Tens of thousands of mosques across Saudi Arabia yesterday reopened for the first time in more than two months, but worshipers have been ordered to follow strict guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed to the public.
Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third-holiest site for Muslims after Saudi Arabia’s Mecca and Medina, also reopened for prayers for the first time since it was closed since the middle of March. Throngs early yesterday waited outside the holy site’s gates before it opened, with many wearing masks. As they were allowed to enter, the faithful stopped to have their temperature measured.
The mosque was one of Jerusalem’s many holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Western Wall, that were restricted to worshipers at the height of Israel’s coronavirus outbreak. Throughout that period, worshipers continued to pray in the alleyways outside the mosque.
Photo: AFP
In Saudi Arabia, the government prepared for the reopening of about 90,000 mosques after sanitizing prayer rugs, washrooms and shelves holding copies of the Quran.
The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs said millions of text messages were sent to people in multiple languages to inform them about the new rules for public prayer, which include keeping a 2m distance between people during prayer, wearing masks at all times and abstaining from greeting one another with handshakes or hugs.
Children under 15 would not be allowed inside mosques. Elderly people and those with chronic conditions are being told to pray at home. People are also being advised to perform the mandatory ablution at home, as washrooms at mosques would be closed, to use hand sanitizers and to bring their own prayer rugs and copies of the Quran.
The restrictions call for mosques to open just 15 minutes before each of the five daily prayers and to close 10 minutes after they conclude. Friday sermons and prayers are to last no longer than 15 minutes.
The new measures come as Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world begin to loosen restrictions and stay-at-home orders following weeks of curfews and lock downs.
However, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which houses the Kaaba, is to remain closed to the public. The city has been under a strict lockdown for several weeks. The mosque in Medina where the Prophet Mohammed is buried would be partially opened to the public to pray outside.
The continued closure of Mecca points to the increasing likelihood that the kingdom might suspend this year’s annual hajj, which falls in late next month. Already, a senior Saudi official has told prospective pilgrims not to plan for the hajj this year amid the global pandemic.
Despite taking early and unprecedented measures to curb the spread of the virus, Saudi Arabia has recorded more than 83,000 people contracting the virus, including 480 deaths.
Meanwhile, Israel has weathered the coronavirus better than other harder-hit countries. It has recorded fewer than 300 deaths and has managed to mostly keep its daily infection count to the low dozens since the beginning of last month.
However, it also imposed severe restrictions that battered its economy and sent its unemployment rate skyrocketing. Many of those restrictions, including on places of worship, began to be eased earlier this month.
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