by BERNAMA / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

The decision on congregational tarawih prayers during this Ramadan depends on the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri.

“Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will announce whether there will be another extension of the MCO, and we will make a decision on congregational tarawih after that,” he told reporters here today.

Ramadan is expected to begin on April 24, about 10 days after the second phase of the MCO is scheduled to end on April 14. 

Earlier, Zulkifli witnessed the handover of business zakat (tithe) totalling RM2.67 million by Bank Rakyat to Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council’s Zakat Collection Centre (PPZ).

He also received a donation of RM1.5 million from Bank Rakyat for Musa’adah COVID-19 Fund. 

Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat chief executive officer Datuk Rosman Mohamed said they made an early zakat payment this year to help PPZ distributes the collections to asnaf (tithe recipients) as soon as possible during the “COVID-19 pandemic.

“We also made early zakat payments in other states. Bank Rakyat has allocated RM15,000 to each of our branches nationwide, amounting to RM2.2 million, to be distributed to asnaf (tithe recipients) in their respective areas,” he said.