GEORGE TOWN, May 8 — Food outlets in Penang don’t have to close between 8.30pm and 10pm to allow Muslims to perform their tarawikh prayers, state Mufti Datuk Seri Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said today.

He said the Kelantan government’s order to all food stalls statewide to close during those hours was a good suggestion, but Penang will not be emulating the PAS-led state.

“We leave this to the respective stall and restaurant owners to decide on their own whether they want to close their businesses during those hours this month,” he said in a statement.

He said the closure of eateries during these hours during the Ramadan month will allow Muslims to fulfil their tarawikh prayers comfortably.

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He said Muslims would like to perform their prayers up to 20 rakaat with an additional three rakaat for witir during this holy month.

Rakaat is a set of movement performed by Muslims during their prayers called solat. For the tarawikh prayers performed nightly during Ramadan, Muslims can perform up to 20 such sets in total, with breaks in between, compared to the usual number of rakaat between two and four times performed during the obligatory daily solat.

Witir is an extra prayer performed after the tarawikh prayer with three rakaat.

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“Those who are busy would only be able to perform eight rakaat for tarawikh and three for witir,” he said.

He advised all Muslims in Penang to take this opportunity to perform their prayers as much as possible during Ramadan.

He said the Mufti Department and the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department will leave it to the Muslims to perform their tarawikh prayers as they see fit.

“We leave it to them to decide on whether they want to fulfil the eight rakaat with three witir or 20 rakaat with three witir,” he said.

The Kelantan government has received backlash following news reports that it had ordered the local councils to ensure all food outlets are closed for one hour and 30 minutes from 8.30pm onwards throughout Ramadan.