UAE’s interfaith prayer call gets overwhelming response
Pope, Grand Imam of Al Azhar urge people to unite against pandemic
Pope Francis and Dr Ahmad Al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, yesterday joined religious leaders, officials, celebrities and people of various faiths in the day of global prayer initiative organised by the UAE’s Higher Committee for Human Fraternity (HCFC).
“We are all praying together and asking God to give us a cure and to be able to pass through this pandemic,” said Dr Al Tayeb, calling on everyone to respect each other’s beliefs.
Pope Francis, who participated during a mass at Vatican City, said: “We are all united as humans ... Prayer is our greatest weapon against the virus. In the face of the coronavirus, we cannot be demoralised.”
Shaikh Nahayan Mabarak
Al Nahayan, UAE’s Minister of Tolerance, said: “Today we come with a common hope, common spirit and common need. Let us join together in our community to pray for a resolution to this pandemic.”
UAE residents from various communities yesterday joined the faith leaders in praying for an early end to the Covid-19 pandemic. While some like Indian expat Dr Thulasi Kumar Mukku held special prayers for UAE’s combat against the pandemic at their homes, several others joined online prayer sessions organised by different religious groups.
Speaking to Gulf News, Mukku, head of purchase at a fashion retail group in Dubai, said he decided to offer the special prayer after seeing reports of the UAE government’s call for prayer.
“We are originally from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, where the famous Tirupati Balaji temple is located. After seeing the leaders saying that we need God’s mercy to get rid of coronavirus, we did a special ritual. We hope that everyone’s prayers will be heard by the Almighty though we might be praying in different ways,” said Mukku, who is also distributing rice to those in distress.
He was joined by his daughter Chirasvi Mukku, a KG 2 student of the Indian High School in Dubai, to conduct the prayer.
The Sikh community members dedicated their daily online prayer from 6pm to 7pm yesterday to pray together for the cause. “There is a special supplication especially for protection, which says we seek your blessings and pray that you protect us in these difficult times. Our prayer ends by seeking blessings for the whole universe and humanity,” said a community member.
Several residents of the Hindu community also took part in a night prayer organised by the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi through the webpage prayer.mandir.ae.
Meanwhile, members of Good Samaritans at St Mary’s Catholic Church distributed food supplies to the needy and underprivileged, irrespective of nationality or religion.