This Ramzan, hear Quranic sermons online

After the chief qazi of the city instructed members of the Muslim community to conduct prayers from home during the holy month of Ramzan, a community group has started

After the chief qazi of the city instructed members of the Muslim community to conduct prayers from home during the holy month of Ramzan, a community group has started online Quranic sermons.

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The sermons are being organised and uploaded by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Maharashtra, and Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO). Sessions for women started three days ago and the first Hindi sermon was uploaded on Friday. Rizwan-ur-Rahman Khan, president of JIH, said on Friday night, the sermon had more than 15,000 views from all over the world. “We are reaching out to people through social media and informing them of these sermons. People are watching these sermons on various online platforms,” said Khan.

The online sermons are by three religious, Islamic scholars. In addition to Hindi, Marathi sermons will start from May 1. They will be uploaded on social media daily. The organisers arranged special talks for women, which began three days ago and will continue throughout Ramzan.

“Ramzan draws its importance from the Quran, as the divine book was revealed to prophet Muhammad in this very month. A special prayer called taraweeh is held every night throughout the month, where one of the 30 parts Quran is recited. While the recitation is in Arabic, usually these verses are explained in local languages in many mosques,” said Islamic scholar Naushad Usman, who will deliver the Marathi sermons. Due to the lockdown, community members have been discouraged from visiting mosques.

Some members of the community have argued that putting sermons online is against religious practices.

Last week, chief qazi of Mumbai Mufti Mehmood Akhtar Qadri had requested community members to observe the restrictions imposed by the lockdown during Ramzan.

“Because of lockdown, a lot of people have expressed concerns about how can they have taraweeh namaz at home and that everyone needs to gather in a mosque, but even if a limited number of people offer namaz from mosque, it is acceptable. Others can pray from home,” Qadri had said, adding an appeal to help poor families by providing them food.