Singapore Reopen Five Mosques for Friday Prayer

Singapore, MINA – The Singaporean government will reopen five local mosques for Friday prayers this week. In total, 250 Muslims can return to the Friday Prayers at each session.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said in its Facebook account that with this decision, the total number of rooms available would be 19,365 starting December 11.

The five mosques are Al-Islah, Al-Istighfar, Darul Ghufran in the east, Assyafaah in the north, and Al-Khair in the west. In each mosque, there will be five zones for each of the 50 worshipers. The decision was considered to be in accordance with the existing guidelines of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Last month, the Singaporean Government launched a pilot program that allows worship sessions of up to 250 participants for religious organizations that have performed services safely for 100 people.

Five other mosques, namely An-Nur and Yusof Ishak in the north, Angullia and Sultan in the south, and Maarof in the west, are also part of the pilot project. Currently, the five mosques are allowed to pray with 150 worshipers per session.

Minister of Social and Family Development, Masagos Zulkifli, welcomed this move. Even so, he still reminded the Muslim community that the war against Covid-19 was not over.

“I urge people to use tokens or the TraceTogether application when visiting our mosque,” he said on Facebook as quoted from the Straits Times on Tuesday.

He also said that before the introduction of the TraceTogether application, his party had to close all mosques when congregants who tested positive for Covid-19 were known to visit the mosque.

For Muslims who have not been able to get prayer slots since November 20, it is said that they can register via the MuslimSg app or website starting at 10.00 on Tuesday.

Muis previously said that due to changes in midday prayer times (Zhuhur), mosques will perform Friday call to prayer at 12:50 p.m. starting this week.

“If you feel unwell or are unable to attend the Friday prayer session, please cancel your reservation at least one hour before the session,” said Muis. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)