Greet but don't embrace and hug this Eid-ul-Adha, dodge swine flu: Clerics in UP

With swine flu taking 66 lives in Uttar Pradesh, Muslim clerics have issued a health advisory to community members: 'Greet but don't embrace and hug' this Eid-ul-Adha (Bakrid), which falls on September 2017, to protect them from the deadly, contagious disease.

It will be the first Bakrid in the history of Uttar Pradesh in which people will exchange Eid pleasantries but refrain from the traditional embrace to avoid contracting swine flu. The health advisory from prominent Muslim clerics has already been sent to all mosques, madrassas, and Muslim leaders across Uttar Pradesh.

On the request of prominent Muslim clerics, all Imams have agreed to make an announcement in this regard from their respective mosques after Friday prayers, to follow the health advisory strictly, to allow celebrations with full religious fervor, but safely.

On Friday, Imams will make announcements from mosques, advising community members to not hug or embrace each other. They will also advise community members to stay away from crowded places and get vaccinated as a precautionary measure.

The announcements will be repeated on Saturday morning and also during the first Azaan on Bakrid. Muslim clerics have also advised community members suffering from swine flu to stay back home and use sterilised mask while exchanging Bakrid greetings with their kith and kin.

Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh has also claimed that vector-borne diseases spread in monsoon and claims many lives. "Precaution and protection are the best treatment of diseases like swine flu and encephalitis," he said. Over 2,650 swine flu-positive cases have been reported from different parts of the state so far.

It was a community-based health initiative by the State Health Department, which yielded positive response after the department held a meeting with prominent Muslim clerics, office-bearers of Al Quran Heal Foundation, and National Unani Doctors' Welfare Association in Lucknow on Wednesday evening, to seek their support for checking the spread of the disease.

Interestingly, both Sunni, as well as Shia religious heads, have called it a positive step from the Yogi government to safeguard the community members from the flu. Prominent Muslim cleric and Imam of Lucknow Idgah Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said: "Embracing on Eid is just a tradition and a rule inscribed in Islam." "The tradition of embracing one another on Bakrid can be done away for a year if it saves community members from this deadly disease," he said.

"Saving lives of people is bigger than any religion or tradition. The health advisory to stay away from embrace or close contact is a welcome step and no one should object to it," said Maulana Kalbe Jawwad.