Islam in Ukraine - Muslims and Christians

Ukraine’s Acting Minister of Health Meets Mufti Said Ismagilov

Islam in Ukraine — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 10:18:05 +0000

Ms. Ulana Suprun, Ukraine’s acting Minister of health, met Mufti Said Ismagilov and gave a detalization of blueprint for the healthcare reform her team had offered. According to her, this must improve medical care for every Ukrainian. She asked the Mufti to support that reform and, if possible, be personally present at the House of Parliament at the time the respective package of bills was voted on Thursday, 13 April, and inform the parishioners of the RAMU “Umma” mosques about the main points of that reform. For she believes, that any reform is only possible when the citizens really support it.

Bills from the package can be found (in Ukrainian) at the official page of Verkhovna rada by the links (1, 2, 3). We are also attaching presentation sheets (also in Ukrainian) visualizing the key points (Ms. acting Minister gave them to Mufti as they met) and publishing the Mufti’s opinion on that account.

Please study those materials carefully and make your own conclusions, for our future living standards depend only on us at present!

Healthcare reform is one of the most topical issues in ukraine today, as that system has never changed since the Soviet era. A moribund system which became so corrupt and ineffective, that most Ukrainians have lost the slightest trust in it. Richer people get their medical treatment in private clinics or even abroad, while poorer Ukrainians have to wait in long queues in State-owned clinics where the doctors are underpaid, where there medical supplies are not enough, and where there’s no modern equipment. Hospitals look more like prisons than, actually, medical institutions.

Ms.Suprun has a clear, understandable, reasonable and absolutely real plan on Health Care reforming. Now it is up to the MPs who have to vote for those bills this week. The acting Minister says that the changes, of course, will not be immediate, but rather enduring, because of the resistance from the old system not willing to abandon the corrupt practices.

The current state of health Care system affects, first of all, average Ukrainian folks regardless their faith or ethnic origin, both Muslims and Christians and even those who do not believe at all.

The Government and the Prime-Minister fully support this reform, but there is a certain misunderstanding among the MPs. This week, on Thursday, perhaps, this bills package is to be voted in the Parliament, and Ms. acting Minister is very concerned, for in case it is not voted, any Health Care reforms will be postponed for another 3 to 5 years (because of the coming elections, when no one will take that responsibility). If it is not done now, the reform will be delayed at least until 2020 (if not later) — because the State Budget is approved in Summer, and the bills need to be voted now in order to include them in the 2018 Budget and allow the Government start their implementation fight on the 1 January, 2018.

If, however, the package of bills is postponed until Autumn, the nearest chance to include in it budget planning will be only next Summer! Ms.Suprun has reasonable doubt that the bills, if not voted now, will be voted in Autumn, for in course of the coming elections nobody will take any risks. So the reform will once again be postponed, while the Ukrainians will still have the current level of medical service — both kids and elderly people, as well as people with chronic conditions and demand permanent medical assistance.

For that reason, Ms. Acting Minister decided to approach the religious leaders, for religious organisations now have the highest level of credibility among Ukrainians. She has already spoken to the Counsil of Churches, met me (Mufti Said Ismagilov, — ed.) on Sunday, spoke to Patriarch Filaret on Monday and hopes to meet other religious leaders in person as well, and ask them to support that reform and, if possible, be present at the House of Parliament when the bills are voted and look the MPs in the eye. For she fears that they may fail to vote on Thursday, but then go to the Church on the Easter Sunday and demonstrate their godliness.

Ms.Suprun calls for every religious community to support that blueprint, for now we see almost no refoorms in Ukraine, why it were complex reforms the Maidan stood for and the Ukrainian society demands. That is something that can brings us closer to civilized world, where every human being is not some consumable item, but a person with their rights, and with every opportunity to get high-quality medical assistance from the State.

It happened so this year that the following week will be a very special spiritual time for both Christians and Muslims. For Christians, this is the last week of the Lent; the Holy Week that is to be completed by the Easter itself, Moreover, the voting must take place on Maundy Thursday, which is quite metaphorical.

