Malappuram: With Kerala going to polls on Friday (April 26), there were fears that believers may find it difficult to attend the prayers in mosques while they wait to exercise their franchise.
Now Muslim organisations have asked the Mahallu committees, which run the mosques, to plan Juma (the afternoon prayer on Friday) services so that every believer gets the opportunity to attend the prayer services.
The Samastha Kerala Sunni Mahallu Federation (SMF), an arm of the Samastha EK faction, has directed the mosques under it to take necessary steps so that believers get to pray without any hindrance. Samastha AP faction has asked the mosques under its control to arrange the timing in a staggered manner.
“Mosques should inform the believers in advance about prayer timings. Make sure that everyone gets the opportunity to attend the Juma,” SMF state president K Alikkutty Musliyar said.
The Samastha AP faction said that believers will have to fix their voting time in such a way that they don't miss their Friday prayers. Samastha has also given directions to mosques that they can change the Juma timing if necessary. “The Juma timing of mosques in the same town may vary. Accordingly, believers can decide on the time of voting or the time of prayers. Firms with large numbers of employees send them to separate mosques at different timings so that their work is not affected. That can also be followed on the election day," Khalid Saqafi, a representative of Madin Academy under Madin Grand Masjid, said.
According to the scholars, believers who are on polling duty can pray the Zuhr (the noon prayer) at their place without attending the Juma.
