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KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Muslim-majority Malaysia will ease the ban on mass prayers in mosques starting Friday (May 15) and before this month’s Hari Raya Puasa festival, the government said, as it gradually relaxes the curbs that have helped control the coronavirus.
The news follows last week’s reopening of many companies in Malaysia, which has 6,819 infections and 112 deaths. It comes before the Hari Raya Puasa holiday, which ends the fasting month of Ramadan, and falls on May 24 of this year.
The capital Kuala Lumpur is among the federal territories of Malaysia that will allow prayers for congregations limited to 30 or less, said Datuk Seri Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, minister of religious affairs.
“Although worship in Islam is not limited to mosques and Suraus alone, it has a profound effect on the spiritual development of Muslims,” he told reporters on Thursday (May 14), referring to more prayer sites. little ones.
The measure excludes the remaining 12 states in Malaysia, which have their own laws on religious matters, but Dr. Zulkifli said they were free to take similar measures if they wished.
Mass prayers have been banned since mid-March in a partial shutdown after more than 2,300 people were infected in the country’s largest outbreak, after a religious gathering at a mosque attended by some 16,000 people.
Although new daily cases have steadily declined, schools and universities will remain closed until June 9. Health authorities identified six groups involving Islamic religious schools, with 635 students and staff testing positive.
Four groups were linked to the March meeting.
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