By Mati Ullah Khan
In the wake of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which paralyzed the entire global system and inflicted huge human and financial losses, the Muslim World was left with no option but to shut down the mosques and religious seminaries to avoid the public congregations.
Pakistan remains the exception in the Muslim World which believes that religious places must not shut down rather religious places are those where Muslims should gather and pray to God to save humanity from COVID-19.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also shut the nationwide mosques and even went on to seal the Khana Ka’aba and Masjid-e-Nabvi for visitors to perform Umrah or other religious rituals.
It’s very much likely that the annual Hajj (pilgrimage) will be postponed in 2020, considering the situation arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Contrary to what analysts would have assumed otherwise, the religiously conservative Countries i.e Iran and Turkey also closed the religious places amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Likewise, Morocco, Libya, Closes, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Tunisia, Malaysia, Iraq, Tajikistan, Algeria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Palestine, Maldives, Ghana, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Australia, South Africa, and Singapore announced to shut down the mosques as part of measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.
But Pakistan remains the exception in the Muslim World which believes that religious places must not shut down rather religious places are those where Muslims should gather and pray to God to save humanity from COVID-19.
On April 14, it was unanimously decided at the federal and provincial levels to extend the lockdown for another next two weeks throughout Pakistan but mosques would remain open during the month of Ramadan also.
The issue revolving around the religious places during the lockdown has amicably been resolved as both the government and religious scholars have pledged support to each other.
