Kowloon Mosque Hopes To Reopen For Part Of Ramadan

Kowloon Mosque says it will follow every social distancing rule required by the government so it can reopen in time for Muslims to pray there during at least part of the holy month of Ramadan.

The government had said Covid restrictions will be relaxed in phases, with religious places among the venues that can reopen on April 21.

The Chief Imam of Hong Kong, Mufti Muhammad Arshad, noted that Ramadan begins on April 2 this year.

"If the last 10 days of Ramadan, we're fine and the mosque is open, indeed it will [bring] greater happiness for our community," he said at a press conference.

"And indeed if the government asks that only vaccinated people can come, we will follow, and we will only allow those who are fully vaccinated."

Arshad said for religious reasons, worshippers have to pray by standing together, and that cannot be performed online.

To minimise crowd gathering, the mosque will split the prayers into several praying sessions and no more than 500 people will be allowed in at once.

Worshippers will also been asked to perform their ablutions at home so that they can keep their masks on while inside the mosque.

Meanwhile, Arshad said the mosque will open for people to get vaccinated on April 9. He said around 300 people were inoculated when it used its community hall as a vaccination centre earlier this month.