Doha: Qatar’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs directed the closure of mosques and the suspension of congregations for prayers in them amid the novel coronavirus–Covid-19 outbreak.

The suspension will come into effect from the mid-day ‘Zuhr’ prayer today, Tuesday, and include obligatory prayers five times a day and the Friday gathering at mosques, the ministry said.

This restriction is until the “safety and condition of tranquility is assured to worshipers.”

The ministry said this comes “in accordance with maqāṣid al-sharīʿa” – objectives of sharia–, whose prime concern is the “protection of life and protection of society against harm.”

This is also to “support the Ministry of Public Health in its fighting against the virus.”

The ministry based its decision on the fatwa of the Sharia Committee which stated that if the “health authorities view that the threat of an epidemic is so evident, all public gathering can be avoided.”

The call to prayer will continue. The ministry said it will be in regular touch with competent authorities to reopen the mosques as soon as the epidemic threat is gone.

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