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Saudi allows funeral prayers in mosques with strict restrictions

Riyadh - Safety distance, other preventive measures to be strictly followed inside the mosques

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The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs on Wednesday issued a circular, permitting funeral prayers in mosques after a long gap.

The ministry had stopped the faithful from offering funeral prayers in mosques last year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the circular has been issued as per the recommendation by the Public Health Authority to allow the country’s mosques to conduct funeral prayers under strict safety measures.

The circular stipulated that funeral prayers in mosques and prayer halls should be held according to the following regulations:

A) The mosque should have several doors which all should be used during the prayer with one door to be dedicated to carrying the body. Only the family of the deceased should be allowed to use that door.

B) While the family of the deceased receive condolences from the visitors, a separation barrier should be installed between them, ensuring a safety distance of two metres.

C) Supervisors should be assigned at the mosque to ensure that all the people offering funeral prayers are adhering to the preventive measures.

D) Funeral prayer must be performed at least one hour before the time of the regular prayers.

According to a report on Al Bayan, the ministry directive stated that the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing should also coordinate to ensure that the number of funerals conducted in one mosque at a time does not exceed three.

• Saudi Arabia