With mosques in Iran closed as part of the country's efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, worshippers have adopted something of the novel solution to the issue of gathering during the holy month of Ramadan: drive-in prayer services.
The Arab world is struggling to keep the pandemic at bay. Iran is the hardest-hit country in the region, with over 6,000 deaths, but western experts believe the actual numbers are higher.
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Ahead of Ramadan, senior clerics in most Arab countries, including Iran, have issued fatwas – religious decrees – exempting worshippers from gathering for prayer.
Holy sites such as the Great Mosque of Mecca and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in east Jerusalem, as well as mosques the world over, have been shuttered for public health reasons.
According to France 24, the solution of using drive-ins, an industry that never really took off in Iran in its original form of an alternative movie theater, has become a full-fledged phenomenon across the Islamic republic.
One of the services recently held in Tehran started with a music video showing the funeral of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January.
Clerics wearing loose-fitting surgical masks stood on a stage singing Shiite chants, their image projected onto the screen behind them for the benefit of some 100 families that attended the service.
For the worshippers, the drive-in was an opportunity to get back to the normal way of things without disregarding social distancing, the French TV channel noted.
Meanwhile, Muslims performed Friday prayers outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which remains shuttered over the coronavirus threat.
Muslims in Jerusalem are praying outside in small groups during the holy month of Ramadan as measures aimed at curbing the pandemic remain in place.
Israel has lifted some regulations in recent days, allowing many non-essential businesses to reopen. But the ban on large gatherings remains in place.
Group prayers can only be held outside by up to 19 people standing at least two meters (yards) apart.
