20:13, 2 June 2020

Partial lifting of ban on collective prayers surprises residents of Chechnya

A praying man in the mosque during the coronavirus outbreak. Screenshot of the report by the Grozny TV channel http://www.dumchr.ru/post/в-чеченской-республике-разрешат-коллективные-молитвы-в-крупных-мечетях

The ban on collective Friday namazes (prayers) imposed because of coronavirus is now cancelled in large mosques, the Muftiate of Chechnya has declared. The selective mosque reopening looks illogical, Instagram users and locals have stressed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Chechen authorities have eased the restrictions imposed earlier because of coronavirus. Since June 1, residents are allowed walking near their houses and going in for sports outdoors; besides, hairdressers, beauty salons and dentisttries are allowed to operate.

On March 16, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Russia announced restrictions on visiting mosques because of coronavirus. Then, Salakh Mezhiev, the Mufti of Chechnya, urged local residents not to attend Friday prayers and not to hold crowded weddings, funerals, commemorations and other events involving many people.

Elderly people and parishioners with chronic diseases were not allowed visiting mosques, Mufti Mezhiev said.

Some Instagram users were sceptical about the news, while others took it positively. "What good news," the user mansur_edi wrote, in particular.

Some users found the partial mosque reopening for Friday prayers illogical. "When they had quarantined mosques, they closed all of them at the same time. Now, they decided to reopen, but for some reason only large ones," Salman, a resident of Grozny, is bewildered.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 2, 2020 at 10:38 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent