Rohan Ahmad, Missionary, The Gambia
On 27 July 2022, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya The Gambia held a Peace Symposium – the venue was a hall at the Farafenni Senior Secondary School. The event was attended by around 175 people, including naib amir and missionary-in-charge in The Gambia, the chief of the army of the North Bank region, the Alkalo (chief) Bakary Dibba of Farafenni, the immigration office in-charge Farfenni, faith leaders as well as representatives from various organisations such as the customs office and The Gambia police force office.
A week before the event, the posters prepared for promoting the Peace Symposium were posted around the town and an announcement for a week was regularly made at the Paradise Radio Station (the most popular radio in the Farafenni-North Bank region).
The theme of the event was “Love for all, hatred for none” and the topic under discussion was “The Holy Prophetsa: A messenger of peace, reconciliation and tolerance”.
The programme was chaired by Fabacary Kalleh Sahib, nationally known as a peace activist, who is also an Ahmadi Muslim. The session started with the recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by welcoming remarks by my humble self. After this, various guests delivered speeches on the theme of the event and shared their views about this unique event.
The chief of the Army of the North Bank region said:
“I am very much touched by this event which promotes peace, and very much thankful to the Ahmadiyya Community for the invitation.”
Momodou Lamin, the Immigrations officer, said:
“Indeed, a great event bringing people of diverse society together.”
Khatim Touray, an Islamic teacher at the Madrasa Saifullah, said:
“I am very much impressed with this programme and I wish more and more such programmes are conducted. From such events, we get to know that there are lots of similarities than differences.”
The event was covered by MTA The Gambia, GRTS (National TV station of The Gambia), Light FM, Paradise FM (The most popular radio station in Farafenn) and New Day newspaper.
The distinguished guests were presented with the books, World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace and Life Of Muhammad, as a gift.
The session came to an end with silent prayer led by naib amir and the missionary-in-charge in The Gambia.