Ramadan prayers will be held at home in Saudi Arabia and Emirates due to the COVID-19

The Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Muhammad al Sheikh, announced on Friday that prayers during the holy month of Ramadan must be said at home because of the coronavirus. The Dubai Government's Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities (IACAD) announced it on Friday.

In a decision issued by Dar al-Ifta, the institution that issues religious edicts, in response to questions and doubts raised by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs in the face of the pandemic, the mufti said that such prayers can be held outside the mosque. The mufti explained that the Taraui prayer, a long prayer before midnight that includes extensive readings of the holy book, is "sunna" (teaching of the prophet) and is not compulsory.  

Regarding the prayer of Eid, at the end of the day of fasting, the religious authority established that, "if the current situation continues and it is not possible to perform it in the chapels and mosques, it is prayed in the houses without a sermon". "As the prophet said, peace be upon him: if I have commanded you to do anything, do it as you are able," he said.  

Saudi Arabia has suspended prayers in all places, including the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina since mid-March, and also keeps pilgrimages to Islam's holy sites at a standstill. The ban on pilgrimage extends even to the Saudis and it is not yet known what will happen to the axe, the great pilgrimage of the Islamic world that every Muslim must make once in a lifetime and which is scheduled for July. Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 5,800 cases of COVID-19 and 79 deaths. 

Some governments in the region have suspended all public events in anticipation of the arrival of Ramadan, which will begin on the 23rd or 24th of this month (depending on the moon). The fasting of Muslims is broken at the end of each day with banquets and celebrations by family and friends, in what is one of the most important periods for followers of Islam.

Arab Emirates 
Muslims can offer prayers at home during the holy month of Ramadan, the Dubai Government's Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities (IACAD) announced Friday.

The department, in a statement, said prayers should be held in homes as mosques are closed as part of the country's efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Taraweeh prayers, the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad during Ramadan, can be performed in homes and the heavenly rewards will remain the same as when praying in mosques, IACAD said.

Muslims who perform Taraweeh prayers from the Holy Quran can hold the book in their hands and recite it while praying, the department added.