Mufti Taqi Usmani urges people to follow government orders to limit religious gatherings

KARACHI: Renowned religious scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani on Friday urged people to respect the decision of the federal government to limit the number of people in congregational prayers at mosques around the country in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reported Geo News.

In a message posted on social networking platform Twitter early on Friday morning, the religious scholar said that people should follow the directives of the government for Friday prayers and also try to follow them in their daily prayer routines.

"Where people pray, they must also pray to the Almighty to rid the world of the pandemic," Mufti Usmani urged his fellow Muslims. The cleric further added that those not attending the Friday prayers should arrange to pray at their homes.

Saving lives must be top priority: Qadri

Religious scholar Tahirul Qadri on Friday also threw his weight behind the decision of the federal government to limit congregational prayers amid the spread of the coronavirus, affirming that the situation had turned into an emergency where saving lives must be the top priority.

"Coronavirus can be transmitted from one infected person to many other persons. The situation is now akin to war and when saving lives must be the top priority. The virus spread throughout the world because of travel and gatherings," the cleric said in a statement on Friday morning.

"Religious traditions also convey that no one must enter an area where an epidemic is raging and nor leave it," Qadri added. "Both directives actually mean save lives," he noted. Anyone who dies from a plague will be considered a martyr, according to tradition, he said.

"The purpose of staying at home is to avoid religious and social gatherings," Qadri maintained.