The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: Families, friends, sympathisers and fellows of the Islamic faith converged at the residence of the late Alhaji Muniru Mohammed Limuna for third day adua to pray and invoke Allah’s mercy for the deceased.

Alhaji Limuna, a deputy National Security Coordinator and SandaPewura of Gonjaland, was among the eight victims who perished in a helicopter crash that occurred on August 6, 2025, at Sikaman in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti region.

The post-interment prayer ceremony, characterised by Quran recitation and supplications, was led by Sheikh Usman Nuhu Sharubutu, the National Chief Imam, and witnessed by the President, John Dramani Mahama, and some traditional rulers.

The Chief Imam prayed for the country, the president, the deceased and his relatives.

“We prayed for all, and we pray that the Quran would intercede for us and not be a weapon against us,” he said.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto Jewu Soale I, the Overlord of Gonjaland, thanked the president and sympathisers for their support and urged the family to gracefully accept God’s wish.

Yaa Naa Abukari II, the Overlord of Dagbon, in a speech read on his behalf, expressed solidarity with the Gonja land by saying that “whatever touches Yagbon touches Dagbon.”

In an interview, Sheikh Armeyaw Shuaib, spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, explained that the prayer ceremony on the third day after burial marks the official end of Tazeya (expression of sympathies).

The expression of sympathies, he said, was a good sign of neighbourliness and an opportunity to invoke God’s mercy, compassion and forgiveness for the soul of the departed.

“Usually, it is part of our social duty that when any Muslim passes on, the community needs to stand by the deceased and express condolence and show solidarity and support to the family. This period extends basically for three days,” he said.

“The holy prophet indicated to us that the similitude of how Muslims relate is like the body. When one part of the body is hurting, all the other parts respond. In this case, it is Alhaji Muniru and Murtala, so we shall continue saying the prayers. There is no end to prayers.”

Sharing his fondest memories of the deceased, the spokesperson said Alhaji Muniru embodied benevolence and had a good sense of humour.

“If you are conversing with him, he intersperses it with a lot of stories, and you will break into laughter,” he said.

Sheikh Armeyaw said the demise of the eight victims must serve as a lesson for all Muslims about the immediacy of death and the need to not delay in doing good deeds.

The president announced plans for the establishment of a fund to cater for the children of the eight deceased persons.

Reacting to the announcement, Alhaji Musah Baba Adams, the Chief Executive of the Zakat and Sadaqa Trust Fund, in an interview lauded the plan and encouraged Muslims to think along the lines of establishing funds to continuously support families of deceased persons.

“The real funeral is the children left behind. Any other funeral we attend, especially that of deprived families, ask of the children left behind, and when contributing, make special provision for the children,” he said.