Muslims offer Friday prayers at home, mosques remain empty

AIMPLB Asks People To Stay Indoors In View Of Covid-19 Outbreak

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

28.03.2020

Responding to a clutch of fatwas and police notices and urged by clerics, Muslims across India stayed away from mosques on Friday, perhaps an unprecedented event in living history. Groups limited to five, including imams, muezzins and workers called khadims, offered Juma prayers at mosques across the country while the masses stayed home and offered the zuhar prayer. From the 17th century Jama Juma in Delhi to the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and Eidgah in Lucknow, all wore a deserted look as lay worshippers preferred to stay home and offer zuhar prayers due to fears of a pandemic instead of assembling for Juma prayers.

Alarmed by last Friday’s prayer congregations, the community’s religious leadership had launched a campaign to suspend the practice. Taking the lead, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) announced on Twitter: “Due to coronavirus pandemic, Muslims are recommended to offer Zuhur at home instead of praying Jumah at mosques. Don’t come out for congregational prayers and stay at home (and) save lives. It is mandatory upon all to avoid causing harm to their fellow citizens.”

Imams too pitched in with appeals “We had announced earlier that we will keep the gates of the mosque shut and had started to announce on speakers that since there are restrictions against mass gatherings, people should stay home and pray,” said Imam Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Delhi.

In Mumbai, general secretary of the All India Ulema Council, Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, sought fatwas from prominent Muftis, including chief Mufti of Maharashtra, Azizur Rahman Fatehpuri, to allow Muslims to call off Friday prayers due to the spread of Covid-19. In Kerala, where for the first time all the mosques closed its doors to believers, Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) leader Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu said, “Islamic laws are flexible and practical. Five times prayers and mass prayers on Fridays are undoubtedly very important in Islam. At the same time, exceptions are allowed in unavoidable situations.”

Mumbai’s Jama Masjid near Crawford Market roped in Mufti Abdul Ahad to make an appeal against visits on Friday. But at the Jama Masjid in Mahim, police had to act tough to dissuade a group of 10-15 from entering for Friday prayers. “Once the cops intervened, these people retreated and just five people offered namaz at the mosque, which is otherwise filled to capacity on normal Fridays,” said trustee Fahad Pathan.

Similar scenes were reported from Uttar Pradesh where places of worship wore a deserted look. At Lucknow’s Nadwa Mosque, Eidgah Jama Masjid and Teele Wali Masjid just a handful offered prayers. “Today only those who look after certain arrangements of these mosques offered prayers while the general public offered namaz at home,” said Imam of Eidgah Masjid, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Maheli. In Varanasi, Kanpur and Allahabad, notices were pasted outside mosques informing the public that only three people would be allowed in to offer prayers.

Mosques across Hyderabad too wore a deserted look after Telangana State Wakf Board, prominent clerics and seminaries, urged residents to offer prayers at home.

UNPRECEDENTED UNITY: A deserted look of iconic Jama Masjid in Old Delhi at the time of Friday prayer