For Muslims, on the other hand, this time is also special, for we are now witnessing the month of Rajab (according to the Hijri Calendar). This is one of the “forbidden” months preceding the Holy Ramadan, when the believers start preparing themselves for the month of fasting. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said that Rajab was the month of Allah. It was during this month that the miracle Night Journey took place, when the Prophet by the grace of God was first transferred from Mekka to jerusalem, and then ascended into Heaven where he was shown both Paradise and Hell, the awards and the punishments, and talked to God directly and received the last verses of al-Bakkarah directly from Him, which happened only once in Muhammad’s lifetime. For that reason, Rajab is a very special month for Muslims.

I think that every MP that identify themself as a religious person, every honest person with dignity, should use this wonderful opportunity and show their initiative, spirituality and their will to make some big deal for our people. I call upon everyone to support the Health Care reform in Ukraine!

21/04/2017

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Nigerian Muslims Condemn Jos Massacres

oksana — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:25:56 +0000

Top Nigerian Islamic scholars have condemned as un-Islamic and barbaric the massacre of hundreds of people, mostly women and children, in attacks on three Christian villages south of Jos metropolis, urging authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The massacre is no doubt a condemnable and abominable act which is totally rejected by the Muslim community," Dr Abdul-Lateef Adegbite, Secretary General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, March 9.

Some 500 people, mostly Christian women and children, are believed to have been killed in attacks by machete-wielding gangs on three villages on the fringes of Jos, capital of Plateau state.

"We condemn in very strong terms the alleged raping and killings, especially of women and children," said Adegbite.

"Islam offers excellent example in how women and children should be treated and I do not want to believe any Muslim would commit such weighty sins by killing the minors and the weak."

Abdullahi Shuaib, coordinator of the Conference of Islamic Organizations (CIO), agreed. He branded the killings as unacceptable and called for holistic probe into the pogrom that has left the hitherto beautiful state a shadow of its old self.

Professor Lakin Akintola, prominent Islamic televangelist and lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), said the Muslim community condemns these wanton killings.

"We cannot make meaningful progress if Nigerians live like cats and mice everyday of their lives," he told IOL.

"There is urgent need for the military to be deployed to every nook and cranny of Plateau State until peace is fully restored."

"The citizenry needs the protection of the government of the day to be able to go about their works without any fear of molestation."

Ethnic, Not Religious

Prof Akintola urged adherents of all religions, especially Muslims, to preach forgiveness and patience.

"We call on Muslim leaders and scholars in Plateau State to imbibe the teachings of forgiveness, tolerance and patience," he said.

"The Qur’an says, ‘Evil and goodness are incompatible’. Therefore, pay evil back with goodness. If you do this, even your enemies will soon become your best friends."

Adegbite, the NSCIA secretary general, refuted claims that the bloodletting in and around Jos, the capital of the Nigerian crisis-ravaged north-central Plateau state, is religious.

"Muslims and Christians are not fighting to get conversion; they are not struggling over place of worship. So it is not religious," he explained.

"What is happening in Jos is a strong ethnic rivalry between the Berom and the Hausa Fulani, and this has denigrated into what I call ethnic hatred and ethnic extremism.

"It is purely ethnic, and is political power struggle and economic power struggle and they are through such fighting giving bad name to both Islam and Christianity."

Bias

Adegbite urged the Christian-dominated state government to avoid inflammatory statements which could further pit Nigerians against one another.

"The state government is biased. And we’ve to be careful."

The Muslim leader urged the authorities to address the root causes of the violence.

"What the government should do is to outlaw ethic discrimination in all forms, so if the law is not strong enough they should strengthen it to deal with the hostility," said Adegbite.

"They should make it a crime and punish anybody involved."

Shuaib, the CIO coordinator, shares the same concern about the state government.

"If government is seen to be partisan that will escalate the crisis. The government at all time must be seen as father to all and sundry, which is the essence of good governance."

He warned the state government and security agencies against jumping to conclusions about the attacks before investigating the carnage.

"If the state government is already making such a conclusion that it was a reprisal then there is need for restraint because that can further incite other people to want to seek revenge. It is this same unguarded statement that has worsened the crisis over the years."

He urged the government to get to the root of this barbaric action and the crisis as a whole.

"We suggest that government should really talk with the community leaders, and not the assumed leaders who don’t live in these communities, to get to the roots of the matter."

By IslamOnline.net

Nigerian Muslims Condemn Militant Attacks

10/03/2010

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