- The Ministry of Justice in the United Arab Emirates launches an online platform for Muslim marriages.
- Morocco’s Supreme Scientific Council issues fatwa allowing the burial of COVID-19 victims without bathing their bodies, as a health precaution for morgue workers.
- Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, ban popular Ramadan bazaars and public festivities.
- Pakistan‘s southern Sindh province bans communal Ramadan prayers, whereas, in other parts of the country, mosques remain open.
- Indonesia‘s Aceh province allows communal prayers to continue, after ruling from top clerical body.
- South African Muslim groups challenge the Pretoria High Court to allow prayer in mosques during lockdown.
- Legal History Blog contributor Mitra Sharafi reflects on how epidemics have shaped South Asia’s legal history:
“A detective film about law and epidemics could feature one further species of misadventure. Here, the twist would be that the crime was fabricated: one person would try to frame another for spreading an epidemic disease. Like the false rumors of #CoronaJihad in India today, our film’s accusations would make the framed person the target of violence. There would also be the potential for a wrongful conviction. In fact, it would be poison, not some disease-infected material, that had been planted.”