Friday prayers held at Hagia Sophia for the first time in 86 years
Crowds gathered in Istanbul as the historic Hagia Sophia site opened for Friday prayers for the first time since Turkish authorities ruled it could be converted into a mosque. Clerics in white robes sang from the Koran. Mosaics and frescoes of Jesus and Mary were draped with curtains. The 1,500-year-old Unesco World Heritage site became a museum in 1934
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Saudi Arabia says Ramadan starts on Friday
Saudi Arabia says Ramadan starts on Friday
Saudi Arabia has announced that the holy fasting month of Ramadan will start on Friday, as Muslims around the world face unprecedented restrictions and tight lockdowns to counter coronavirus. it has been decided that Friday is the start of the month of Ramadan," the royal court said on Thursday in a statement cited by the official SPA news agency.
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Sri Lanka imposes curfew to curb COVID-19 pandemic
Sri Lanka imposes curfew to curb COVID-19 pandemic
The island nation of Sri Lanka is set to institute a nationwide curfew starting Friday and ending Monday, with mosques shut down indefinitely in the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection. The Sri Lankan government's decision comes as South Asia sees rapidly increasing numbers of cases and deaths, with 750 infected and seven people dead in the region.
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The elderly man who was stabbed in London mosque pardons attacker
Raafat Maglad, the 70-year-old muezzin at the London Central mosque who is in charge of delivering the call to prayers, has announced that he has pardoned the 29-year-old man who attacked him yesterday with a knife in an apparent race-based assault, leaving Maglad hospitalized with a stab wound in his shoulder. Maglad returned to the mosque on Friday to offer prayers amid heightened police vigilance.
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