Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today expressed pride at the congregants' level of compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) for Friday prayers.

He said based on his personal observation while joining the congregation to perform Friday prayers at the Saidina Umar Al-Khattab Mosque in Bukit Damansara here today, the congregants clearly gave their full cooperation in queueing and having their body temperature checked before entering the mosque.

Most of them also brought their own prayer mat and sat a metre apart from each other, he said.

"I pray that Malaysia will fully recover from COVID-19 soon so that Muslims will not only be able to perform Friday prayers, but also the five obligatory prayers in congregation in mosque and surau just like before the coronavirus hit us. InsyaAllah," he said in a posting on his official Facebook page today.

Attached with the posting were several pictures of the prime minister coming in with his own prayer mat and filling in his details in the attendance registration book.

When the Movement Control Order (MCO) was first implemented on March 18, all mosques and suraus were prohibited from holding any congregational prayers and Muslim men were advised to just perform Zohor prayers at home instead.

Yesterday, Religious Affairs Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri announced that all mosques and suraus in the COVID-19 green zones in the Federal Territories will reopen for the congregational Friday and obligatory prayers starting today.

-- BERNAMA