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KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — The Movement Control Order which entered its third day today witnessed all mosques across the country being closed after Friday prayers were not held.
Checks by Bernama saw mosques closed with notices displayed of the suspension of Friday prayers as well as obligatory prayers and other activities during the MCO period from March 18 to 31 as an effort to curb Covid-19.
Most of the mosques such as in Kedah, Negri Sembilan, put up a notice notifying “No Friday Prayer” and a copy of a media statements by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri to enable the congregation to fully understand the current situation.
Yesterday, Zulkifli said mosques across the country would suspend the Friday prayers during the Movement Control Order as an effort to help the country to break the Covid-19 virus chain.
Police were also seen patrolling around the mosques to ensure that everyone obeyed the order, but several members of the congregation including foreigners who came for Friday prayers such as at the Mu’adz Bin Jabal Mosque in Taman Setiawangsa, here and in Kota Baru, Kelantan, returned home after reading the notice.
The Tengku Ampuan Jemaah Mosque committee in, Bukit Jelutong, in Shah Alam, Selangor, closed its main gate and put up a notice on the suspension of all activities in accordance with the order made by Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and the government.
However, it was a different story at several mosques in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu and Kuantan, Pahang where some people took advantage of the temporary closure to do some spring cleaning.
During the checks, Bernama had the opportunity to meet a few senior citizens who shared their experience of not being able to perform the Friday prayer as usual but replacing it with Zohor prayers at home.
For Jumri Mohamed, 64, who lives in Meru, Ipoh, said it was the first time in his life that he could not perform Friday prayers as he had to adhere the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah’s order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“Hopefully, this (Friday prayer being replaced with Zohor prayers at home) will only be temporary due to the ongoing situation. This is the time for us to pray to God and hope that everything ends soon, as besides Ramadan is getting closer,” he said.
As for Ibrahim Busu, 86, he noted that during the Japanese occupancy, people were free to attend Friday prayers but were always in a state of fear of the Japanese military intelligence who has been tasked all those who did not support the Japanese invasion.
Meanwhile, Alias Ismail, 79, a Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) pensioner, noted that throughout his life, including during the emergency period in 1948 he can’t recall a single time when Friday prayers could not be performed.
He described today as his first experience because, during the emergency curfew, the people were allowed to performed prayers as usual including Friday prayers at mosques. — Bernama
