All quiet at mosques in Asia

A security officer wearing a protective face mask reads the Koran inside the Al Azhar Great Mosque closed as the government imposed large-scale social restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 27,2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

It is a Ramadan like never before for Muslims across Asia as mosques that would normally be packed for prayers are deserted and in some places locked up as governments enforced measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

At Indonesia’s main Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in South-East Asia, the call to evening Maghrib prayers and a message asking people to pray at home echo in the empty hall – a stark contrast to last year when thousands thronged in to pray.