On 13 March Muis announced that all mosques in Singapore would be closed for at least five days, and all activities suspended for 14 days, following the discovery of people who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the religious gathering in Malaysia. Media reports have suggested there were 16,000 attendees.
Contact tracing by the MOH has revealed that the five individuals who tested positive for COVID so far frequented at least 10 mosques while they were infectious. Muis shared the list of the affected mosques on 14 March 2020 and advised members of the public who may have visited those mosques to monitor their health. Meanwhile, Muis is actively assisting MOH in their efforts to continue contact tracing.
Muis acknowledged that secondary transmission is possible, either from close contacts of the five infected individuals, or from members of the community who had visited the 10 mosques.
"It is not possible to identify and trace all persons in the second category, as our mosques do not operate on a membership system and lack a register of exclusive regular congregants. This means contact tracing will not be a sufficient measure to prevent onward transmission of the virus," Muis said in a statement.
As such Muis said that the religious justification to close mosques and suspend Friday prayers, in the form of the fatwa issued by the Fatwa Committee, still applies. Muis further accepts MOH’s recommendation to extend the closure of all mosques for another nine days, until 26 March 2020, completing one incubation period to break the cycle of transmission. This move also means that Friday prayers on 20 March 2020 will be suspended.
When the mosques reopen, Muis will:
a. Conduct mandatory non-contact temperature taking of all congregants. Those who are unwell will be turned away.
b. Require congregants to bring their own personal prayer items such as i.e. prayer mats, and prayer clothing for ladies.
c. Conduct physical checks to identify at-risk congregants and turn away congregants who are unwell.
d. Institutionalise a full-contact tracing regimen for all congregants entering mosques.
e. Not allow handshakes at the end of prayers or any other physical greetings among congregants.
The adhan (أَذَان , call to prayer) will be adapted with a call to the community to perform prayers at home.
The Office of the Mufti will also work with mosques to produce more Islamic learning and talks via online content.
Muis further urges the community to internalise the following behaviours:
a. Maintaining personal hygiene.
b. Practising social responsibility (keep our toilets dry, stay at home if unwell, perform wudhu ( الوضوء, ablution) before visiting the mosque.
c. Adjusting social norms for social distancing (avoid handshakes and communal eating).