السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
It’s Sunday 24th May 2020. Today’s topic is ‘The Last JumuꜤah of this Ramaḍān‘.
Lockdown due to the coronavirus came into force on Monday 23rd March 2020. When I pondered a lot upon the reasons why Almighty Allāh might have brought us all to our knees, a number of reasons came to mind. Since Thursday 26th March, I started writing messages, first and foremost for my own self rectification and secondly, to share with friends and colleagues.
Four weeks later, the month of Ramaḍān started. As we were approaching Friday 22nd May, which was the 5th and last Friday of this Ramaḍān, a number of local residents had asked me about JumuꜤah and ꜤEid Ṣalāh. Eight Fridays had passed and we had not prayed JumuꜤah, so I myself was quite concerned as well.
Having spoken with a few friends who are well versed with legal issues, I started looking at ways by which we could fulfil both laws – the law of the land and also, Divine Law. Obviously, social distancing and adhering to guidelines was very important and at the same time, we wanted to ensure our religious obligations were fulfilled. I took advice from Lancashire Constabulary and the Local Environmental Health Department, whose valuable guidance made it possible for us to offer our JumuꜤah Ṣalāh مَا شَآءَ الله.
This Ramaḍān, as Ramaḍān had commenced on a JumuꜤah, we were blessed with 5 JumuꜤahs. A number of local residents had requested, if it was possible, to offer this final JumuꜤah of Ramaḍān.
This dream became a reality. Our respected guest speaker Mufti Yūsuf Shabbir addressed the residents in Urdu and English, very eloquently, highlighting the importance of adhering to government guidelines and social distancing at all times.
The residents who participated in the JumuꜤah Ṣalāh adhered to the guidelines مَا شَآءَ الله. With a local Imām leading the Ṣalāh, residents prayed outside their doorsteps, maintaining a very good 2 metre distance with their neighbours. Immediately upon completion of the DuꜤā, there were no hand shakes or socialising, and the residents went back to their own houses.
Almighty Allāh accept our prayers and give us all the correct understanding of the guidance provided by our government, Āmeen.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for DuꜤās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala