Hyderabad: In view of the rising cases of COVID-19, the Jamia Nizamia, Hyderabad has issued a fatwa saying more than one Jamaat could be established for performing Eid prayers under exceptional conditions.
“It is not a condition that the Eid prayer must be performed only in a designated Mosque or Eidgah,” said the Fatwa. “Eid prayer could be established at any clean open space. If this is not possible then more than one Jamaat could be established in mosques.”
In the backdrop of the Telangana Government’s curbs on huge gathering, a question was asked to Jamia Nizamia about performing the Eid prayer.
The Fatwa in response said that in case the government bans huge congregational Eid prayer at Eidgah in view of the Corona pandemic, “the Eid prayer could be performed with ‘Takbeer’ at any clean open space, function hall, school, college and Khankha”.
“If the government does not permit Eid prayer to be performed at any place other than the mosques, then two or three Jamaats could be established with gap provided a separate Imam leads each Jamaat with a fresh Qutba (sermon) after the prayer. The next Imam shall stand to lead the prayer from slightly a different place used by the first Imam,” the Fatwa said.
The Fatwa issued by Jamia Nizamia – the state’s oldest seminary – was signed by the Head Mufti Maulana Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi. The other signatories of the Fatwa were: Dr. Mohammed Saifullah, Vice Chancellor, Maulana Mir Latafat Ali Head of Tafseer Section and Maulana Mohammed Abdul Ghafoor Qadri Head of Recitation Section.