Ramadan amid Covid-19; Jakarta Discourages Tarawih in Mosques
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1 May 2020 17:42 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta's Bureau of Mental and Spiritual Education appeals to residents to refrain from going to mosques for mass Tarawih prayers during the large-scale social restrictions period. The bureau chief, Hendra Hidayat, said the government still sees mosques holding the prayers.
During the first week of Ramadan, he said, some 40 mosques were still holding mass prayers.
"We haven’t received any report this week. We hope the public can obey the government's order to pray at home," he said on Thursday, April 30.
Hendra said his bureau is coordinating with the Jakarta Mosques Council to list which mosques violated the social-distancing rule.
The Jakarta Governor's Regulation No.33/2020 on social restriction clearly stated that religious worship must be done at home. Additionally, the Indonesian Ulema Council or MUI has issued a fatwa, ordering Muslims to conduct Tarawih prayers at home.
The government also works with the police, the military, as well as neighborhood officials and security forces to disseminate the rule using soft approaches.
Imam Hamdi
