STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI Ulema from various schools of thought held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday to declare that the lockdown will no longer be implemented at mosques. Mufti Muneebur-Rahman said that Tarawih prayers and Ietikaf will continue as per schedule. He called on people coming to mosques to practise social distancing. He also demanded that bills of mosques and religious institutions should be forgiven and urged the state to help and support Muslims all over the country. Meanwhile, Mufti Taqi Usmani urged the government to not arrest people from within mosques. “All those who have been arrested [for coming to mosques] should be released,” he said. He called on worshippers to wear masks and perform ablution at their homes before coming to the mosques. “Remove prayer mats from mosques and ensure sanitisers are available,” he instructed mosque administrators. Mufti Usmani said that people were not implementing the government’s guidelines of no more than five people offering prayers in mosques. He called on people to implement the government’s safety precautions but said that for a Muslim, offering congregational prayers in Ramazan was obligatory. Usmani said that the elderly and sick should not come into the mosques and pray indoors.
