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Saudi Arabia’s top Islamic authority has called on Muslims around the
world to perform prayers at home during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Ramadan, marked by intense worshipping, is set to begin on April 23 but
most Muslim countries have shut down mosques in an effort to contain the
illness.
A feature of the fasting month is a special nightly prayer called “taraweeh,” usually performed in packed mosques.
The Saudi Senior Scholars’ Council said on Sunday that Muslims should
perform communal prayers including the taraweeh at home if authorities
in their respective countries recommend it.
“The Muslim should avoid gatherings because they are considered the main
reason for spreading infection, according to related medical reports,”
the council said, according to the state Saudi news agency SPA.
The council advised against group meals during Ramadan and underlined the importance of preserving life in Islam.
Observant Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk during the lunar month of Ramadam
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, has suspended congregational
prayers in mosques and halted religious journeys to the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina as part of strict measures to control the outbreak.
Saudi authorities have installed thermal cameras at the entrances of the
Holy Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet Mohammed Mosque in Medina to check
the body temperatures of visitors, Saudi-owned television Al Arabiya
reported.
“Activating these cameras in the two holy mosques represents a quality
step in the level of precautionary measures,” Abdel-Rahman al-Sudeis,
the head of a state agency in charge of the two sites, said, according
to Al Arabiya.
This kind of cameras has a feature of storing the recorded temperatures
of people and their image for one month for retrieval when needed, the
broadcaster said.
Later Sunday, the Saudi Health Ministry announced five more deaths from
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, bringing the
country’s overall death toll to 97.
The ministry also confirmed 1,088 new virus cases, SPA reported, citing a spokesman.
The latest cases raise to 9,362 the total number of infections in the
oil-rich monarchy, the highest tally in an Arab country. (dpa/NAN)
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