Ulema's unanimous stance

The large gatherings of worshippers are a reality of religious practices. And this is also a reality that according to whatever is so far scientifically known about prevalence of coronavirus it feeds on large gatherings. Rightly then the governments of almost all the virus-infected countries have underscored the imperative of banning large gatherings, be these religious or social. Concerned religious authorities in a number of Muslim countries have announced changes to ensure the faithful do not assemble in large numbers in mosques and at shrines. And, to great wonder of many, there is no opposition to this development from quarters who otherwise keep contesting veracity of each other's religious sect. If the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars says mosques should no longer accept worshippers for five prayers a day, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Iraq has urged the Shia worshippers to abide by a ban on mass prayers at Karbala. In Saudi Arabia, prayers will continue only at the two holy mosques of Makkah and Madina. Other mosques will close their doors temporarily but continue to issue Azaan, which "will direct the people to pray in their homes rather than come to the mosque". Earlier, it had banned the Umrah pilgrimage. In Turkey, collective prayers have been suspended in mosques, including Friday prayers. Iran too has cancelled Friday prayers in mosques while Muslims in Singapore have been asked to bring their own mats to mosques. Of course, dos and don'ts in respect of religious gatherings have been hammered out in the light of the concerned countries' peculiar situations, but what remain unanimous are plans to avoid crowd-gathering.
In Pakistan, the Dar-ul-Afta of Pakistan Ulema Council, Wafaq-ul-Madaris and ulema from various schools of thought have successfully worked towards ensuring that religious obligations don't disrupt the fight against the demon of coronavirus. In this regard, they have issued a decree asking clerics to shorten the Friday prayer sermons. Ulema have also asked the people to follow government guidelines. The decree said the people can save themselves from the ravages of the deadly virus by strictly following the Sharia. One of its injunctions demanded that the Urdu speech before the Friday sermon should be abolished for the time being. It also asked Imams/Khateebs to shorten Arabic sermon. As for the prayer mats in the mosques, the decree said let the Friday prayers should be held on bare floors. And it also urged the prayer leaders to ask the worshippers to say Sunnah prayers at home and avoid shaking hands. The ulema's unanimity on the need to thin out religious gatherings not only sharpens the imperative for concerted national effort to fight the deadly virus it also begs the country's political leadership to forge a common outlook and evolve a joint strategy on the perceptively unstoppable enemy.