Malawi Muslims Pray For Peaceful Co-Existence

Thousands of Muslims gathered Monday for the prayer of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, amid calls for peaceful co-existence among religions.



"We want peace in the world. Where people have differences, peaceful means should be employed to resolve the differences," former transport minister Sadik Mia, a devout Muslim, said.



Held under the theme "Islam for peace and coexistence", thousands of Muslims gathered for the prayer at the Chichiri Stadium Upper Ground in the commercial city of Blantyre.



Mia, a local business magnate, said Islam is a religion of peace.



"Muslims must lead by example and preach peaceful coexistence among religions," he said.



An ongoing Israeli offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip also dominated the Muslim prayer on Monday.



"The people of Gaza are our brothers and sisters. We have to remember them in prayer," Sauti Mohamed, a local faithful attending the prayers, told Anadolu Agency.



At least 1035 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6000 injured in relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since July 7.



Israel claims that the military offensive aims at undermining the ability of Gaza's resistance movements to launch rocket attacks.



According to Israeli officials, at least 46 Israelis – 43 soldiers and three civilians – have been killed since the hostilities began three weeks ago.



-Donations-



Malawi has declared Monday a national holiday to allow Muslims celebrate their feast.



Sheikh Abdul Razzak Fattani, the executive director of the Islamic Relief Agency (IRA), hailed the government move to declare Eid a national holiday.



"This national holiday means all Muslims will have enough time to pray and make donations," Fattani told AA.



He said Malawian Muslims will use their prayers to call for peace and development in the country.



"We will pray for calm and development as well as economic recovery of Malawi," he said.



Meanwhile, food to the value of $20 000 will be donated to prisoners across the country following the prayers, according to IRA.



The food packages, which include rice, cooking oil, beans, salt and sugar, will be donated to Chichiri, Bvumbwe and Zomba prisons.



In Malawi, many people live below the poverty line with some of them depending on less than a dollar per day.



Most of these underprivileged people are Muslims, who constitute about 36 percent of the country's 14 million population, according to the Muslim Association of Malawi.



By Moses Michael-Phiri



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Blantyre