Currently,\nmore than one hundred million people all around the world have been infected\nwith Covid-19. In Malaysia, we are currently suffering from the third wave of Covid-19\nwith more than two hundred thousand cumulative cases and resulting in nearly\none thousand death. This pandemic shows no sign of slowing down within the near\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that mainly\ntransmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes,\nor exhales has forced us to practice physical distancing in order to break the\nchain of infection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Physical distancing is the new normal that we currently live in. As a\nresult of physical distancing, many aspects of our lives have also changed. People\nare struggling to generate income as many of them have lost their jobs due to bad\neconomic sector. The education sector faces a great challenge where\nface-to-face learning cannot be fully executed with the majority of teaching\nand learning is taking place online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Religious\nactivities also face changes as a result of physical distancing policy. Religious\nactivities and worships especially those that involve assemblies and gatherings\nmust adhere to physical distancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a\nmeasure of compliance with this policy, Islamic religious authority provides a\nruling for rows (saf<\/em>) arrangement during congregational prayer to be\nmade in line with physical distancing. According to the ruling, people who\nattend congregational prayer need to distant themselves at least one meter from\neach other during the formation of rows (saf<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the\nreligious ruling to enforce the practice of physical distancing during\ncongregational prayer has sparked a lot of debates among the public. This\nruling is seen to be uncommon to the usual practice which emphasizes the\nimportance of closing the gap between people during congregational prayer as it\ncompletes and beautifies prayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to this\nchange, some people portray disagreement with the new practice as it is seen to\ngreatly damage the original religious teaching. Consequently, religious\nauthorities and experts are harshly criticized and discredited as though they\nare neglecting the role of preserving Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Covid-19 is\na new challenge for all including Muslims. During this difficult period,\ngovernment and Islamic religious authorities are responsible not only for the\ncontinuity of religious teaching but also for the protection of the lives of\nbelievers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People\nshould respect the decision made by religious authorities and experts due to\ntheir qualifications to produce a ruling. Decision made by the experts is based\non proficiency in Islamic jurisprudence and as well the understanding of\ncurrent reality to ensure the safety and benefits of public. This is consistent\nwith the Islamic legal maxim, \u201cthe action of a ruler for his people is based\non their best interest<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n People are\nfree to voice out their disagreement with the decision to practice social\ndistancing during congregational prayer, but the disagreement must be expressed\nwith full of ethics and preceded by a complete understanding of the whole\nprocess of the ruling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the normal\ncondition, congregations are required to fill the gaps during the formation of\nthe rows (saf<\/em>) leaving no space between each of them. It is a part of\nthe perfection and beautification of congregational prayer. Prophet Muhammad\nSAW said, \u201cStraighten your rows as the straightening of rows is essential\nfor a perfect prayer<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, we\nare asked to obey Allah within our capability. This is based on verse 16 of Surah\nal-Tagh\u0101bun,\n\u201cFear\nAllah as much as you are able.<\/em>\u201d According to\nSheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Sa\u2018di, this verse also means that the obligation is\nlifted in the event where people are not able to perform due to shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the situation\nof Covid-19 pandemic, it is evident through medical and scientific discovery\nthat close contact between people will lead to the spread of the virus and\nconsequently endangering lives especially those who are in the category of high\nrisk. During a congregational prayer, filling and closing gaps between people\nwill create opportunities for contagion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to\nperform congregational prayer within the safe condition is through physical\ndistancing during the formation of row (saf<\/em>). This way, the spread of\nviruses among the congregation can be avoided. Although we find it uncomfortable\nbecause it opposes the common practice, we need to temporarily endure to\nprioritize the safety of the whole public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Filling\ngaps within the rows during congregation prayer even though required, is only\npart of the actions that beautify and complement the congregational prayer. Inability\nof doing it does not cause the prayer to be invalid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Physical\ndistancing on the other hand is prioritized because it is necessary to stop the\nspread of the virus and thus protect lives. This is based on the Islamic legal\nmaxim, \u201cRepelling harm comes in priority over achieving benefit.<\/em>\u201d\n\nIn a nutshell, the new practice for\ncongregational prayer proposed by religious authorities and experts is based on\nthe reality of pandemic. This current practice is temporary. It will eventually\nshift to normal when the pandemic subsides. As part of the public, we must\nstrive to respect and follow the rule to expedite the process of eradicating\nthe pandemic, so that we can return to the normal lives and normal practice of\nreligion. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Currently, more than one hundred million people all around the world have been infected with Covid-19. In Malaysia, we are currently suffering from the third wave of Covid-19 with more than two hundred thousand cumulative cases and resulting in nearly one thousand death. This pandemic shows …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}