Bangladesh bars Sehri, Iftar in mosques in pandemic

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has prohibited Sehri and Iftar at mosques in Ramadan in an effort to contain the surging coronavirus infection.

The ministry in a notice on Monday also issued instructions on praying in congregations at mosques following the health rules put in place by the government.

To rein in an abnormal rise in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths across Bangladesh, the Prime Minister's Office has issued an 18-point instruction and the Cabinet Division provided several lockdown directives effective from Monday.

The ministry mandated the conditions mentioned below for all who visit mosques to pray in congregation:

- Mosques must have provisions of sanitisers and soap water at the entrance to facilitate handwashing while worshippers must arrive there wearing masks.

- Everyone must arrive in mosques completing their ablution, and Sunnah prayers at their own homes. They must wash their hands for at least 20 seconds during ablution.

- No carpets can be placed in mosques. The mosques must be cleaned using disinfectants before the five daily prayers and the devotees must bring their own prayer mats.

- Physical distancing must be ensured while standing in rows.

- Children, elderly, sick people and attendants to the ill must refrain from attending congregation.

- Ablution spaces must have soaps and hand sanitisers as part of preventive measures against spread of infection. Mosques cannot have reserved prayer mats and hats.

- To ensure the safety of the public, all instructions from Directorate of Health Services, local government and law enforcement forces must be followed.

- Iftar and Sehri cannot be arranged in mosques.

The Khatib, imam and mosque committees will ensure the implementation of the said directives.

Local administration and law enforcement will take legal steps against violation of the instructions, the ministry added in the notice.