No in-mosque ablution – Police Mosque to congregants

The management of the Ghana Police mosque has said all ablution rooms will be closed.

It has, therefore, also directed its congregants to perform ablution before coming to the Mosque.

This forms part of measures to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the easing of restrictions on public gatherings and worship when he addressed the nation on Sunday, 31 May 2020.

Churches and Mosques across the country are mandated to hold an hour’s service with 100 congregants at a time and to adhere to all safety protocols.

All mosques across Ghana were disinfected last week in anticipation of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions by President Akufo-Addo.

The exercise, which was started from the Abbosey Okai Central Mosque, is in response to a plea by the National Chief Imam, Sheik Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu to the government during the recent virtual Eid al-Fitr celebration.

The spokesperson for the Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremayao Shuaib, stated the readiness of the Muslim community to prevent further spread of the deadly virus if restrictions were lifted by government.

“If, in the evaluation of the government, the government comes to a conclusion that time is right for the restriction to be eased, what is left to us to do is to look at the preventive measures and adhere to them”, he said.

A statement by the Management of the Ghana Police Mosque on Friday, 5 June 2020, indicated that the mosque had been fumigated and “will be opened to congregants 20 minutes before prayers start and 20 minutes after prayers. For Jummah prayers, the Kulbah will be reduced form 30 minutes to 15 minutes.”

Congregants were reminded that: “It is mandatory to wear a nose mask” and directed to “come with their personal prayer rug or mat. Anyone without a personal prayer rug or mat will not be allowed entry.”

Also, “Congregants must perform ablution before coming to the Mosque. All ablution rooms will be closed. Veronica buckets and hand sanitisers will be made available at all main entrances of the mosque. Details of congregants will be taken before they are allowed entry into the mosque and Congregants are encouraged to have an ID with them.”

Management of the Mosque, however, admonished “children, the elderly and individuals with underlying health conditions” to pray at home and reiterated it “will continue to broadcast sermons and activities of the mosque via our social media handles, hence you can still pray at home and follow our sermons” as adopted since the outbreak of the deadly virus and the ban on worship.