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Supreme Kadhi of the greater Lango Muslim supreme administration Sheikh Muhammad Yusuf Balinda has called upon the Muslim community to embark on commercial farming to generate wealth and improve household income.

“I wish to inform you that laziness and begging have no place in Islam and we don’t encourage it. Muslims should embrace government programmes geared towards economic empowerment and take the lead in eradicating poverty among themselves not forgetting food security,” Balinda says.

He delivered the message on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, during the celebration of Idd Al-fitr at Faizan Madina Mosque at Lira Primary School in Lira city.

He also encouraged the Muslims to protect the environment for safety and ecosystem because the rate of destruction is alarming.

Environment destruction concern

“I'm concerned about the fast rate of destruction of our environment that has accelerated the rate at which the Ozone layer is fast being destroyed,” he added.

“You recalled that recently in our neighbouring South Sudan, schools were closed due to the heat wave. Therefore, we need to do something urgently as a population to reverse the trend,” he added.

He also called upon the Muslims to send their children to school regardless of gender since Muslims have been lagging in education.

He says they will not achieve a quality population and human resource base that can significantly drive the Muslim community forward if they don’t have a critical mass of elite Muslims who are literate.

He also expressed concern about the lack of Muslim representatives in the district service commission, land board and public account committee in both Lira city and the district.

“This sidelining has not only denied us the opportunity to have our few educated youths get jobs in these districts of Lango but also kept us off from the point of distribution of cakes in the region,” he added.