Committee on Religious Affairs: All religious gatherings to be suspended temporarily

Since March 16, all religious confessions in Uzbekistan have been temporarily suspended. Students of religious educational institutions are also on vacation.

“From March 16, the government has announced a quarantine to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov signed a petition to temporarily suspend all religious ceremonies.

According to this instruction, the Committee on Religious Affairs sent a letter to the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan and 15 other religious confessions to suspend mass religious activities and other ceremonies in order to prevent the further spread of coronavirus.

Immediately, a religious council called for a meeting of the Ulema Council. The issue was considered by members of the Ulema Council and a special fatwa was issued by the Muslim Board.

According to the online fatwa, the quarantine, which was launched on March 16 in order to ensure sanitary and epidemiological well-being, temporarily restricts mass ceremonies, prayers and similar activities at religious facilities, educational institutions and shrines within the system of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan. In particular, Friday prayers and funeral prayers are temporarily suspended in mosques.

People are advised to perform all prayers at home. Religious educational institutions announced vacations for students.

At the same time, other religious denominations also suspended public worships and ceremonies in the prescribed manner. Students of monasteries will also have vacation from their religious educational institutions.

During the quarantine, all religious organizations, including mosques, churches and synagogues, religious educational institutions, madrasahs, seminary and monasteries will be fully disinfected,” the representative of the Committee on Religious Affairs said.

On March 15, the first cases of coronavirus infection were reported in Uzbekistan. Currently, 8 people are infected. At a press conference chaired by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov on Sunday, the government reported that it had asked all religious institutions in the country to temporarily restrict religious ceremonies.