Daily Times

Renowned religious scholars Mufti Taqi Usmani, Maulana Tariq Jameel and others has said that it is necessary for us that we are bound to follow the instructions given by the government as a precautionary measures to control outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

Mufti Taqi Usmani added that he would ask other members to comply with the directions of the Sindh government about ban on the congregation of the Juma prayer today.

Notably, several of Pakistan’s senior religious leaders announced Wednesday that they will keep mosques open for group prayers, on a day when the country’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 crossed the 1,000 mark, and most of the country is under a lockdown.

The declaration seemed to counter an announcement from President Arif Alvi that upon his request, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University’s religious clerics’ council issued a fatwa — an Islamic religious edict — that public gatherings, including group prayers in mosques, can be banned in the interest of public health.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to a debate in the Muslim world on how to respond. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the epicenter of Islam, has canceled the Umrah pilgrimage for the time being.

Iran, home of Shi’ite Islam, which is dealing with a rising number of coronavirus-related deaths, has halted Friday prayers in major cities.