England National Lockdown & ‘Individual Prayer’ Guidance
MCB has issued guidance for running mosques, madrasas and community centres during the new national lockdown in England. Read on below or click here to download the 2-page PDF.
- The guide can also be downloaded in Arabic, Gujurati, Turkish, Somali and Urdu. Yoruba and Bengali translations coming soon.
- Template display posters reminding worshippers to pray as individuals ONLY to comply with the law, can be downloaded (PPT/WORD) by clicking on the links below (with thanks to Palmers Green Mosque)
| Download Template (PPT) | Download Template (WORD) | Download Template (WORD) | Download Template (WORD) |
- For madrasas, unless they are running for specific purposes as defined by DfE (Department for Education), madrasas require to suspend face-to-face lessons. See DfE website here for details.
- Latest MHCLG places of worship guidance webpage – please click here
- For the full legislation, click here: The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 (PDF)
Background
- The MCB and many other organisations have raised strong concerns to the Government that ‘individual prayer’ rules are a) impractical for many mosques to implement and b) there is no evidence that it reduces risk of virus transmission. More generally, Muslim and other faith communities have also argued against closure of places of worship (See MCB statement on 1st November here). On 4th Nov, the Government has not accepted these calls and legislation (PDF) has been passed
- Therefore, whilst we continue to lobby for change, from Thursday 5th November, legally, only mosques that are able to comply with ‘individual prayer’ rules can remain open to the public for worship.
- There is a range of opinion, with some mosques choosing to trial ‘individual prayer’ rules, whilst others closing. Based on feedback received from mosque leaders intending to trial new rules, please see the guidance above which has been produced to help mosque leaders decide whether to trial operating with the new rules or to temporarily close.
For the latest up-to-date MCB COVID-19 guidance for Muslim communities, including the impact on mosques, madrasas and community centres, please visit: www.mcb.org.uk/coronavirus