The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) has asked the Muslim community to continue adhering to the lockdown regulations during Ramadaan and has called on Muslims to perform Taraweeh prayers at home.
Large gatherings, including the Friday jumu’ah prayers at mosques, were suspended when government called the national lockdown a month ago.
And now Muslims will have to forgo nightly Taraweeh prayers and sharing of meals such as iftar (boeka) during the fast.
According to a statement by the MJC on Friday, the Fatwa Committee has issued various guidelines for Taraweeh prayers to be done in the home.
“Only the persons living in a house should gather for Taraweeh in that house. There should be no gathering of neighbours, friends or extended family,” it states.
The fatwa comes after 41 congregants were arrested at mosques on Friday.
In the first incident, members of the SAPS Tactical Response Team (TRT) arrested 17 men in a building in Pretoria West, and in the second incident, 24 congregants were arrested at a masjid in Mpumalanga.
A video of cops screaming at congregants and forcing them to lie on their stomachs, and then apparently insulting the Prophet Muhammad, went viral on social media, with one cop heard saying : “Are you bigger than the president? Or is Muhammad bigger than the
president?”
#Lockdown See @SAPoliceService at a prayer facility... pic.twitter.com/IHwGnYxp1v
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) April 25, 2020
MJC Deputy president, Sheikh Riad Fataar, says: “The MJC notes the incidents that unfolded at the Mpumalanga Masjid and we feel the approach by the police was harsh.
“It is unfortunate that people are not abiding by the lockdown regulations as stipulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa and we call on the community to abide by the rules.”
Police Minister Bheki Cele on Sunday apologised to the Muslim community for the “blasphemous remarks”.
Cele’s acting spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said the group was arrested for contravening the ban on gatherings.