Hyderabad: With places of worship opening up, mosques in the city that held Friday prayers did so with social distancing guidelines in mind.
Although many of the larger mosques such as Makkah Masjid, Qutub Shahi Masjid, Jamia Masjid, Kulsum Begum Masjid, Masjid-e-Gulbano, Masjid-e-Raheem-O-Sughra Ahl-e-Hadees, Bilal Masjid, Masjid-e-Aamera, Masjid-e-Azizia and Masjid-e-Sultan Jahan, still stood empty. While a pushback in some areas sparked fears of a surge in infections.
Imams and few musalis (worshippers) have not only offered Friday prayers but they have shortened the Friday sermons amidst the restriction in the city. Muslims have brought their own prayer mats as the mosque management has removed the carpets in mosques. Each worshipper stood in a circle to demarcate a one-meter distance between the people they were praying beside.
Mosques and other places of worship not in the containment zones, will re-open from June 8 according to the state government.
WHO guidelines for places of worship
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for several measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
- Sanitise the premises regularly
- Always ensure safe distancing
- Measures to facilitate contact tracing
- Equip handwashing facilities with soap and alcohol-based hand sanitiser
- Provide disposable tissues and bins
- Use of personal prayer rugs to place over carpets
- Respiratory etiquette by devotees
- Frequent cleaning of doorknobs, light switches, and railings with detergents and disinfectant
Apart from wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, WHO also recommended that the management of all worship places keep a personal record of the devotees. This will make it easier to trace people in the event of another COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking to siasat.com, Khateeb of Shahi Masjid — Bagh-e-Aam, Hafez Ahsan Bin Mohammed Al-Hamoomi said, “Mosques in the city have already started imposing WHO guidelines issued and even appealed to the elderly to pray at home. The religious scholars have issued local guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, Telangana is the ninth state in India to record more than 100 deaths due to coronavirus.
Addressing the media on Friday, Khateeb Makkah Masjid, Rizwan Qureshi said, “With the reopening fresh guidelines issued by the state government for mosques in Hyderabad, all worship places in the city may reopen from June 8.”
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