Islamabad: The number of confirmed cases in Pakistan has increased to 1,041 as of Thursday.
As reported by Dawn news, some religious leaders of Pakistan had called on citizens to recite the Azaan from their balconies and rooftops at 10pm every night starting from Tuesday.
After 10pm, which is well past the time of Isha Azaan across Pakistan, several observers heard multiple calls to prayer in various parts of the country.
In a video message, Chairman of Saylani Foundation, Maulana Bashir Farooqui said that in times of distress and when disaster struck, the call to prayer was recited aloud in the night, in an effort to ask for Allah’s mercy and forgiveness.
“I request those who can hear me right now, that — to fight this difficult situation upon us — we recite the Azaan together at 10pm. Hopefully, tens of thousands of people will recite the Azaan tonight,” he said.
Twitterati used the hashtag ‘#Azaan’ to share their experience of witnessing the call to prayer in their neighbourhoods at an unexpected time.
Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz said that while there are no Hadith suggesting that this was practiced in Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) time, “There is evidence suggesting that people of Central Asia took up the practice later, when disaster and distress struck,” – as quoted by DawnNewsTV.
“There was nothing wrong in doing so at an individual level,” he added.
Maulana Ahmadul Rahman, Prayer leader of the Parliament House Mosque, also said that there was nothing wrong in reciting the call to prayer as a means to God’s mercy.