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The Muslim Judicial Council urged the Muslim community to stop all gatherings and social events due to Covid-19.
PHOTO: Ashraf Hendricks / Anadolu Agency / Getty Image
- As the country is experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 infections, the Muslim Judicial Council has urged the Muslim community to immediately stop all gatherings and social events.
- This directive follows a meeting the MJC held with medical professionals on Sunday.
- South Africa passed the one million mark for confirmed Covid-19 cases on Sunday.
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has urged the Muslim community to immediately stop all gatherings and social events due to the second wave of Covid-19 infections.
On Sunday, the MJC held a meeting with a panel of medical professionals on the rise in Covid-19 infections and deaths in South Africa in recent weeks.
In a statement, the MJC said that medical professionals had given advice, leading to the issuance of a series of directives.
READ | KZN Healthcare System ‘Paralyzed’ As Paramedics Fight Covid-19 Overflow
Among the directives, the MJC has called on the Muslim community to “immediately cease or cancel all gatherings or social events” in recognition that the rise in infections is due to social gatherings, whether religious or worldly. He also said that only the minimum number of people should attend funerals.
Other directives include:
- The Muslim community should adopt alternative virtual methods of social interaction and gathering, such as Zoom and Skype.
- Weddings should be postponed to a later and hopefully safer date, or conducted in a manner with minimal threat of virus spread.
- Beyond social gatherings, community members of all ages are encouraged to stay indoors as much as possible and not leave their homes unnecessarily.
- Ulama and imams are encouraged to record and broadcast talks and conferences that will strengthen the community in the coming days.
In terms of religious gatherings, the MJC said that several mosques, also known as masajid, had already taken the proactive step of closing.
“We congratulate the masajid for the responsibility with which they have acted, simultaneously pleading with Allah to shorten the closure period by putting an end to this pandemic,” the MJC said in the statement.
The statement continued:
The MJC orders that all masajid who cannot implement Covid-19 protocols must immediately close their doors for congregational salah, including both Jumu’ah and Jama’ah, until further notice.
“In view of the current steady increase in infections and increasing deaths, we strongly recommend that even the masajid who have been and will continue to apply strictly preventive measures also close.”
The call to prayer must continue
The council added that the Islamic call to prayer should continue from masajid and prayers should be held at home.
Recognizing the limitation of freedoms, the council said that the restrictions it is asking the Muslim community to impose will inevitably be compared to the relative freedom of restrictions elsewhere.
“Right now, our course of action must be dictated not by analogy with what others are doing, but by the responsibility our Deen imposes on us.”
READ | Covid-19: SA breaches one million cases
News24 reported on Sunday that South Africa had officially passed the one million mark for confirmed Covid-19 infections.
A total of 9,502 new infections were reported on Sunday.
According to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, on Sunday the total number of Covid-19 infections was 1,004,413.
In a statement, Mkhize said a further 214 deaths from Covid-19 were recorded as of Sunday, with a death toll now at 26,735.
Last week, Mkhize said that recent increases in infections indicated that the new coronavirus was spreading exponentially faster than the first wave, adding that the peak would be overcome in the coming days, News24 reported.
Mkhize cautioned that other restrictions may need to be considered.
Earlier on Sunday, News24 reported that the National Coronavirus Command Council was due to meet on Sunday amid calls from hospitals and healthcare workers for more severe restrictions.
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