Clerics in Valley issue Ramzan advisory, ask people to pray at home

M Aamir Khan
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, April 19

In the fasting month of Ramzan, the call to prayer (azaan) and call to break the fast (iftaar) will be heard from the mosques, but there will be no congregations as the Valley’s top Muslim clerics have urged the people to stay home.

People have also been told to pray in small congregations at home with their wives, mothers or sisters in the fasting month, which starts from April 25 subject to the appearance of the crescent.

The calls of the clerics have so far been well received in the Valley amid the coronavirus threat as no Friday congregational prayers have been held in the past four weeks.

“At homes, joining women with jamaat (congregation) is correct. In this way, you will get the reward (in the hereafter)…. People should not try to come to mosques as it will be against all those precautionary measures prescribed for the prevention of the virus,” stated an advisory issued by well-known cleric Shaykhul Hadith Mufti Nazir Ahmad Qasmi.

He has also asked the local mosque committees to ensure adherence to the guidelines so that the congregational prayers are not held.

However, he said two to three persons such as the caretakers and ‘muezzin’ should join the ‘imam’ for the prayers and make announcements during Ramzan. Imam and muezzin usually live on the mosque premises.

Grand Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam has also asked the Muslims in the Valley to offer prayers at their homes during Ramzan.

He also hoped that the fasting month would bring a “dawn of peace that will take away all worries”.

Meanwhile, people on the social media have welcomed the guidelines.

“Not being able to go to the mosques is saddening for us all. We hope and pray that the pandemic ends soon,” said Bashir Ahmad, a local.