The President of the General Affairs of the Grand Mosque of Mecca and the Prophets Mosque at Medina, Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Sudais, has announced that King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Monarch of the Saudi Arabia Kingdom, approved to perform Eid prayers in the Two Holy Mosques, without worshipers.
The royal decree came within the eccentric circumstances in the kingdom and the world due to the threats linked to the Coronavirus ( COVID-19)
He stressed that this decision proves the keenness of the king of the country to revive this great ritual in the hearts of Muslims in light of this pandemic that is still threatening the whole world.
On its part, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance issued a circular to the muezzin of the places of prayer and mosques in the Kingdom to raise the takbeers ( calling Allah Akbar) of Eid al-Fitr, as of Fajr( dawn of Sunday) prayer until the introduction of the Eid prayer time via external loudspeakers.
The Ministry affirmed that Eid prayers should not be performed in all mosques in the regions of the Kingdom, according to the precautionary measures in force.
It indicated that this circular comes in response to the previously issued temporary suspension of gathering and congregational prayer in mosques in the context of precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Al- Sudais revealed that a new technique was launched on Monday, to sterilize the holiest shrine in Islam and its surroundings as the Coronavirus caused the closures of holy shrines in Mecca and Medina.
The new method depends on ozone gas to kill all microorganisms and viruses. The new technique will be used to sterilize the Imam's shrine in the southern wing of the mosque where surfaces and carpeting will be cleansed thoroughly. Oxygen of the air is used to produce the ozone as the later gas is a saturated form of oxygen because it contains three atoms of the gas.
Ozone is an hyper active gas in oxidization and it has higher power in strong and speed reactions with various chemicals to form different environmental and biological systems. The gas is a safe and radical solution for cleansing and sterilization in many fields.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued an order, days ago, to partially lift the curfew in all regions of the kingdom from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., starting Sunday through Wednesday May 13, while keeping a 24-hour curfew in Mecca and in previously isolated neighborhoods, state news agency (SPA) said early on Sunday.
The order also included the opening of some economic and commercial activities, such as wholesale and retail shops in addition to malls, in the period from 6 to 20 Ramadan, which is from Wednesday April 29 to Wednesday May 13.
The holy month of Ramadan began on Friday with Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere largely empty of worshipers as the Coronavirus crisis forced authorities to impose unprecedented restrictions.
In a rare occurrence in Islam's 1,400-year history, Mecca's Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina - the religion's two holiest locations - will be closed to the public during the fasting period.
Prayers from inside the mosque at Mecca on the first evening of Ramadan on Thursday were restricted to clerics, security staff and cleaners, in a ceremony broadcast live on television.
In comments marking the start of Ramadan, King Salman, who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, lamented the need for social distancing during the holy month.
"It pains me to welcome the glorious month of Ramadan under circumstances that forbid us from prayers in mosques," he said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
"It doesn't feel special this year, we don't feel any Ramadan vibes," said Sarah, a mother-of-two in Riyadh.
At a near-empty Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an imam called out the first Friday prayers of Ramadan across a windswept plateau almost devoid of worshipers.
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