The war against enemies of Islam is far from end. There is a lot to be done and the job is not only for sheikhs, other stakeholders too like journalists need to take part, says Energy Minister Ibrahim Matola.
Matola, has said misconceptions about Islam may end only if Muslim journalists who are in the mainstream media take a leading role in sensitizing their fellow non Muslim journalists on what to and not to report about Islam.
The minister said this at Blantyre Islamic Mission (BIM) during Family and Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (saw)’s competition prize presentation ceremony where he was invited to act as a role model to the students being one of the alumni.
“Enemies of Islam use the media to tarnish the image of Islam. You will see this when they write stories about Islam. They will rarely publish or broadcast good things that Muslims are doing because their agenda is to associate the religion with bad things only.
“So, if we can have many Muslim journalists in these houses it would be good as they would as well be taking a role in advising their friends the truth about Islam and not to allow stories of such nature to be published or broadcast,” he said.
The minister also asked students who gathered at BIM to concentrate on both secular and Islamic studies saying it is only way that will make Islam grow in the country.
He said by having small number of Muslims in secular studies Muslims will still be complaining endlessly that the government is sidelining them.
“It is not fair to have only 19 Muslim MPs out of 193 yet we claim ourselves that we constitute about 50% of the all the population in the country. This is why I am encouraging you to work hard on your studies and become politicians, doctors, lawyers and among other professions. By that, we will have our say on whatever things we feel may infringe our rights as citizens of this country,” said Matola.
About the Function
At the function, winners went home with various items such as laptops, mobile phones and digital Qurans. Some Muslims who did well compared to their friends were also sent to perform Hajj this year as a grand prize.
This was a fifth competition and about 40 winners have been so far been sent to Mecca for Hajj, according to the BIM Principal Sheikh Muhammad Nadwi.
Reporting by Marshall Dyton, at Blantyre Islamic Mission – Blantyre
