Syed Hurairah
Hyderabad: A host of preventive measures were put in place ahead of the Friday prayers with top Muslim clerics and religious organizations pushing for a reduction of prayer time and a doing away with the Jummah Urdu sermon.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Telangana and Odisha Zone president Hamed Mohammed Khan issued an advisory-cum appeal to limit prayer and sermon time to 15 minutes for the next three Fridays. He also requested masjid managing committee members to take skull caps off the shelves. This was done to restrict the possibility of the infection spreading as these caps are worn by several people who are part of the congregation.
Maulana Khan made some of these aspects clear at the Pragathi Bhavan where he was a part of the United Muslim Forum delegation who went to meet Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Islamic Center issues guidelines
In other initiatives, the Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Centre in Banjara Hills too issued clear instructions to its musallis. The masjid will have its toilets locked, and the management has urged its musallis to perform ablutions at home. Nafil and Sunnat prayers should be performed at home. Those with elders at home have been asked to be careful. “If you are a caretaker of elders, you should not come to the Masjid. If you have elderly relatives staying with you, please avoid coming to the masjid as there is a danger of you infecting the elderly,” the guidelines read.
Hafez Peer Shabbeer of the Jamiat-e-Ulama Hind (Arshad Madani Group) issued detailed instructions, imams and muezzins, to thorough wash prayers rugs. He also directed masjids to wash toilets and bathrooms thoroughly with phenyl.
Makkah Masjid
However, there is no clarity on what measures will be taken at large masjids such as Makkah Masjid where thousands of musallis arrive for Friday prayers. Several were of the opinion that the Telangana State Waqf Board should be issued instructions in this regard.
In a separate development but also in connection with the COVID – 19 precautions, all public meetings related to Shab-e-Meraj have been called off.