The Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments) and Islamic Affairs has increased the time between Azan (call for prayer) and Iqamah (prayer) to 20 minutes for the dawn (Fajr) and afternoon (Asr) prayers in mosques from Wednesday (Sept 16).
Earlier, the waiting time had been limited to 5 minutes as part of Covid-19 restrictions.

The new timing will be implemented from Wednesday, a Tweet by Awqaf said. Restrictions including social distancing will continue to be applied inside mosques. Women and children will not be allowed in the mosque and Awqaf has so far asked people with ailments and old age to perform prayers at home.

The ministry has asked all to abide by the restrictions and not to shake hands even if a glove is worn. The worshippers, according to the circular by the ministry, should cover mouth and nose while sneezing, wear face masks as long as they are in the mosques and make ablution at home because the bathrooms and ablution places in the mosques will be closed.

The faithful should maintain a distance of 2m between each other and not crowd inside the mosque.


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