.
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