Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has in the last week made strong strong calls for the need for religious co-existence in the country.
His first appeal was at the National Muslim Thanksgiving event of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, on July 29.
"Religion is a force for unity. It is not a force for division. We should never allow religion to divide us.
“The NPP brings people together. We have fought elections on issues, we have elected people on merit and we will not make elections about you being a Christian or you being a Muslim," he said at the event.
Two days later, on July 31, he was a special guest of honour at the launch of the 175th-anniversary celebrations of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana (EPCG), there again he made similar calls.
His statement on the status of Jesus has however elicited some disquiet in sections of social media.
“As children of the only and one true God, whether Christian or Muslim, we all believe in the God of Isaac, Jacob and Abraham. We all believe in the virgin birth of Mary. We all believe that Jesus Christ is the saviour and that Jesus Christ will come back again to save the world," he said in comments posted on the website of the presidency.
The point about belief in Jesus Christ as the saviour has roundly been contested by Muslims and Christians alike.
Most Muslims have rejected the claim stating that nowhere is it written that Jesus Christ is a saviour and will come back to save the world.
"This is a lie or an ignorant position taken by a Muslim, as MUSLIM; we believe and TRUST that all Prophets and non-Prophets from the first to the last generation would all rely on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) to save us on the day of Judgment," one Seidu Fiter posted on Facebook.
"Eii Bawumia. He has abandoned Islam and Prophet Muhammad for Jesus and Christianity. Bawumia's brand of politics is very strange," another commenter stated.
A number of opposition politicians have also taken swipes at him, among others Joyce Bawah Mogtari, an aide to former President John Dramani Mahama; Dr. Omane Boamah, a former minister and Joseph Yammin, a former deputy minister.
They have all accused him of putting his presidential ambitions in the NPP above his religious beliefs.
Status of Jesus in the Quran:
Jesus is not considered a son of God or God according to Islamic scriptures - be it the Quran or the Sunnah - the Prophetic traditions.
According to the scriptures, Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus) did not die, rather Allah raised him up to [Heaven] Himself, and he will descend before the Day of Resurrection and will follow Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
According to islamqa.com, Jesus will prove the Jews to be wrong in their claim to have killed and crucified him. And he will prove the Christians to be wrong who exaggerated about him and said that he was God, or the son of God, or the second of three.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the son of Maryam will descend among you as a just judge. He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the jizyah (tax paid by non-Muslims in an Islamic state), and money will become so widespread that there will be no one who will accept it.” (Agreed upon; narrated by Muslim, no. 155).
See some reactions below:
SARA
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President