The arrival of the month of Ramadan opens up opportunities for Muslims to maximise their efforts in performing the acts of worship including reading the Quran, reciting ‘zikir’ (remembrance of Allah), performing Tarawih and Tahajjud prayers as well as doing a host of charitable deeds.

This year, however, Muslims will observe the Ramadan month, expected to begin tomorrow, unlike previous years following the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection.

However, the restrictions imposed during the MCO should not be used as an excuse for Muslims to shy away from performing the acts of worship and carrying out good deeds.

National Mosque chief assistant director Dr Amru Alhaz Adnan said based on the current situation, Muslims should prepare themselves mentally and physically to respond to change and adapt to this extraordinary situation.

“What is important is that Muslims should continue to improve their acts of worship and deepen the religious knowledge. This is the time for us to increase our reading of religious books and to use the technology available to study the Quran online,” said Amru Alhaz when contacted by Bernama today.

He said with the Internet access and smartphones, Muslims in Malaysia could continue to follow the Quran classes conducted by religious figures online, and mostly were free of charge.

“These classes are offered in the form of public or private lesson, depending on the comfort of individuals involved.

“So, go on and look for Quran classes online which are conducted in a two-way interaction, so we can listen what are being taught by the teachers and then they can review and correct our Quran readings. These classes are usually available on media social applications such as Google Meet, Skype and Zoom,” he explained.

In addition, he advised the head of the family to continue learning the correct way of reading the Quran and the Tajwid (rules of reciting the Quran) aspect, as well as to train their sons to lead the prayers and other acts of worship.

"This is a great time for the family heads to show the credibility as a leader, and to encourage their sons to become an imam (to lead) at prayers as they will have their own families too, one day,” he said.

Meanwhile, independent preacher Syed Shahridzan Syed Mohamed said religious preachers and teachers should use technology such as social media to serve as an alternative platform to disseminate their knowledge as it was accessible to the public, especially during the MCO period.

“As for me, an online lecture on Fiqh (Islamic legal rulings) on Facebook is the most popular as the viewers can ask questions and I can provide the answers.

“This interactive online lecture is useful and it is free. It also can be viewed without disrupting the audience from what he is doing at the time of the live broadcast,” he said.

Preachers using social media platforms should continue to increase their technology-related knowledge to ensure that their lectures continue to be creative and interesting, he said.

“One of the challenges of online lectures is how to avoid the audience from getting bored. So, preachers can use application such as open broadcaster software that can display slides or video links from YouTube at any time to make their lectures more accessible, creative and interesting,” he said.

-- BERNAMA