The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra – The Hajia Damata Sulemana Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation has presented body bathing tables to nine mosques within the Ayawaso North and East municipalities.

This was to help alleviate the difficulties that came with performing burial rites and handling the dead within Muslim communities.

Mosques that benefited from the gesture included the Akotex Mosque, Alhaji Norgah mosque, Imam Nuhu memorial mosque, Zaid Ben Sabit Mosque and Khulafah Rashideen Mosque.

The rest were Abdul Rahman Cardo Mosque, Alhpa Mosque, Masjid Imam and Maamobi Central Mosque.

At a presentation ceremony held in Accra on Saturday, December 1, 2018, the founder of the NGO, Hajia Damata Sulemana recounted the numerous challenges she faced when her family had to prepare a deceased relative for burial.

Those challenges she said propelled her to look for solutions that would help other families carry the funeral rites of their dead loved ones with proper care.

“As a deep-thinking woman, I believe the only gesture to the dead is to handle their body with care just like a newborn baby that could not take care of himself,” she said.

The retired midwife who also founded the Hajia Damata Maternity Home and Clinic urged the public to practice good healthy living by eating well; avoiding self-medication and visiting the health centre regularly as death though inevitable was in most cases avoidable.

For his part, an ex-military man, Major General Abdullah Awudu (Rtd) who chaired the programme encouraged the youth to tap into the knowledge and experience of Mrs Sulemena who has exemplified herself as a good role model for the Muslim community.

He also encouraged parents not to renege on championing the course of education as that was the only way to add value to the lives of every child.

“We need to also push our children to a high level in order for us not to be left out of the national cake” he said.

Major General Awudu rtd also entreated parents to pay more attention to the upbringing of their children by constantly monitoring the activities and appearance of their wards so as to prevent their children from becoming victims of mistaken identity caused by negative profiling.

“As a retired soldier, there is what we call profiling. This profiling helps one to be identified based on how he looked. So if you have braided hair with an earring and pants pulled down, it is easy for you to be classified as a robbery suspect” he explained.

The Imam of Akotex Mosque, Mallam Adam Salim in an interview was appreciative of the gesture and was optimistic that the days when sitting benches had to be used for bathing the death were over.

He indicated that such a kind gesture towards the Muslim community would only strengthen the relationship between the community and the foundation.