Features

Criminals and gullible natives

A criminal is a criminal whether or he has thick lips. As such, I strongly disagree with the French psychologist, Lombroso, whose idea of a criminal is a person with hard features and thick lips. If Lombroso had conducted his research in Africa, he probably might have condemned Africans to be a criminal race, since broad noses and thick lips, among others, comprise the African’s visage.

In Sikaman for instance, we have dangerous criminals whose physiognomy has nothing to do with their criminality. We have criminal die-hards and recidivists who are handsome gentlemen and comely ladies. Women who dupe for instance are the most attractive, albeit with dark minds.

And one thing I have come to realise of late is that there has been a return to the use of wits and magic in place of violence by criminals, especially by thieves and burglars. Perhaps, the idea of firing squads does not particularly appeal to them.

Using wits and magıc has a long history in Sikaman. In 1974, certain crooks, allegedly from a neighbouring country, invaded Sikaman to make money. They greeted you, you responded and your genitals got lost if you were a man. If a woman, your breasts vanished in a twinkle of an eye.

In desperation and bewilderment, weeping and gnashing of teeth, you quickly had to agree to pay quite a sum of money to another man (an accomplice) who approached you offering help, and you got back your sexual accessories.

It was widely disseminated that the antidote to the magic was pepper or charcoal. You simply had to put one of these into your pockets wherever you were going and then you were safe. Those days you could see Sikaman natives laden with pepper in all pockets and some with loads of charcoal in their back pockets. Pepper and charcoal became essential commodities.

This criminal practice died down in Tema for instance, not because people were using pepper and charcoal, but because one of the so-called magicians met a rather tragic end. He was identified by his victim and promptly lynched through mob violence.

Sometime last year, the ‘Spectator’ carried a front page exclusive of a man with a tribal mark who does not cherish using violence to earn a living. The man, it was alleged, made lucrative business by dressing like a woman, with slit and kaba, and high-heeled stiletto shoes, complete with make-up and earrings. I wonder what really was attractive about this muscular gentleman, no matter the finesse with which he executed the make-up and the power with which he wriggled his buttocks when walking. Anyhow, he made a tidy sum duping unsuspecting men before being told enough was enough.

In a bid to burgle a business executive in a quiet residential area, a man uses a ladder to enable him get access to the top chamber at about 2a.m, unfortunately for the thief, the executive boss does not sleep with both ears. One ear is, therefore, alive like a 24-hour radio frequency. He hears the sound as the thief works his way upstairs via the ladder.

The man wakes up and descries a tall, bulky barrel chested human being, who could have passed for a gorilla, ascending a wooden ladder pitched against his window. He had never seen such a formidable figure.

However, as the thief nearly gets to the top, and with all his might pushes the man takes courage and with all his might pushes the ladder off his window. The criminal lands on his back with the ladder atop him, and barks like a dog although he is a perfect human being.

But he is also a professional. He quickly wakes up from the tragedy, wipes the sand off his face and hair, carries the ladder on his broad shoulders and trots dizzily away home to plan another strategy. After an alarm had been sounded for his arrest, he was nowhere to be found.

A boy of about 13 enters into a house and meets the children of a prosperous man whose wife is a businesswoman. The boy tells the children that he has been sent by their mother to carry the video set to a repairer. The children become sceptical, because the video set is in excellent condition.

Anyhow, the teenager convinces them that the repairer had to put something right somewhere. The children are too willing and allowed the smiling adolescent to carry away their beautiful set to improve the picture quality.

Their mother returns at dusk and denies ever sending a boy to the house. Up till this day neither the video set nor the boy has been found.

The latest episode was reported in the Ghanaian Times by Francis Gasu, some three weeks back.

A woman meets two girls at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra, on their way to buy exercise books at the premises of New Times Corporation. She advises the elder of the two to remove whatever money they were having in their ladies’ bag, to keep it safe by wrapping it in some pieces of paper. She asks them to put the money into a nylon sack -they were holding, and to hurry since according to her, thieves were following them.

The girls indeed hurry. But when they got to New Times and decided to take out the GH¢36,000 wrapped in the papers, the money is absent, the papers intact. So magically dangerous! They came weeping and became confounded at this magical gimmickry perpetuated by a seemingly innocent and helpful woman.

There are thieves and criminals of different grades making money by relying on the gullibility of the native. When a thief enters a court room, he is the most dangerous of his calibre. And when a thief wields a ladder, it is an indication that he knows his job.

A man in brown overall with a ladder firmly held onto his shoulder, begs his way through the capacity crowd present to witness a long-awaited trial. He is allowed into the courtroom and he bows to the judge who solemnly acknowledges the reverence.

