Mosque Goers Must Observe 1-Metre Distancing. 20-Min Sermons & Prayers
After 3 months of holding Friday prayers at home, Muslims across Singapore have been looking forward to returning to heartland mosques.
This Friday (26 Jun), this will finally be a possibility for some worshippers — a sign that our society is slowly gearing up for the resuming of our normal routines.
Here’s the detailed press release from MUIS dated Sunday (21 Jun). We summarise the new rules below.
Observe 1m social distance & 20-min prayer sessions
Mosques are set to welcome 50 people per session, under the following guidelines:
- 50 worshippers per prayer session
- Half-hour intervals between 2 sessions
- 20-min sermons
- 20-min prayer sessions
- 1-metre social distancing while praying
- Book prayer slots online*
*One person may book a slot per 3-week duration.
The limited booking slot measures are to ensure that everyone may visit in staggered periods.
Sermons delivered 2m away from first row
As a further safety measure, imams will be required to don face shields while sharing their messages and sermons — limited to 20 minutes.
They’ll also be standing 2 metres apart from congregants in the first row.
Visitors are reminded not to stay after service and “mingle” with fellow friends to minimise the risks of transmission.
Mosques will also be cleaned & sanitised thoroughly before and after prayer sessions, says MUIS.
Cannot enter mosque without prior booking
Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) further shares that potential worshippers will not be granted entry if they did not make prior bookings.
You can access the online booking system here to plan ahead for your future visits to your neighbourhood mosques.
The site will be live on Friday (24 Jun) at 9am, so do bookmark this link in advance to ensure you can secure a slot. Detailed instructions on how to prepare for your visit are listed here.
Looking forward to reopening our places of worship fully
Though limited prayer slots are available for members of our Muslim community, we’re thankful that our places of worship are gradually reopening.
This also means that we have to stay as vigilant as ever to ensure that clusters are prevented, even as community cases have remained low.
We wish all our Muslim friends safe journeys to & fro while resuming Friday prayers in heartland mosques.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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