Sheik Tijan L. Cham, who authored the newly published book entitled ‘Key to Success in Teaching Yourself the Rules and Regulation of Marriage and Divorce’ has presented his books as a donation to the Office of the Vice President and Minister of Women’s Affairs, Office of the First Lady and Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly respectively.

The book is written in an attempt to minimise unnecessary divorces in the Islamic Ummah especially in this country, while explains the importance of marriage and family life in Islam.

Receiving the donated books, VP Njie-Saidy applauded the intellectual diligence of Mr. Cham, pointing out that the book would be very vital in the marital lives of Gambians.

She said that marriage is very important in humanity, but acknowledged that many divorces are taking place in their contemporary society as a result of lack of vast knowledge in cases concerning divorce and marriage.

Even though 95% of the population of the country is Muslims, VP acknowledged that ‘Sharia’ is a specialised area and that one needs to read it to understand.

She pointed out that the book would be very vital to women, who, she said, are not well-off in the Arabic language in which most of such important rules are written within Islam. “It’s good to understand one’s religion,” she said, indicating that that is one of the purposes of the book’s publication.

The VP, however, applauded women in this country for their relentless dedication and consistent courage in trying to ask a lot concerning their religion especially what is affecting them.

She finally thanked the donor and his family who accompanied him to the presidency for donating to the Office of the First Lady, saying she is the champion in saving humanity in the country.

The VP Njie-Saidy recommended that the book be largely bought by people in order to understand what marriage and divorce actually mean and the rules prescribed for them.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Hon. Mama Fatima Singhateh, congratulated Mr. Cham and described the book as worthwhile venture.

She said that the book is relevant to this modern age, arguing that every matter of ‘Sharia’ has affected vast number of people in this country. Marriage and divorce, she noted, are two issues which often affect many people as a result of limited knowledge in ‘Sharia’.

“I really must commend you for this worthy cause,” she said, while pointing out that the book will help the Judiciary in its bid for a substantive law in Sharia.

Hon. Fatou Lamin Faye, the minister of Basic and Secondary Education, who received the books on behalf of the Office of the First Lady, equally hailed the author for his courage in coming up with such an important book.

She talked about marriage circumstances in our modern day society, spelling out that a lack of knowledge in marriage and divorce has resulted to so many divorces, leaving many children end up growing up in single parent family setups.

She therefore, equally recommended for people particularly families, to buy the book and bolster their knowledge in marriage and divorce.

For his part, Sheikh Tijan L. Cham, the author of the book, said that the donation is geared towards contributing to the celebration of the 50th birthday of The Gambian leader His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh, Babili Mansa, whose birth, he said is a blessing not only to The Gambia but the entire humanity.

“Your Excellency Sir, kindly permit me to commend the Imams and the Islamic scholars in The Gambia for promoting moderation in Islam because Islam is the religion of moderation and not the religion of extremism or excessiveness,” he affirmed.

The representative of the Chief Justice, Cadi Secka, also thanked the author, who, he said, is known to him for a long time. He described Cham as a pious muslim who is committed to spreading his knowledge in Islam.

He promised that the Judiciary will do all it takes to promote the importance of this book.

Fatou Mbye, who chaired the meeting and also received the items on behalf of the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly and Aja Ndey Awa Khan, the overseer of Gambia Women Federation both applauded Cham for his intellectual diligence.