The thirtieth edition of the annual Qur’anic recitation and gamo, by the people of Kiang Nema, was held on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008.

First held in 1978, what has become annual event has since grown popular not only within the country but it has also gained recognition in the sub-region.

This year’s “Ziarrreh”, as it is preferably called, has gathered thousands of Muslims in the country and elsewhere in the sub-region; from Senegal to Guinea Bissau and beyond.

The assembled pilgrims recite the Holy Qur’an for a number of rounds, amid repeated hailings of religious hymns.

This year’s Qur’anic recitation which started at about 9:am in the morning, finally came to an end at six o.clock in the evening, when all the visiting delegates; men, women, boys and girls, converged at the said village Quranic recitation ground for a traditional general prayer that succeed the recitation.

In his remarks during this prayer, Ba-Alieu Fadera, Imam Ratib of the village, who led the gathered Muslims in the prayers, first prayed for protection of the Islamic Ummah, the village, the delegates who attended this year’s edition, the government and people of the Gambia, as well as donors of both the village and the ziarreh. They also prayed for the authorities at the helm of the country’s affairs. Prayers were also done for neighboring countries and charity givers.

Prayers were also offered to seek Allah’s blessings against the current looming food crisis that faces the world,  and the Gambia in particular. The poor, the sick, the needy, the disabled and the less privileged in the society, were not left out in prayers.  The gathered Muslims ended their prayers by praying for eternal peace for the departed souls of their family members, relatives, friends as well as other departed Muslims.

In his annual message to Muslims, Imam Ratib Fadera of Kiang Nema, praised the Almighty Allah for answering to their prayers, noting that the event was one of the most successful ziarreh ever organized by his village since they started the initiative some three decades ago.
 
He commended the villagers for their dedication, devotion and unshakeable commitment to the cause of Islam. He noted that the villagers and their natives in now living in other places in and outside the country, always stick to their commitment of ensuring a successful ziarreh.

To the Muslims, Imam Fadera implored on them to renew their commitment in devotion to Allah, his prophet, and the Islamic Ummah.  He advised them to always stick to the principles of Islam and safeguard them in all their activities.  He called on them to desist from non-islamic practices such as adultery and fornication, greed, injustices, bribery and corruption, hypocrisy, amongst a host of vices that Islamic forbids. He further called on them to nurture discipline into their children, and educate them on the teachings and practices of the principles of islam, stressing that young children needed to be educated on their religion since they would represent the future leadership of the great islamic Ummah.

Imam Fadera ended his words by soliciting assistance from the government, NGOs, donor agencies as well as philantropists, to come to the aid of the villagers by financing the uncompleted structure of the village central mosque, which he said had been in that dilapidated condition for more than a decade now.  Interested persons can reach him on the following numbers: Tel. 9745109/9898416/9851922.

The 30th Kiang Nema ziarreh culminated into a Gamo, which was held later in the night, when the pilgrims were entertained with preaching by Alhagie Kabiru Fadera, a renowned Islamic scholar, who his a native of the village, but based in Tivaoune, Senegal. His preaching centered on various aspects of Islamic teachings; the Quur’an, words of Allah and the prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAW).