IJI’s chief rejects govt orders of preventing people from going to mosques

LAHORE: Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) president and Jamiat Ahle Hadith leader Allama Zubair Ahmad Zaheer has rejected the government’s orders preventing people from going to mosques for offering prayers, and warned of launching strong protest against the government if it enforced the orders. Talking to media Thursday, he said mosques had always been centres of relief and consolation for believers in suffering, and instead of preventing the believers from going to mosques in the wake of coronavirus outbreak fears, the rulers should have instead urged the masses to go to mosques in large numbers for offering repentance and prayers to please Allah Almighty. Other religious scholars including the adviser of Federal Shariat Court Hafiz Salauddin Yousaf, Dr Talibur Rehman Zaidi, Allama Mumtaz Awan, Maulana Abdul Majeed Okarvi, Prof Fayyaz Salfi, Maulana Abdul Sattar Niazi, Pir Waliullah Bukhari, Mufti Ashiq Hussain, Dr Hussain Naqvi, Ikram Elahi Zaheer and Maulana Anas Faisalabadi were also accompanying him. He said it was time believers should desperately seek Allah’s blessings in large numbers, but rulers were paying heed to foolish advices like closing down mosques only to cover up their own incompetence and delayed response to deal with the corona threats.