ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday urged the Ulema and Mashaikh to play their leading role in implementing COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during Ramzan in mosques and Imambargahs.
He advised the Ulema to get themselves vaccinated and act as role-models in following all SOPs to contain the spread of the virus amidst the third wave of the pandemic.
The President made these remarks while chairing a meeting of Ulema and Mashaikh from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) via video-link.
Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services also joined the virtual meeting.
Governor Punjab Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, Governor Balochistan Justice (Rtd) Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, Governor Gilgit-Baltistan Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon, Chief Secretary AJK, and Ulema and Mashaikh from various schools of thought attended the meeting.
The President underlined the need to educate the people about the severity of the new variant of coronavirus. He added that Ulema, media and political leadership should disseminate awareness messages urging people to follow all SOPs.
He said the 20 point-declaration of SOPs, prepared last year in consensus with Ulema, should be implemented at all mosques and Imambargahs during Ramzan.
He urged the people to offer Istaghfar prayers during the first Jumma-tul-Mubarak of Ramazan to seek Allah’s blessings to get rid of the pandemic.
He appreciated the Ulema for extending their cooperation during the previous two waves and hoped that they would continue to use all available fora including the pulpit and the mosques to raise awareness among people about the pandemic.
He also urged the people to pay Zakat and Fitrana which would greatly help in alleviating people’s financial hardships during the pandemic.
The President thanked the Ulema and participants of the meeting for praying for his speedy recovery.\867