The President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, has used twitter to thank His Eminence Dr Ahmed El-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders and the Supreme Council of Ulema at Al-Azhar for their quick response in issuing an edict calling for the immediate suspension of prayer congregations due to Coronavirus outbreak.

The Supreme Council of Ulema at Al-Azhar had issued an edict calling for the immediate suspension of prayer congregations including Friday prayers in mosques, as a means of combating the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The edict was well received in the Muslim world as a means of preserving Muslim communities and protecting them from the pandemic.