Celebrate Hari Raya on first day but postpone festivities, urges religious affairs minister

CORONAVIRUS | Muslims in the country are obligated to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri, but they should put off the festivities to a later time, said de facto Religious Affair Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri.

Zulkifli (photo, above) said while festive celebrations to mark the occasion were part of the tradition, Malaysians should perform the Hari Raya prayers in the way advised by the government in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“After fasting for one month, we are obligated to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri on the first day of Syawal.

“We must eat, and we must perform the Hari Raya prayers in the way we are advised to under the movement control order (MCO),” he was reported saying by The Star today.

Among suggestions he gave was that visits to houses during the festive season could instead be limited in adherence to social distancing measures, or open houses be postponed.

“However, the way we mark the occasion may not be the same as festive celebrations are more about tradition [...] But we can postpone the festive celebrations that we normally have with open houses and so on.

“As to whether we can postpone the celebrations to another time due to the MCO, we can discuss this possibility in the National Fatwa Council after getting the views of the clerics, ” he said in an interview yesterday.

He was responding to measures taken by other countries, such as Indonesia, which recently announced a ban on balik kampung, or mudik it is known there, at the end of Ramadan.

It also postponed Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays to Dec 28-31, instead.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had recently said Putrajaya will decide on the possibility of rescheduling Hari Raya Aidilfitri public holidays.

It was reported yesterday the Muzakarah (discussion) Committee of the National Islamic Religious Affairs Council suggested Hari Raya Aidilfitri solat (prayers) this year not be conducted at mosques and suraus.

Penang mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor said the muftis meeting also proposed the solat be conducted at each individual’s home, while recordings of previous years’ solat and takbir (Aidilfitri expression of faith) be broadcast on radio and television. - Mkini