Amid the Corona Pandemic, Atalarik Syach Insists on Performing Friday Prayers in the Red Zone Area that Ends in Criticism

Kapanlagi.com - During the corona virus pandemic, the Government and the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) advised Muslims not to hold Friday prayers for the time being. This is aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus that is currently rampant in Indonesia and around the world.

However, Atalarik Syach remains adamant about performing Friday prayers. He is willing to go around the area near his house, which is declared as a red zone for the coronavirus, in order to find a mosque that still holds Friday prayers.

The journey to find a mosque in this red zone area was recorded by Atalarik in a short video. He then uploaded the video on his personal Instagram account, @ariksyach.

1. Touring in the Red Zone

© instagram.com/atalariksyach

In his journey to find a mosque for Friday prayer, Arik was not alone. He was accompanied by 3 men, one of whom sat in the driver's seat and he referred to as Ustad Denny. They briefly discussed the law regarding not performing Friday prayer 3 times.

"Assalamualaikum wr.wb, we are currently touring, coincidentally we live in the red zone area. We want to find a mosque that is still open. So, this is still half an hour before the call to prayer. There's Ustad Denny. Ustad Denny, what is the ruling if we don't perform Friday prayer 3 times?" asked Arik.

"It is considered as disbelief and you can't marry your daughter off," answered Denny.

"Oh, poor thing, unable to marry off his daughter," replied Arik.

"Oh, I'm not an ustad," said Denny while laughing.

"Well, in Arab they call me ustad too. Okay, hopefully we can find the mosque, bye," concluded Arik.

2. Find a Mosque

© instagram.com/atalariksyach

After traveling around his neighborhood, Arik finally found a Mosque that still holds Friday prayer. After finishing the prayer, Arik recorded a video.

In the recording, Arik mentioned that the Mosque that still holds Friday prayer is filled with people with strong faith. Although Friday prayer is prohibited to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, they still do it.

"Alhamdulillah in the red zone area, they said they still find a Mosque of strong faith Muslims. Masha Allah. Maybe they used real money to build the Mosque. Okay, Alhamdulillah, hopefully next week I can go there again. Assalamualaikum," he said.

3. Harvesting Criticisms on Various Social Media

When this video was uploaded, Arik immediately received various harsh comments from netizens. He was accused of insisting on performing Friday prayer, which has been prohibited to prevent the pandemic from spreading further.

Arik's Instagram page was filled with various criticisms. Many expressed their disappointment in Arik's attitude, considering it neglectful of his own safety and the surrounding environment, while the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) has already issued a call to cancel Friday prayer, which is allowed by religion, to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

4. Close Comment Section

After reading many comments on his Instagram account, Arik, who initially opened the comment section, decided to close it. He quoted Allah's words regarding worship in his new caption.

"Sorry, comments are closed because I remember the words in Allah's scripture 'lakum dinukum waliyadin' Who bears our worship and beliefs??? Alhamdulillah. #islam #mosque #scholars #preacher," he wrote.

(kpl/phi)