HYDERABAD: For the first time in over a 100 years, Eid is going to be celebrated indoors in Hyderabad, with no special prayers at mosques in the city including Mecca Masjid. Unlike other years, when around this time various eidgahs and mosques around the city would have their arrangements in place for accommodating lakhs of people for offering prayers, this year the familiar hustle and bustle of festivity is missing.
Instead, Muslims have been urged to remain indoors this year due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Scholars have asked citizens to offer shukrana and chasht prayers instead of Eid prayers from home. Hamed Mohammed Khan, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said, “If there are four or more people in a house they can offer Eid prayers. Else, it is chasht or shukrana.” He urged Muslims to not venture out of their houses for meeting and greeting relatives.
“Call or contact relatives on social media but do not go out to meet them. Maintain social distancing and avoid shaking hands or embracing,” he added. While Khan said he had never experienced anything similar, experts said that this happened at least thrice in Hyderabad’s history. “The Musi Flood of 1908, which coincided with Ramzan, the Spanish Influenza of the 1920s and the Cholera outbreak, all saw subdued Eid with no prayers in mosques,” Mohammad Safiullah, a heritage expert told Express.