KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Eight weeks after Friday prayers and congregational prayers were prohibited nationwide, following the spread of Covid-19, this religious obligation was allowed beginning today, at mosques and selected surau in the Covid-19 green zones.

However, the Friday prayers must be conducted in accordance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the National Security Council (MKN) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), among them, only a limited number is allowed to attend, to prevent large gatherings at the mosque.

A check by Bernama in the capital city, saw that guards were stationed at the entrance of the National Mosque to ensure that visitors filled in their personal details and their body temperature were taken before being allowed into the mosque.

Once they were in the prayer hall the same procedures were repeated.

In the prayer hall, there were markings on the floor to show the one-metre distance to indicate where each person should stand when performing the Friday prayers.

The sermon was completed within 15 minutes and the Sunnah Qobliyah dan Ba’diyah prayers were not performed to reduce the duration of the Friday prayers.

In Perlis, 105 mosques in the state began holding the conditional Friday prayers after the government granted permission for Friday prayers to resume during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) on May 8.

The Friday prayers including the sermon should also not take more than 15 minutes and members of the congregation, including the imam must not exceed 12 persons.

At the State Mosque in Arau today, Perlis Mufti, Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin read a sermon entitled ‘Patience in the Face of Disaster’ while the Friday prayers was led by chief imam Ahmad Sirajuddin Abdul Satar.

In Selangor, a check on three mosques around Shah Alam which had been given permission to hold Friday prayers, saw no members of the public present among the congregation, in accordance with the decision taken by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) yesterday. — Bernama