Imam stops sermon, throws out congregant for not wearing face mask

An Imam at the Ussifiyya Mosque in Kumasi threw out one of his congregants on Friday for not wearing a face mask.

Sheik Yussif Alhassan Umar said he did that to send a strong message to other congregants that the wearing of masks was now mandatory.

Although the ban on churches and mosque gatherings has been lifted, the government has outlined some safety protocols that must be followed.

One of those protocols is for religious leaders to ensure that all their congregants wear face masks before converging to worship.

There was a meeting after directives by the Government and I told all the members that we have to try as much as possible to do what we can do to apply the directives because it is prevention for all of us," Sheik Umar said, as quoted by Citinewsroom.

"And we are denying people entering the mosque without the mask, how can you a member enter the mosque without the mask?”

Various mosques which reopened on Friday set-up a task forces to enforce these measures at their premises.

Also, persons visiting the mosques were made to wash their hands, use sanitizers and their body temperature checked.

Imam of the Ussifiyya Mosque, Sheik Yussif Alhassan Umar, was therefore in no mood to tolerate any non-compliance.

Sheik Umar was delivering a sermon when he realised one of his congregants was without a face mask.

He quickly paused with the sermon and asked the young man to step out. According to him, it is now mandatory for everyone to wear a face mask before entering the mosque in order to prevent a spread of the novel Coronavirus.

“No one is above the law. If you are commanding somebody not to enter the mosque without the mask, how can you enter without the mask? You have to lead by example. That is why I sacked him. And when I sacked him, he went out to get the mask before I allowed him to sit in the mosque,” Sheik Umar added.