Wonderful news for Muslims in Singapore, from 11 December onwards, 5 mosques will be offering 5 zones of 50 congregants each. This will bring the total number of spaces to 38,730 slots available for Friday Prayers (Jumu'ah) each week.
The mosques that will be offering 250 congregant slots are:
| East | North | West |
| Al-Islah | Assyafaah | Al-Khair |
| Al-Istighfar | ||
| Darul Ghufran |
The slots will be separated into 3 sessions at each mosque, the sessions allocated to Friday Prayers are as follows:
Previously, there are 5 other mosques that were part of a pilot program to allow more congregants per session. Now, 150 congregants are allowed in each session for Friday prayers. The 5 mosques with 150 congregant slots are:
| North | West | South |
| An-Nur | Maarof | Angullia |
| Yusof Ishak | Sultan |
Similar to the previous arrangement, congregants will have to book their slots beforehand with bookings opened earlier to those who have not obtained a slot within the last 3 weeks since 20 November 2020. Those who have obtained a slot before, within the stated time period, will be able to book their slots every Friday between 10.00 AM to 2.00 PM, to fill in the remaining spaces.
You can book your slots here.
Safety is still a priority today and the ”5 zones accommodating 50 congregants each” rule is in compliance with the current guidelines from the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. In addition, congregants are encouraged to use the TraceTogether app on their smartphones or use the TraceTogether token for contact tracing purposes.
Please be advised that congregants will not be allowed to enter the mosque if they are unwell, under Quarantine Order, Leave of Absence (LOA) or on Stay-Home Notice. This is for the safety of other congregants during this pandemic. Congregants will also have to bring their own prayer mats, shoe bags, and will have to wear a mask when entering the mosque.
With the change in Zuhur timings, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has decided to set the Adhaan (prayer call) for Friday prayers at 12.50 PM, starting this Friday, 11 December 2020.
This new timing will be earlier than normal and it was instated to facilitate as many congregants as possible for their Friday Prayers (Jumu'ah). You may refer to the video below from MUIS, where Ustaz Irwan Hadi at Fatwa Committee Associate Member, explains the reasoning and permissibility behind their decision.
Source: MUIS on Facebook
In the video, Ustaz Irwan Hadi presents Sahih Hadiths which supports their decision. It was also stressed that this is only applicable for those praying Friday Prayers (Jumu'ah) in the mosques.
With that said, we are truly happy that there are more slots for our Muslim community to perform their Friday prayers in Singapore. Alhamdulillah!
