The President of the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council (SIC), Alhagie Banding Drammeh, has urged preachers of all religious categories in The Gambia not to abuse preaching as a medium to castigate anybody or group of people but should instead preach peace in the country. Alhagie Banding Drammeh made these remarks during his weekly Friday preaching session on GRTS radio last Friday evening.

According to the SIC President Muslim and Christian preachers should always preach peace in the country and cultivate the practice of inter-faith dialogue.  He said Islam values and calls for the nurturing and maintenance of peace, adding that it is the responsibility of all Gambians and non-Gambians residing in the country to be peace makers not peace breakers. He also called on villagers to maintain peace in their mosques and should not be the cause of any trouble in their localities for the sake of Islam.

The SIC President also spoke of the significant role the President of the republic The Gambia attaches to the Supreme Islamic Council and religion in general, saying that President Jammeh always advises his council to promote peace in the country. He therefore called on Gambian people to maintain peace in the country and appealed to Muslim elders in the country to try to settle minor disputes at local level as a first step before forwarding the matter to court level. “People must go back to the traditional ways of settling their disputes of all kind for the sake of peace,” the SIC President concluded.