On Friday, Muslims of Southern Russia pray at home

On April 3, residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Ingushetia and Chechnya held their Friday namaz (prayer) at home in connection with the ban on visiting mosques. In Dagestan, believers did the same, as the local Muftiate recommended to refrain from collective prayers.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that following the recommendations of the Russian Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM), mosques in Adygea, Krasnodar Territory, and Kabardino-Balkaria were closed on March 24 due to the threat of coronavirus spread. On March 29, the SAM (Muftiate) of Chechnya announced that the April 3 collective Friday prayer would not take place; and the next day, Ingush theologians also cancelled the Friday prayers in mosques. On April 1, the Mufti of Dagestan urged believers not to attend mosques.

The Muftiate of Dagestan has not announced a ban on visiting mosques; on Friday, its page on the Instagram has only posted an appeal of Akhmad Afandi, the republic's Mufti, to believers with a recommendation not to attend mosques.

In Makhachkala, some believers told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they had stopped attending Friday prayers. Thus, Abdul, a Makhachkala resident, said that he had missed two Friday prayers.

Timur, another resident of Makhachkala, said that he had used to attend the central Juma Mosque, but has not been attending the collective prayers for two weeks now. He said that he would not attend collective prayers until the situation with the coronavirus spread stabilized and the restrictions were lifted.

Marat Gabiullin, a resident of Nalchik, who used to regularly visit the mosque, has explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he treats the ban on the collective namaz imposed by the Kabardino-Balkarian Muftiate as an adequate measure. "The situation is really alarming. I pray at home and see no problem in it," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 3, 2020 at 09:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.