With Friday just a day away, the question of whether or not Muslims in Indonesia should go to the mosque to perform the mandatory Friday prayers looms large, despite the fact that religious authorities have advised against mass prayers in order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus in the country.
One renowned figure to perpetuate the idea that advising Muslims to pray at home instead of the mosque teeters on Islamophobia is former military commander Gatot Nurmantyo, who posted this photo on his Instagram account.
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“There seems to be a mistake. In the country where COVID-19 came from, China, where the citizens are communists and mostly atheists, they are going to mosques in droves to learn ablution and praying in groups. But in this majority Muslim country, the opposite is happening?” Gatot wrote in the caption, without giving any proof for his claims.
“They are echoing phobia with [COVID-19’s association] with mosques. As if mosques are the source of COVID-19 spread. Then are malls, lifts, churches, monasteries, temples, shrines ‘safer’ than mosques?
“Muslims have forgotten that mosques are the safest place to protect oneself from all disasters.”
Contradictorily, two days prior to that post, Gatot shared a viral video on why social distancing is important in the battle against COVID-19.
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The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which already issued a fatwa (religious edict) allowing Muslims in high-risk COVID-19 areas to pray at home, responded to Gatot’s post by saying that Islam would not endanger its adherents.
“In Islam, we can’t hurt ourselves nor hurt others,” MUI Deputy Secretary General Misbahul Ulum said, as quoted by Detik.
The Presidential Palace also responded to Gatot’s post by reiterating President Joko Widodo’s calls for Indonesians to work, pray, and study at home for now.
“I think the president’s advisory is spot on and everyone must follow it and raise awareness for others,” presidential staffer Doni Gahral Adian told Detik.
Despite MUI’s fatwa, Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, is holding Friday prayers tomorrow but may suspend the weekly prayer next week if the COVID-19 emergency in the capital escalates.
As of yesterday afternoon, Indonesia has recorded 227 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 19 of whom have died while 11 have recovered. Jakarta makes up the most of new coronavirus infections in the country.
