Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola has asked Muslim youths in the country to pursue both Islamic and secular education to be productive citizens of the country.
Matola made the remarks during National Holy Qur’an Recitation competition presentation ceremony held at Blantyre Development and Education Center (Kameza) in Blantyre where the minister was the guest of Honor.
Matola said the person who has both Islamic and secular education, is more powerful as he is able to apply both religious and scientific reasoning in development agendas of the country and is able to resist bad practices that hinder success.
“For our voices to be heard as Muslims, we need to be there on the table. That means we have to take part in both Islamic and secular education. We can not be just complaining that government is sidelining us yet we don’t participate and the starting point is the education,” he said.
Matola who is also a sheikh, has since asked Muslim leaders to involve many Muslim personalities in Islamic functions so that they can be role models to the youth.
The Holy Qur’an Competition is an annual event which brings together young Muslims from various Madrassahs who have memorized the holy Quran to compete from district to national level and the overall winner receives different prizes including a trip to United Arab Emirates where he/she is expected to compete at international level.
This was a 15th edition since the competition started a decade ago.
