'Not applicable': Pak cleric says religious places will remain open; cites Imran Khan

Pakistan's prominent religious scholar and chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman on Tuesday said the lockdown was not “applicable to mosques”, adding that arrangements would be made for Friday congregational prayers and tarawih in Ramazan.

In a video shared by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, Mufti Muneeb can be heard saying, "We want to give the government a message that mosques should not be closed" Speaking after a meeting of ulema at the Karachi Press Club, Mufti Muneeb asked people coming to mosques to practice social distancing. "Now, the lockdown will not be applicable on mosques, Friday and Ramadan prayers will be held at mosques," he said.

'No lockdown for mosques'

Another cleric, Mufti Taqi Usmani instructed mosque administrators to "Remove prayer mats from mosques and ensure sanitisers are available."

Lockdown in Pakistan extended

This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday extended the ongoing lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic until the end of this month as the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 5,837. Addressing reporters following the National Coordination Committee meeting, Khan said that the ongoing restrictions have helped contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

It has been decided that the lockdown will continue till April 30, he said. However, Khan said that some key industries would be opened in order to start business activities.

"Our estimate was that 190 people will die until today but so far we saw 96 deaths. The spread of the virus is just 30% of our projections," Khan said.

Meanwhile, as restrictions were placed on congregational prayers in mosques, more than 50 clerics belonging to different organisations, including some banned outfits, warned the government not to further place restrictions on prayer congregations.

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Despite the government's pleas to observe social distancing, more than 53 senior clerics of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, belonging to the Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia, held a meeting in Jamia Darul Uloom Zakria, Tarnol, Islamabad, according to report in Dawn news. The meeting was attended by senior clerics representing various seminaries, banned groups, proscribed persons and political and non-political parties.

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Prime Minister Khan announced to call a meeting of key clerics to chalk out plans as to how to use mosques in the holy month of Ramadan which is set to start from April 25.

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(With PTI inputs)