Saudi announcement of curfew during Id baffles Muslim countries

New Delhi, May 14: The announcement made by the Saudi Arabian government has caused much confusion among the Muslim nations of the world, Pakistan leading among them. Festival of Ramzan Id is approaching and the COVID-19 pandemic has cast its ugly shadow over it. With the coronavirus threat looming large, the Saudi Government has ordered the closure of all mosques including that of Mecca and Medina sending out most baffling signals among the Muslim countries.

The five-day Ramzan Id festivities this year will witness a 24-our curfew in Saudi Arabia which inter alia means there will be no ‘Haj’ this year and the holy shrines at Mecca and Media will also be inaccessible for the common devotees who otherwise throng in lakhs at these places.

This announcement of the Saudi Government has a message for the Muslims of the world: Stay home during the festivities of Ramzan Id and offer namaz at homes. The five-day curfew will be in force from May 23 to 27 in the desert country.

The announcement said that when the coronavirus is threatening the world community it is advisable to offer prayers staying at home only. Gatherings at mosques would lead to the spread of the virus. It may be mentioned that the country considered holy by the Muslims world over, has declared a curfew in Mecca and Media before the Ramzan began.

But countries like Pakistan that always advocated for implementing Sharia law are not following the steps taken by Saudi Arabia. The imams and moulvis in Pakistan had threatened Prime Minister Imran Khan on locking mosques and stopping collective namaz. The mullahs won the battle and the Imran Khan government appeared so dwarfed before them.

With the new ‘Farman’ issued by Saudi Arabia, possibilities of fresh conflicts between the fundamentalists and liberals in Pakistan are more visible. Pakistan is passing through a very critical state due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Patients are dying for want of treatment and the hospitals are under pressure not to declare the figure of the deaths.

However, there has been a sudden spurt in the bodies coming to cemeteries for burial in Pakistan. The government is pressurizing the NGOs also. This has given rise to a debate in Pakistan as to whom they should look to for interpretation of Islam in times of coronavirus pandemic – to the Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia or the Holy book Quran?