Islamic Ministry has decided to close all the mosques in the Greater Male' Area for not adhering to the restrictive measures outlined in the COVID-19 guidelines.
In an announcement made on Wednesday evening, Islamic Ministry said starting from the Fajr prayer on Thursday, all mosques in Male', Villimale', and Hulhumale' will be closed.
As Maldives is facing the worst COVID-19 wave at the moment, after discussing the matter with religious scholars, mass prayers were stopped on May 19, Islamic Ministry said. However, as people still kept praying in mosques without maintaining social distancing even though the COVID numbers kept on surging, they have decided to close all mosques for the time being. Greater Male' Area being under lockdown also factored on the closure of mosques, they said.
Over a thousand people have been testing positive for COVID-19 everyday for a couple of weeks now. On Wednesday, the Greater Male' Area was placed under a lockdown, limiting movement of individuals.
Even though going to mosques physically may not be possible at the moment, the Ministry urges everyone to remain vigilant and pray that the country is saved from the pandemic soon.
Mosques were closed last year as well, when the country went into lockdown, from March 18 2020 to July 1 2020.
Sign In