Zubair Qureshi
Religious leaders, ulema and khateeb in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad offered special prayers and sought divine intervention against the pandemic of Covid-19 whose third wave has caught the country in its grip.
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Middle East and Chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in his Friday sermon at the Grand Jamia Masjid of Bahria Town led the collective prayers and urged the people to take maximum care and stay at home to stay safe.
Maintaining social distance, wearing facemasks and washing hands frequently are the simple measures to keep the coronavirus at bay, said Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi in his sermon.
However, he said as the Muslims resort to prayers whenever they are in a crisis, we should not give up praying to Allah Almighty against this deadly virus.
Unless we follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in letter and spirit and pray to God Almighty with complete devotion and truthfulness, we cannot expect any success against coronavirus in the days to come.
Prayer leaders in other mosques and Imam Bargah also prayed for the safety, health and success of humanity against the pandemic that has caused more than 17,000 lives in the country and caused more than 800,000 confirmed cases in the country.
In Jamia Mosque of Rawalpindi too, the prayer leader urged the people to wear facemasks and maintain social distance.
Had we paid attention to what the government and the health authorities were saying in the beginning of the epidemic and followed the SOPs we could have saved our lives and those of our near and dear ones long ago, said he in the Friday addresses.
He urged the people to extend complete cooperation with police and law-enforcing authorities in their efforts to contain and check the virus.
In other mosques of the twin cities too, prayer leaders drew the attention of the people to the great work police and administration were doing.
Our law enforcing authorities including police, rangers and teams of the health department are making efforts to check the spread of coronavirus and for this purpose they are imposing fine, closing down/sealing shops and businesses but unfortunately, our people are not yet complying with their instructions, they regretted.
The prayer leaders requested the people to cooperate with the police and paramilitary forces and health teams for their own interest and for the future of their children.