He unloads his tall ladder and puts it against the wall as court proceedings were underway. He climbs the ladder and screws out the large beautiful wall clock that had stopped working some two weeks back. The man must be a repairer and his forehead looks like that of a very efficient watch repairer.

He descends the ladder with the clock, puts the ladder on his shoulder, bows again to the judge and is given way to pass. That has been the end of the beautiful clock and the efficient repairer who incidentally does not have thick lips.

These are all true stories which have occurred at one time or the other. They are the perfect substitutes for armed robbery. The thieves come in many forms and guises. They use brains and magic when the going becomes tough.

Be on your guard and save your property!

This article was first published on Saturday October 13, 1990.

Features

What booze can do to you

Ethanol, the chemical compound present in most alcoholic drinks, is a neurotoxin, that is, a substance that can damage or destroy the nervous system. Someone who is drunk is, in fact, suffering from a form of poisoning.

In large quantities, ethanol causes coma and death. For instance, among students in Japan, the practice of ‘ikkinomi, or alcohol chugging, causes deaths every year.

The body is able to convert ethanol into harmless substances, but this is not accomplished immediately. If alcohol is consumed at a faster rate than the body can handle, ethanol builds up in the system and begins to interfere noticeably with brain function. In what way?

Speech, vision, coordination, thought, and behaviour are all connected with an incredibly complex series of chemical reactions in the brains neurons, or key cells. The presence of ethanol modifies those reactions, suppressing or enhancing the role of certain neutrontransmitters chemicals that relay signals from neuron to neuron.

The stream of information in the brain is thus altered, preventing the brain from functioning normally. That is why when a person drinks too much, he or she develops slurred speech, blurred vision, sluggish movement, and weakened behavioural restraints and inhibitions, all common symptoms of intoxication.

EXPOSURE

With prolonged exposure to alcohol, brain chemistry adapts to counter the poisonous effect of ethanol and to maintain normal nerve function. This leads to tolerance, whereby the same amount of alcohol has less of an effect than it would have had previously.

Dependence occurs when the brain has adapted so much to the presence of alcohol that it cannot operate properly without it. The body craves alcohol to maintain the chemical balance.

When a person is deprived of alcohol, his brain chemistry is totally destabilised and withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, trembling, or even seizures, set in.

Besides causing modifications of brain chemistry, alcohol abuse can lead to cell atrophy and destruction, altering the brain’s very structure. While partial recovery is possible with abstinence, some of this damage seems to be irreversible.

Neurons that die are apparently never replaced, further affecting memory and other cognitive functions.

Damage to the brain is not just the result of long term exposure to alcohol.

Research seems to indicate that even relatively short periods of alcohol abuse can be harmful.

LIVER DISEASE

AND CANCER

The liver plays a vital role in metabolising food, combating infection, regulating blood flow and removing toxic substances, including alcohol, from the body.

Prolonged exposure to alcohol damages the liver in three stages. During the first state, the breaking down of ethanol slows the digestion of fats, causing them to build up in the liver.

This is called steatohepatitis, or fatty liver. In time, chronic inflammation of the liver, or hepatitis, sets in. While alcohol can cause hepatitis directly, it also appears to lower the body’s resistance to Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses.

If unchecked, inflammation causes cells to burst and die. Compounding this damage, alcohol seems to trigger the natural system of programmed cells death called apoptosis.

This final stage is cirrhosis. The vicious cycle of continuous inflammation and cell destruction causes irreversible scarring. Eventually, the liver becomes humpy, instead of remaining spongy.

Finally, scar tissue prevents blood from flowing normally, leading to liver failure and death.

Alcohol’s effect on the liver has another insidious side effect -the liver is less capable of playing its defensive role in counteracting the effect of cancer-forming agents.

In addition to favouring the development of cancer of the liver, alcohol greatly increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, the pharynx, the larynx, and the oesophagus.

What is more, alcohol makes the mucous membranes in the mouth more easily penetrated by cancerous substances in tobacco, elevating the risk for smokers.

Women who drink daily are at greater risk of breast cancer. According to one study, the risk for those who drank three or more alcoholic beverages per day was 69 per cent higher than that of nondrinkers.

POISONED BABIES

A particularly tragic outcome of alcohol abuse is its effect on the unborn. “Alcohol is far worse for the developing fetus than any other abused drug,” reported by the ‘International Herald Tribune.’

When a pregnant woman drinks, her developing chin also drinks and the toxic effect of alcohol is especial, devastating at this format stage of the fetus.

Alcohol causes irreversible damage to its central nervous system. Neurons do not form properly. Cells are killed off. Other cells end up located in the wrong place.

