AL JAMA-AH’s lobbying campaign to have the mosques opened for Eid-ul Fitr ceremonies under the same strict Covid-19 Regulations under Level 4 for the holding of funerals, have succeeded as all places of worship have been opened under Level 3.
The President announcement of the opening of places of worship a day after Eid-ul Fitr,was welcomed by many while some mosque committees decided to remain close for another month. AL JAMA-AH embarked on vigorous lobbying for the easing of Level 4 Regulations to open the mosques for Eid ceremonies after the Party was inundated with calls from several Muslims who desired to have mosques to opened for the Eid salaah.
“Although Muslims could not perform Eid-ul Fitr salaah at the mosques or have Eidghas, they are now certain that mosques will be opened for Eid-Ul Adha prayers,” said AL JAMA-AH president and leader in Parliament, Hon. Ganief Hendricks.
AL JAMA-AH applied for an amendment to perform the obligatory Eid ceremony within the Regulation of No 18 of the Government Gazette 43258 on Lockdown Regulations. This amendment would have allowed the Eid Ceremony under the same strict terms and conditions for funeral prayers in a church. “This would have included all regulations on hygiene, social distancing and obliged the Imams to apply for a permit for the opening of the mosques,” Hendricks said.
The Covid-19 Regulations permits only 50 people to attend a funeral which is not a prohibited gathering. The Party also proposed to adhere to all other strict terms and conditions applied for funerals. The COGTA Nerve Centre acknowledged the application by stating, that it had been referred to the Legal and Regulations Team for advice.
AS it was drawing closer to Eid ul Fitr the Party intensified its lobbying by sending copies of the application to all Members of Parliament in the various departments requesting for their support. The application was also sent to the Private office of President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting for Hon Hendricks to address the President and MPs during a Virtual Meeting on the application to open mosques for Eid. “The Muslim public should note that at the virtual meeting the President and Minister Dlamini-Zuma gave their first-round version, but indicated they were still undecided,” said Hendricks.
Hendricks made the appeal during the live Virtual Meeting to which the President replied that it was not an illogical request which needed to be discussed. Whereas the COGTA Minister expressed fears that opening the mosques for Eid ceremonies would be unfair to the Christian communities who had to forfeit the Easter gatherings. But since the comments from the President and Minister were their “first-round version” Hon. Hendricks persued the matter further.
“The following day, the President received much stronger representations from across religious faiths and promised to respond as soon as possible. We called on the President and Minister Dlamini-Zuma to consider the easing of the Regulation before 6:00pm on Saturday and the Sunday which was a day before Eid ul Fitr.
My last motivation was a very late direct communication with president Ramaphosa on Sunday evening, deploring him that the Eid Congregational gathering should be treated similar as to the regulations for a funeral.
“AL JAMA-AH received strong support from religious leaders close to the ANC and I was aware that the President could strike the first favourable blow he has carte blanche on amendments to the Regulations on gatherings,” Hendricks said.
Amongst support received for the application was from the Jamiat ul Ulama -KZN and Jamiat ul Ulama of South Africa. Islamic scholar, Hashiem Fryddie who is a student of esteemed Islamic jurist, Sheikh Abdul Karriem Toffar, stated, “The Eid salaah and kutbah is similar to Jumu’ah and cannot be performed at home, and should be performed in congregation at a place of worship. I commend the Al Jama-ah leadership for fighting to have our mosques declared open by government.”
A day before Eid ul Fitr the party received a disappointing response from the Nerve Centre who stated, “There has been a number of requests from the Muslim community for permission to gather to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday. At present the Regulations unfortunately do not provide any discretion to the Minister or the President to provide special permission for any religious gathering(s), unless the regulations are changed before the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr.”
“But we welcomed the opening of the mosques under Level 3 as we can now perform Jummah congregational prayers and Eid ul Adha ceremonies. We remind Muslims to adhere to all the Covid-19 Regulations,” Hendricks said.