Only a handful of mosques have been given the green light to open as Muslims prepare for public prayers for the first time since March. Due to Covid-19 prevention measures, mosques – just like other places of worship were closed by the government in March when the country recorded the first cases of the pandemic. After approximately four months of closure, a cabinet meeting held earlier this month decided to reopen the places of worship, on condition that each facility must be individually vetted by local authorities against set heath guidelines to ensure their resumption does not negatively affect the gains the country has made in regard to fighting the spread of the virus. Last Sunday, July 19, Christians resumed church gatherings in various parts of the country. However, due to the fact that only a few churches had been given green light by that time, many believers were not served – since they couldn’t be accommodated by the few opened worship facilities. Tomorrow Friday, July 24 will see Muslims have their chance to gather for the first time since suspension. According to what facts on the ground suggest, many believers may end up not being accommodated by worship facilities since only a few have been opened. By midday, Thursday, July 23, only about 6 mosques had been opened countrywide: 3 in Kigali, and other 3 upcountry. Mosques in Nyamirambo (Onatracom), Kacyiru and one in the city centre were those that had been opened; while upcountry, Nyanza, Kirehe and Musanze districts have got at least one mosques allowed to operate; though when speaking with The New Times in an exclusive interview, Sheikh Suleiman Mbarushimana the Advisor to the Mufti did not rule out the possibility of seeing more mosques opened tonight before the Friday prayers take place. Last week, Mbarushimana told The New Times that mosques will be having two services where for each service, a mosque is expected to take in only half of the believers it used to host. Such adjustments are aimed at respecting social distancing guidelines put in place by the government where among other things congregants must have a space of at least one and a half metres between each other. Mbarushimana told The New Times that a number of mosques in the country had been inspected, and some of them looked prepared though they haven’t been given the green light yet. Speaking about the fact that they can gather again, he emphasized thankfulness among the believers towards God for protecting them against the pandemic, as he also recognised the country’s leaders for their efforts “First of all, I want to thank God that he has enabled our leaders to do all possible to assist Rwandans in the prevention of the pandemic so that it could not do much harm. Now we have a chance to go and pray, thank our God and petition to eradicate this pandemic,” he said. He further called unto people to take the prevention measures as their own responsibility, “Rwandans have a role to play in order to see that the pandemic doesn’t spread among many people.”
