السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
It’s Saturday 20th February 2021.
My chosen topic today is ‘Masjid Inspections’.
During the last 10 days, a number of Masjids of Blackburn have been inspected by council or public protection officials. One of my previous messages on the subject did pre-warn all Masjid management committees of what was to come.
Speaking to Masjid representatives, although the overall results were satisfactory, areas of concern have been highlighted. Masjid representatives have been informed by the officials that they will re-visit, to ensure that their recommendations have been taken into consideration.
Can I make a humble request that this message is circulated as widely as possible please? مَا شَآءَ الله, we have come a very long way in ensuring we keep our Masjids open and we are very optimistic that this lockdown will come to an end sooner, rather than later. Therefore, let’s not spoil it now please. No complacency whatsoever.
Key points to keep in mind for all 5 Ṣalāhs please, especially Ẓuhr and ‘Aṣr, not just Jumu’ah:
- At least 2 volunteers with hi-vis jackets should be at the entrance of the Masjid throughout the whole Ṣalāh. They can pray in their own Jamā’ah afterwards.
- Officials have picked up that latecomers have walked in without masks, with no-one monitoring them. If someone comes without a mask, they must be challenged. Politely offer a mask. If they refuse, ask them to leave. No physical confrontation, but firm verbal action to deny entry.
- If someone needs to use the washroom in an emergency, they must be accompanied by a volunteer to the door and then escorted back.
- A volunteer in the Jamā’ah Khāna must ensure that everyone is socially distanced and, more importantly, no one shakes hands. An official observed 2 men hugging each other in the Jamā’ah Khana. This is suicidal.
- Make sure the sanitizers are available in abundance.
- Finally, cleaning everyday, and a deep clean on Fridays, after the Jumu’ah Ṣalāh.
Please do not take this lightly. A humble request to all attendees to please adhere to all the guidelines and make life easy for the volunteers.
Should we even need volunteers? Do we have no discipline at all? Have we learnt nothing at all in all these years? Let’s get our act together and get it together now.
Almighty Allāh give us all the ability to adhere to all the regulations and guidelines, Āmeen.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for Du’ās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala