Council of Senior Scholars.. A Public Statement: It is permissible to suspend the Friday prayer and the other daily congregational prayers to protect people from the Coronavirus

  • | Thursday, 19 March, 2020
Council of Senior Scholars.. A Public Statement: It is permissible to suspend the Friday prayer and the other daily congregational prayers to protect people from the Coronavirus

     Praise be to Allah alone; may His Peace and Blessings be on Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets!
According to the successive health reports about the rapid dissemination of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its possible developing into a pandemic, the continuously recurrent medical information indicates that the true danger of this virus consists in the ease and speed with which it can spread. In addition, the patient having the virus may not exhibit the symptoms; hence, s/he, not knowing that s/he is sick, may transmit the virus everywhere s/he visits.
Since one of the greatest objectives of the Islamic Shari‛ah is to preserve the lives of people and protect them from harm and danger, the Council of Senior Scholars, out of its sense of responsibility, would like to inform the officials everywhere that it is permissible to suspend the Friday prayer and the five daily congregational prayers in the mosques. This may be done lest an outbreak of the virus should occur and harm people and the welfare of their countries. 
Based on the authentic health reports and the official statistics of the deaths caused by this contagious disease around the world, it is deemed obligatory for patients and elderly people to stay at home and abide by the protective measures declared by the concerned departments in each country. They must not go to the mosques for the Friday prayer or the other five daily congregational prayers. The large number of patients, the high probability of infection, and the ability of the virus to develop are all signs that help us estimate the danger that this epidemic is likely to cause. 
Therefore, the officials in charge of every country have to make every possible effort and take precautions and protective measures to prevent the outbreak of the virus. Since preserving people’s health is one of the greatest objectives of the Islamic Shari‛ah, scholars have agreed that an event that is highly likely to occur is regarded as an actual one; therefore, an imminent danger takes the ruling of a real one.
The following Ḩadith, narrated by both Al-Būkhārī and Muslim, is a proof of the permissibility of halting the Friday prayer and the other five daily congregational prayers temporarily to avoid the outbreak of an epidemic:
‛Abdullah Ibn ‛Abbas reported that he said to the prayer caller (Mu᾿ādhin) on a rainy day, "When you have announced ‘I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,’ do not say, ‘Come to the prayer,’ but say, ‘pray in your homes.’ He (the narrator) said that the people disapproved of it, so Ibn 'Abbas said, "Are you astonished? He (the Prophet, PBUH.), who is better than me, did it. The Friday prayer is no doubt obligatory, but I do not like to put you in difficulty by walking in mud and slippery grounds". 
This Ḩadith guides us not to perform the congregational prayers in order to avoid the difficulty of going to the mosque in the rain. More dangerous than this, of course, is the danger of the epidemic. Therefore, when an epidemic occurs, following the license of not performing the Friday prayer is in accordance with reason, jurisprudence, and the Shari‛ah. The alternative, according to the Shari‛ah, is to perform the noon prayer, which is four units (rak‛as) instead of two, at home or in any place that is not crowded.
Scholars concluded that being afraid for one’s life, one’s property, or one’s family are excuses for a Muslim not to attend the Friday prayer or the other five daily congregational ones. "Abu Dawūd narrated, on the authority of Ibn ‛Abbas that the Prophet (PBUH.) said, 'Whoever heard the caller to prayer and did not have an excuse [for going to the mosque], his prayer would not be accepted.' They asked, 'What is the excuse?' He said, 'fear, or sickness'".   
Another Ḩadith that supports this idea is the one reported by both Al-Būkhārī and Muslim in their Ṣaḩiḩs on the authority of ‛Abdul Raḩman Ibn ‛Auf who heard the Prophet (PBUH.) say, “When you hear that it (a pandemic) is breaking out in a certain territory, do not go there. If it breaks out in the territory you are in, do not go out fleeing away from it”.
The Prophet (PBUH) has prohibited those whose smell might hurt others from attending the prayers in the mosque in order not to harm the other worshippers. On the authority of Jaber, may Allah be pleased with him, Al-Būkhārī reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said, 'Whoever has eaten garlic or onion should keep away from us [or from our mosque] and stay at home'”. The harm mentioned in this Ḩadith is limited and ends with the conclusion of the prayer. How about the harm of an epidemic that is highly contagious and that might lead, may Allah forbid, to an uncontrollable catastrophe? 
Because of the rapid dissemination of this virus and its fatal effects, and because no successful treatment has been found so far, the Muslim is excused if he does not attend the Friday prayer or the other daily congregational prayers.
Therefore, the Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar has come to the conclusion that the state has the right to temporarily suspend the Friday prayer or the other five daily congregational prayers if it sees that they may lead to the spread of this dangerous virus.
 

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