A spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shuaib says Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s fraternizing with the Christian faith does not go against the Islamic faith.
“It is not an abhorration if there are good reasons why you find me in the church. I have entered the church. I’ve entered into the Chuch with the Chief Imam, the Catholic Church here on an anniversary and the Chief Imam was invited and I went with him.
Apart from the fact that he entered Christ the King because of my interfaith engagements I enter churches. I enter the Presbyterian Church and give lectures it doesn’t make me less of a Muslim. There’s how you describe practising the faith for example if I go and I have to behave like every Christian will do, inside me, I’m a Christian though I say I’m a Muslim that will mean compromising my faith,” he said.
On if Pastors lay hands on a Muslim means compromising one’s faith he said “No, no, there are things that are done symbolically. Priests come to the Chief Imam’s place and when they are going they say they want to pray for him. Sometimes I cringe a little bit because I don’t know what will happen and I will whisper to his ears that they say they want to say a prayer for you and he will say let them pray.
Those acts are symbolic of friendship. There is something in religious studies we call the phenomenological study of religions which is a method of research which requires that you bracket your subjectivities in order to understand. So symbolically those ones are called empathetic engagements”.
On people having problems with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s fraternizing with the Christian Faith, he said “he is a politician. He is doing political tactics. Dr Bawumia knows that even if all Muslims vote for him he will not win an election. Politically it doesn’t make sense to be on one side.
So he is doing politics and people must view him from the angle of his political strategy to be able to get the votes from every corner. All the politicians do they do come to Muslims. Some of them comes to the Chief Imam for him to pray for them. Chief Imam lays his hand on the heads of the Chief Imam. When they come they squat and give their heads to the Chief Imam to pray for them. It depicts how they see him and it doesn’t make them less Christians,” he said.
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