Why are imams telling us about

No hugs today. No daps. Amid the pandemic, religious leaders are trying to figure out how to minister to their congregations without exposing them to infection.

In Malaysia, the number of infections spiked after sixteen thousand people attended a mass gathering at a mosque near Kuala Lumpur. To curb the risk of infection, mosques, synagogues, churches, and temples around the world are making historic decisions to close their doors. In Jerusalem, the Great Synagogue, which holds ten thousand worshippers, has closed, as has the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to stand on the spot where Jesus was crucified.

In Turkey, all mosques are closed for Friday prayer. In the U. As the friar Michael Duffy, of St. When you are coming together, whether in a church or wherever—this is dangerous. Tennessee has banned any gatherings of ten or more people; the pastor Greg Locke, of Global Vision Bible Church, based in Mount Juliet, has kept his church open and has said that he is consulting lawyers about fighting efforts to force it to close.

Most states, including New York and Pennsylvania, have ordered the closing of all nonessential businesses but have exempted religious institutions. Some religious leaders were devising creative ways of connecting with their congregants.

On a recent Sunday morning outside St. The church had set up the system a week earlier, to avoid hosting large gatherings. She was wearing a long black cape over her vestments. She handed a wafer through the car window. But the following week, with cases mounting, Morris decided that even a drive-through communion was no longer possible.

Misinformation around the coronavirus is all the more dangerous given several studies have shown that it can affect minorities disproportionately. Arif is still surprised by the refusal of certain patients to be inoculated, noting they will often get vaccinated to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia or to visit Pakistan or India.

She said some people had asked her to send the video directly to them so they could forward it to sceptical loved ones via social tools like WhatsApp. At her medical centre, Afzal estimates that approximately 40 to 50 people out of 1, have refused to be vaccinated when she had expected only one or two. About five million people, almost entirely the elderly and caregivers, have already received a first dose of the vaccine in the UK, the highest rate in Europe.

Muslim religious and community leaders are concerned about hostility if there is poor take-up of the vaccines. He said take-up among Muslims had initially been low in some parts of the country, such as Bradford, but the campaign was having an impact. Many Muslims and others from black and minority ethnic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, with significantly higher death rates. I am a woman and do not remember a single conversation with my female friends, let alone male friends, that revolved around nail polish for more than two minutes.

But this imam could talk about nail varnish with such ease that it could only imply either a great deal of prior contemplation, some self-experimentation or, alternatively, a thorough survey of women's feet.

Needless to say, all three possibilities were equally alarming because they spoke of a mind preoccupied by frivolous and mundane matters that should have nothing to do with men of God.

This trivialisation of religion is not a joke. It's an insult to the dignity of Muslim women. There is more to Islam than vaginal vigilantism and the clerics and self-appointed terrorist "saviour groups" should be the first to know this much.

After all, it is stated clearly in the Qur'an that women's mandate is necessary for the choice of political leadership. If the prophet himself respected women and saw them as equals, then why can't today'sleaders, both the self-appointed and the legitimate ones, do the same?