The result, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is the foremost cause of mental retardation in newborns. Difficulties encountered by FAS children include intellectual impairment, language problems, developmental delay, behavioural dysfunction or deficit, slow growth, hyper activity, and hearing and sight disorders. Many babies are also born with characteristic facial deformities.-Credit: AWAKE

This article was first published on Saturday, November 5, 2005

Features

Islamic Position on Illicit Drugs (Part 2)

• Imam Alhaji Saeed Abdulai, the Author

In Ghana, the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), prohibits the possession, use, trade, or cultivation of narcotic drugs without lawful authorisation.

The law now adopts a more public health-based model, emphasising rehabilitation and education while still maintaining punitive measures against trafficking and illegal possession.

This opens doors for religious and social actors to play key roles in prevention and healing.

How the Youth and General Society Are Typically Lured into Illicit Drugs;

One of the primary gateways to drug use is peer pressure. Many young people are introduced to drugs by friends who make substance use appear fashionable or as a coping mechanism for stress, boredom, or emotional trauma.

In urban slums and some schools, peer groups become influential in shaping behaviour, particularly when parental supervision is weak or societal structures have collapsed.

Another contributor is media influence—with movies, music, and social media sometimes glamorising substance use. Unemployment, poverty, broken homes, academic stress, and lack of religious education also contribute significantly.

Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di explains that when faith weakens, individuals seek escape in destructive behaviours. Hence, strengthening iman (faith) is a critical defence against temptation.

Rescuing Victims: Rehabilitation and Social Support

Those who fall into drug addiction must not be condemned but rather supported with compassion and care. Islam emphasises mercy and hope:

“Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.” (Qur’an 39:53).

Rehabilitation centres, faith-based recovery programmes, community counselling, and mosque-based interventions are all vital tools.

Imams and scholars should be equipped with basic knowledge in addiction counselling. Collaboration with the Narcotics Control Commission and health institution can create models where religious guidance and medical treatment go hand-in-hand.

Impact of Illicit Drugs on Society

Illicit drug use damages physical health, corrupts moral values, and leads to crime and unemployment. It depletes a nation’s human capital, as youths and adults become dependent, mentally unstable, and economically unproductive. It also leads to violence, theft, and domestic abuse.

The Qur’an declares: “And do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands.” Qur’an 2:195)

Impact of Illicit Drugs in Schools

In Ghana, the increasing prevalence of drug abuse in schools has led to absenteeism, violent behaviour, academic failure, and mental health issues.

Some school dropouts have become part of gang culture, especially in urban areas, threatening future national development. These environments must be purified and protected with strong policy, parental involvement, and faith-based education.

UNICEF, Ghana Health Service, and Other Reports

UNICEF (2019) highlighted the correlation between substance abuse and early childhood trauma, noting that youth exposed to abuse, neglect, or poverty are more susceptible to drug use.

The Ghana Health Service’s 2022 report showed a 17 per cent rise in mental health cases linked to drug abuse, with youth between 15–35 years most affected.

Narcotics Control Commission Statistics

According to the 2022 Annual Report of the Narcotics Control Commission, over 8,000 arrests were made for drug offenses.

Cannabis remains the most abused drug, with growing concerns about synthetic drugs and pharmaceutical abuse, especially tramadol and cough syrups with codeine.

Islamic Law and Maqasid

al-Shari‘ah

The five universal objectives of Islamic law (maqasid al-shari‘ah)—preserving religion (deen), life (nafs), intellect (‘aql), lineage (nasl), and wealth (maal)—are all endangered by drug abuse.

Any initiative that protects these objectives is not just legally encouraged but religiously mandated.

Imam Al-Shatibi, in al-Muwafaqat, asserts that laws are designed not for hardship but to preserve human dignity and collective wellbeing.

Therefore, illicit drugs threaten the very fabric of what Shari’ah seeks to protect:

1. Preservation of Religion (Hifz ad-Deen) – Drug use weakens a person’s sense of religious duty. Addicts often neglect prayer, fasting, and remembrance of Allah, falling into sin and heedlessness.

2. Preservation of Life (Hifz an-Nafs) – Drugs increase the risk of premature death through overdose, suicide, or violence. Islam strictly forbids self-harm: “And do not kill yourselves.

Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful” (Qur’an 4:29).

3. Preservation of Intellect (Hifz al-‘A9ql) – One of the clearest reasons intoxicants are forbidden. The mind is the seat of moral judgment. Losing one’s intellect means losing the capacity for faith and responsibility.

4. Preservation of Lineage (Hifz an-Nasl) – Drug addiction often leads to moral decay, fornication, and broken families, harming future generations.

5. Preservation of Wealth (Hifz al-Maal) – Addicts squander wealth on drugs, harming families and communities. Islam commands us to be custodians of our resources.

These objectives guide the Islamic legal position that drug abuse is not just a sin, but a social threat that must be collectively confronted.

By Imam Saeed Abdulai