ASHONGMAN Muslim Leaders Unite in Prayers for The YOUTH
When the tragedy of young lives cut short becomes too frequent, faith must step forward. That’s the message echoing from the New Ashongman Central Mosque, on Thrusday, the 4th of September 2025, where Chief Imam Alhaji Ibrahim Toure, alongside Imams Muhammad Suala Napari, Ayub Ibrahim (Assistant Imam of Kwabenya Central Masjid), Mustapha Yusif (GA East Council of Imams General Organizer), and deputy youth leader Abdul Rahim Masahudu, have united mallams and sheikhs to raise urgent prayers for the youth of Ashongman and Kwabenya.
A Community on Edge
This isn’t prayer for its own sake—it’s plea born of desperation. Across the area, the specter of drug abuse—especially tramadol mixed with pot, codeine, and synthetic concoctions—has become a silent killer. Nationally, the crisis is so alarming that 62.3% of adolescents in select Northern region senior high schools reported having abused illicit substances at least once, with new combinations like “Red” (tapentadol and carisoprodol) posing lethal risks mint.gov.gh.
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) warns that substance abuse among youth isn’t just a health issue—it destroys education, mental stability, peer relations, and ultimately, diminishes the nation’s human capital modernghana.com. Adding depth to this concern, research reveals that Ghanaian youth often turn to tramadol not out of vice, but as a dysfunctional workaround—to battle exhaustion, anxiety, or the drudgery of informal labor (Read Reference).
Crime, Disease, Death—and No Room for Silence
Beyond addiction, these pressures fuel violence and risky behavior—some transforming into murder, others opening doors to unsafe relationships and sexually transmitted infections. The consequences are devastating: lost futures, broken families, communities on the brink.
But prayer alone isn’t enough. Imams and youth leaders know it; they believe it. Yet still, they pray—guiding not just supplication, but visibility.
Faith Anchored in Action
Their gathering does something few policies have managed: it centers the community’s moral conscience. It asks residents: What kind of future do we want for our children? It challenges leaders: Are we watching or acting?
Prayer here is resistance. It claims the spiritual ground absent in schools, clinics, and local leadership. It uplifts hope where none seemed possible, and it symbolically reclaims the young as worthy of rescue—not blame.
A Step Toward Healing, Not Hesitation
This prayer gathering is not the end of the battle—but it’s a powerful first step. It sends a signal: our community will not let our children be swallowed by addiction, crime, or illness without a fight. It calls for unity, healing, and a soul-deep reckoning that begins in humility and faith.
Prayers to be held at the New Ashongman central Mosque.
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