_{Jama'at times in July 2020} 

_{There is a limit of 100 people per jama'at with social distancing of 1.5m.}

Masjid restrictive opening 

Canberra Islamic Centre (CIC) has decided to open the mosque gradually from 30 May 2020 Saturday morning at 6:15am (for Fajr) in compliance with the directives of the ACT Government by allowing 20 people maximum in an enclosed area regardless of size and maintaining the rule of 4sqm per person. At this stage the mosque will only be open for daily prayers and not for Jumma prayer on Friday.

It is important that the people who would be coming to pray at the mosque understand the gravity of the situation and follow the social distancing of 1.5m and the limit of 20 people on the number of attendees. Beside health risks the ACT Government also imposes fines on those violating the rules. We won't police you and you would be responsible for your own action and its consequence.

As floor tiling is underway in the main men entrance everyone is asked to use the women's entrance on the east side of the mosque for entry and exit through the door on the west side of the mosque into the courtyard. 

All men and women will enter through the front (women's) door of the masjid and exit through the door on the west side of the mosque into the courtyard. At this stage we ask people not to bring in children to the mosque as they will also be counted towards the limit of 20.

Use the sanitiser provided at the door.

Please come with wudu as the wet area will be closed until the restrictions are lifted or stage 3.

Each person must bring their own prayer mat.

In case of more than one jama'at, people late for the first jama'at will have to wait in their cars until called for the second jamaat.

With the new restriction of maximum 20 people, all prayers will be held with social distancing that is 1.5m from each other and leaving a row behind empty.  There may be two Ishaa jama’at of 20 people each.

Normal Friday jama’ats will resume only when further ease of restrictions by the ACT Government would allow larger gatherings. We will let you know when that happens Insha-Allah.

Suhail Khan

President

Executive Committee

Canberra Islamic Centre

Click here for past Newsletters 

Click here to view May 2020 newsletter

———————————————————

Covid-19 and Friday/Congregational prayers advisory 

effective 18 March 2020

As Salaam Alaikum                                

Dear CIC members

The Fatwa from the Australian Fatwa Council of today 18 March 2020 states that:

" A Muslim is permitted in such a case, instead of fulfilling Friday Prayer at a Masjid or Public Prayer Venue, to pray Jummah as a normal 4 Rakat Dhur prayer in one's home.

We strongly urge Muslims to pray their 5 daily prayers at home and 4 Rakat Dhur instead of the Friday prayer. This is to avoid any places of crowded people." 

In view of these instructions from the Australian Fatwa Council and PM's directive, the Executive Committee of the Canberra Islamic Centre has decided that:

1. All congregational prayers including Friday prayers at the Sabah Al Ahmad Masjid at the CIC will be suspended until further notice.  

2. The Sabah Al Ahmad Masjid will remain open and our brothers and sisters are welcome to come and pray individually but CIC does not take responsibility of your action. 

3. The Masjid will reopen for congregational prayers as soon as it is safe to do so.

We pray to Allah (SWT) to keep our Australian community safe and remove this threat from our lives soon.

Suhail Khan

President

Executive Committee of the Canberra Islamic Centre

18 March 2020

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Coronavirus Recommendations for Masjid Attendees

As Salam Alaikum, 

These are the recommendation from the Islamic Medical Association of Queensland for those who attend masjid regularly. This is being published in the interest of the General well being of our community in Canberra.

Current recommendations:

1. Strong collaboration between Masjids committees, Islamic scholars and health care professionals to ensure that a consistent message be sent to the community that is based both in line with Shariah principles but also has a sound base in scientific principles of disease control.

2. Musallees who have returned from high risk countries (Iran, South Korea, Mainland China and Italy) should isolate themselves at homes for 14 days prior to attending the Masjid or going out in the community. If they are unwell during this time they should seek medical attention.

3. Musallees that have returned from moderate risk countries (Japan,

Indonesia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Singapore or Thailand) should not attend the Masjid for at least 14 days.

4. If they are unwell in any way and should strongly consider not attending for 14 days after returning (note though current recommendations are that they would not need to isolate themselves at home.)

5. Anyone, irrespective of travel history with fevers, cough, runny noses or diarrhoea should not attend the Masjid until their symptoms have settled completely.

6. Wudhu should be performed at home and should only be performed in the Masjid because of necessity.

7. Cleaning of surfaces within the Masjid should occur more regularly, but it is not thought that the virus survives long outside the body and transmission is primarily from person to person rather than through a secondary surface (door handle, keyboard, etc.) A practical way of cleaning carpets would be to use antimicrobial spray to the carpet after each Salah. This could be a simple mixture of water and antiseptic agent (like Dettol)

8. Commercially available facemasks available are not useful for personal protection but can be used by sick individuals AT HOME to prevent spread in their household. A mask is unlikely to help prevent catching the infection as masks are usually ill fitting, not changed regularly,

and can actually make it more likely as the virus can sit on the mask surface increasing the chance of infection if touched. Profiteering on masks should be strongly discouraged.

9. Musallees could bring in their own Prayer mats that they use for themselves. This is particularly useful for our elders or those that have chronic medical conditions.

10. Hand sanitizers should be made available for people to use before entering and leaving the masjid.

11. Imams should encourage handwashing and masjid avoidance for people who have symptoms.

12. All multiple use towels should be removed from Masjids and only single use disposable towels should be available

13. If agreeable from Islamic Scholars, shaking hands during greetings should be temporarily suspended.

14. NOT all people who cough have an infective condition and there are many other medical reasons why someone would cough, such as asthma. These people should not be dealt with harshly.

Future considerations

1. Encouraging short Fardh Salah in the Masjid but non obligatory Salah at home - depending on the situation (if thought acceptable by Islamic Scholars) and if there is a marked escalation in the current status of the epidemic.

2. Abiding with public health recommendations that may suggest suspension of public gatherings. This may mean suspending congregational prayer in the Masjid if thought acceptable by Islamic Scholars.

3. Specific planning for Ramadan as the situation evolves.

The Executive Committee of the Canberra Islamic Centre

————————————————————————————-

CIC Annual General Meeting 2019-20 and Election Results 

After today’s (17 August 2019) election, Manar Ahmad – the election officer announced the names of the successful candidates who will now constitute the 2019-2020 Executive Committee of the Canberra Islamic Centre. The notice is authorised by the Public Officer of CIC. 

Mr Ashrof Farouk, Sri Lanka, Foundation Member

Mr Shamsul Huda, Bangladesh, Foundation Member

Ali Akbar, Bangladesh, Foundation Member

Ms Linda Berjaoui, Lebanon, Life Member

Mr Siar Azad, Afghanistan, Life Member

Mr Saad Shamsi, Pakistan, Foundation Member

Mr Ilyas Mohideen, Sri Lank, Life Member

Ms Zahara Sanusi, Malaysia, Life Member

Mr Azhar Javed, Pakistan, Foundation Member

Mr Suhail Khan, India, Foundation Member

The inaugural meeting of the new executive is called by the Public Officer at the library in CIC on Monday 19^thAugust at 8:00 PM.