Manama: Eight months after coronavirus restrictions, Bahrain allowed again on Sunday to perform the Dhuhur (noon) prayers inside mosques.
This was part of a gradual plan to bring back the country to its previous position before the covid-19 pandemic without compromising the precautions. The Fajr prayers were resumed in the kingdom’s mosques in late August.
The Sunni endowment department said recently that allowing the Dhuhur prayers do not include reopening mosques for the congregational Friday prayers or for performing the Dhuhur there on that day.
The circular urged worshipers to keep distancing for at least two metres among each other. Mosques are opened 10 minutes before the prayer, with crowding banned on entry and exit. Worshippers are also banned from staying inside mosques after prayers.
According to the ministry circular, the duration between the call to prayer and the start of prayers should not exceed 10 minutes, the department added. They have to follow strict guild lines from the authorities concerned.
Bahrain had closed mosques on March 23 in order to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Sick people, women, and children aged below 15 are barred from going to mosques. The elderly are advised to worship at home.
Worshippers are required to perform pre-prayer ablutions at home before heading to the mosque. Toilets remain closed in places of worship.
Worshippers in mosques are also required to wear face masks and use their personal prayer rugs, the report said.
