Prayer rooms in shopping malls and commercial towers across the UAE are to reopen from Monday.
The places of worship were closed for a number of months as part of safety restrictions imposed by the authorities to combat the spread of Covid-19.
This move is in line "with the the partial easing of restrictions on movement and in order to gradually return to normal life," said the National Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Management Authority and the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments in a joint statement.
Prayer rooms must adhere to rigid safety measures to open their doors to the public once more.
In conjunction with the partial easing of restrictions on movement and in order to gradually return to normal life, we announce the reopening of prayer rooms in shopping centers and towers starting July 20, with a maximum capacity of 30% and following the precautionary measures. pic.twitter.com/hwQWFTlaSB
— NCEMA UAE (@NCEMAUAE) July 18, 2020
Physical copies of the Quran must not be on display, with worshippers asked to instead read from electronic devices such as smartphones.
Prayer rooms' capacity must not exceed 30 per cent and worshippers must remain at least two metres apart in keeping with physical-distancing practices.
They may use a single-use prayer mat, which will be provided in the prayer rooms.
“The ablution places will be sterilised after they are used by each worshipper, and prayer rooms will be sterilised after each prayer and closed until the next prayer time,” the statement read.
It is also recommended for people to download Al Hosn app to their smartphones before using the prayer rooms. However, it is not mandatory to do so.
Worshippers in Abu Dhabi said they were delighted to hear the news.
Mohammed Al Daqqaq, a communication specialist from Jordan, said he can now go to the mall at any given time without having to co-ordinate his visits between prayer times.
“I had to limit my visits to after maghrib [sunset prayers] to avoid missing any of the five daytime prayers,” said Mr Al Daqqaq, 26.
“And when I went out during the day, there were many unfortunate instances where I missed some of the prayers.”
He said he tried a couple of times to take a corner at the mall and pray on his own, but he found it to be “too odd”.
“I also considered pulling out a rug and praying in front of my car at times, but couldn’t find a place to perform ablution; it was a bit of a hassle to pray outside the house.”
He said now he could work from a cafe inside the mall all day, for instance, without worrying about missing a prayer.
Mohammad Fanni, a senior accountant from Palestine, said he was happy he would not miss prayers when outside his home any more.
“When I’m at the mall and it is prayer time I always used to pray there, especially maghrib because there is a very short time span for it before isha [evening prayer],” he said.
“However, during the last couple of months when the prayer rooms and mosques were closed I couldn’t do that, and I missed praying on time – I had to wait to go home to compensate.”
Mr Fanni, 27, said he kept a prayer mat with him in the car at all times, “but sometimes I just could not find a place to pray".
“Like, I cannot simply knock on someone’s door and ask him to pray at his house,” he said.
Although mosques reopened at the start of the month, he said there remains a different feeling to before the Covid-19 outbreak.
“On Thursday I went to pray at the mosque next to my home, the lights were turned off and nobody was inside only the door was open,” he said, “I went inside and prayed anyway, but it felt strange.”
As for the prayer rooms’ precautionary measures, he said he did not feel it would pose any inconvenience.
“The malls are not at full capacity anyway so I do not expect the prayer rooms to be over 30 per cent.
“And not all mall-goers pray anyway.”
