The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has announced that some Ramadhan worship services will be available during the month (13 April to 12 May), but cautioned that current safe management measures must be maintained. "The community is still encouraged to observe Ramadhan activities with their families at home, in view of limited spaces at mosques, and to access online content and services that will be stepped up," Muis said in a statement.
The activities include:
Breaking of fast
Muslims are encouraged to break their fast at home and perform their prayers with their families. Those who have booked maghrib prayers at the mosque will be provided with dates and water to break their fast individually. There will be no communal breaking of fast at mosques as part of its adherence to the safe management measures to minimise risks of community transmission.
Terawih (تراويح) prayers
Mosques will be conducting terawih prayers and bookings for these prayer spaces will be done online. Terawih prayers will be limited to a total of 1 hour and will follow the approved safe management measures of each mosque. The number of prayer spaces will vary at each mosque, subject to the number of zones available. Dedicated spaces for female jemaah (الجماعة; worshippers in congregation) will be made available at some mosques. The terawih prayers will begin right after isha prayers.
There will be three booking windows throughout Ramadhan to correspond with the first, second and last 10 days of Ramadhan. Each window will offer about 84,000 prayer spaces. Each person will be initially limited to one booking per window, to allow more congregants to visit the mosques. Booking will open a few days before the start of each window.
Qiyamullail (قـيـام الـلـيـل , night prayers)
Qiyamullail will also be conducted at selected mosques during the last 10 days of Ramadhan. Due to limited spaces provided as outlined in each mosques' safe management plans, booking for night prayers via the online booking system will be required. Dedicated spaces for female jemaah will be made available at some mosques. There will be no sleepover at mosques and pre-dawn meals are not provided.
Two booking windows will be made available for the last 10 days of Ramadhan for qiyamullail, with 25,000 spaces available for each window. Each jemaah will be allowed to book once per window, and booking will open few days before the start of each window.
More details on when bookings can be made, and the timing of prayers, etc., will be shared closer to Ramadhan.
Other activities
Other activities such as tadarrus (تداروس, daily Quran reading) and khatamulQuran (ختام القرآن) will be allowed at mosques, with adherence to safe management plans similar to those in place for daily prayers at mosques.
To minimise risks of community transmission, Muis and mosques will only organise prayers during Ramadhan and Hari Raya Puasa (Eid) within mosque premises which will ensure proper adherence with the strict safe management measures. As with 2020, prayers that used to be held at void decks and other open areas (e.g. stadiums) will not be organised.
More mosque programmes and talks will be made available through online platforms. Muis will work with mosques to make more programmes available online via SalamSG TV and other mosques' social media platforms.
Muslims are also encouraged to continue paying zakat (زكاة) and donating online. Zakat payment can be made via Zakat.sg, and the community can continue to make donations to the centralised donation portal OurMasjid.SG to support mosque operational costs.
Mosques will continue to support low-income households who are recipients of zakat assistance during Ramadhan. Social development officers and the network of mosque befrienders will continue to reach out to families on long-term zakat financial assistance. Zakat financial assistance will remain available from the 31 Social Development Mosques islandwide.
This Ramadhan, the Office of the Mufti will be releasing a handbook to help the Muslim community navigate Ramadhan through the pandemic. The booklet will provide answers on religious queries and guidance related to the COVID-19, as raised by the public.
The Ramadhan booklet also addresses queries on vaccinations and nasal swab tests during Ramadhan. Vaccination does not invalidate the fast and the community is encouraged to take the COVID-19 vaccine when they are given the opportunity to do so. Nasal swab tests are also permissible and would not invalidate the fast, Muis said.
Since June 2020, congregational prayers have progressively resumed in mosques, in line with the guidelines for religious activities provided by the Singapore Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). Prayers and other activities are conducted with safe distancing, shortened duration, enhanced cleaning regimens, separate entrances and exits, as well as adoption of the Trace Together application for contact tracing. Spaces are made available through an online booking system, which was designed to be easy to use, and to prioritise those who have not secured a slot in recent weeks.