The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: The Imam of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent of Police, Husein Abdur Rahim Husein, has advised Muslims who seek to renew their faith in Allah to be careful of the company they keep around them.

He said that the type of friends a Muslim keeps around him is critical to determining the type of relationship he has with Allah, as good friends tend to remind you of Allah while bad friends distance you from worshipping Allah.

He observed that friends who tend to be bad influences often lead to paths of misguidance and would usually expose Muslim friends for their secret shortcomings, which may end up tarnishing their reputation as good Muslims.

“You are friends at work, and they decide to go and boos and drink. You went there, and you took it with them, and they are observing.

“Another time they will go with a Muslim and he says I don’t drink, then they will say even (so, so, and so) has been drinking here with us,” the Imam said.

The Imam gave the advice during the Friday Sermon (Jummah Khutbah) as part of the Jummah prayers at the Cantonment Police Mosque.

The topic of the sermon was “the challenge of maintaining faith in our modern times.”

Imam Husein said that any Muslim who seeks to maintain his faith at a time when holding onto religious values has become difficult must give back to society through the support of their communities and strike a balance between worldly affairs and matters of the hereafter.

He also said Muslims must be willing to seek knowledge and renew their faith through regular prayers and remembrance.

“The more we learn about our religion, the deeper our faith and understanding become,” he said.

He also cautioned Muslims against misleading fellow Muslim friends on matters of religion they have no knowledge of, adding that “when you do so, the sin is on you.”