Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, the spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, says it will be challenging to implement some of the new guidelines instituted for Muslims.
Following the easing of restrictions on religious activities, the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, announced among other things that Mosques are to designate a waiting room or area where a person who becomes sick at the premises or at an event can be isolated from others while making preparations for evacuation.
But the spokesperson for the National Chief Imam speaking on the Citi TV‘s Breakfast Daily on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, said considering the nature of how mosques are designed, implementing such directive will be daunting task.
“There was one innovation that came in and that’s having a certain isolation room. If you are someone who is abreast with the Muslim community and how Mosques are designed, this may be challenging.”
“Some of the Mosques have only the inner chamber where you come in to congregate and finish and away you go. Our prayers to do not last long. I can tell you that, for our Jumah prayer for example, except those we call the book-long Imams who come to you and you have to lengthen the summon a bit, preferably in Islam, you shorten the summon,” he said.
“In fact, I have earlier on suggested a COVID-19 implementation committee for each mosque at national, regional, community, district and neighbourhood levels. It’s like we have not anticipated this…There is no need to rush…for example, if we open this coming Friday, how do we put together the task force and get them trained for them to be able to monitor and all these things? It gives a certain impression as if we just threw it there and that we didn’t think ahead,” he added.
Easing of restrictions
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, May 31, 2020, announced a phased easing of the country’s COVID-19 restrictions which included the lifting of a ban on religious activities.
During the address, the President directed religious activities to commence beginning Friday, June 5 for Muslims, Saturday, June 6 for Adventists, and Sunday, June 7 for the remaining religious sects, all with only a maximum of 100 persons in a church or mosque.
But the lifting of the ban comes with several guidelines to ensure that religious spaces do not become points of the spread of COVID-19 infections.
Some Christian leaders have already indicated that they will not open their churches despite the lifting of the ban.