Al-Aqsa closed for Ramadan over coronavirus

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound will be closed to Muslim worshippers throughout the holy fasting month of Ramadan due to the coronavirus pandemic, Muslim clerics at Islam's third-holiest site have announced.

Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, the Jordan-appointed council that oversees Islamic sites on the sacred compound, called thedecision "painful".

In a statement published on Thursday, the council said the move was "in line with legal fatwas [clerical opinions] and medical advice".

Muslims should "perform prayers in their homes during the month of Ramadan, to preserve their safety", the council said.

In one sign of normalcy, the Muslim call to prayer will still take place five times daily at the site during Ramadan, and religious workers will still be allowed entry, the statement added.

The decision to ban Muslim prayer at the complex, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, extends a March 23 ban on Muslim prayer there.

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Ramadan will start around April 23.

Dhaka/Mukul