Grand Imam Masjid Putra Vip Quota Only Limited To 30 Spots

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The Masjid Putra in Putrajaya does have a quota allocated specifically for government VIPs for Friday prayers, said the mosque's grand imam Ikmal Zaidi Hashim.
Ikmal (above) said the quota is 10 percent – 30 spots out of the 300 congregants allowed in the mosque – and they are reserved for government officials with the director rank or above.
“You have to understand, Masjid Putra is a government mosque, situated next to the Prime Minister’s Department.
“So we have to give some quota, not a lot, just 10 percent. For who? For VIPs. Don’t get mad at me, that is what is set.
“We want to give a chance to VIPs – directors and those above. They are busy, sometimes they come out of their meetings late on Fridays. So we give them an opportunity to fill up the 30-people quota (whereas the) 270 quota is for normal congregants,” he said in a livestream on Facebook last night.
Ikmal explained that the VIPs who want to use the quota have to pass their names to the mosque earlier on to get a spot at the Friday prayers, whereas the quota for the public is based on the "first-come-first-served" concept.


Last Friday, a video clip had gone viral depicting a group of individuals standing outside the entrance of Masjid Putra, believed to be those who were unable to enter the mosque for Friday prayers after the quota had been filled.

However, the clip subsequently showed another man leaving a luxury car who was allowed to enter the mosque, surrounded by two men believed to be his bodyguards.
Many on social media had questioned what they perceived to be a difference in treatment for the congregants.

After that, Masjid Putra had yesterday issued a statement explaining the mosque’s management had allocated a set quota out of 300 for “regular congregants” who had registered earlier.

They said the regular congregants had informed the mosque about their estimated time of arrival to ensure the number of those in attendance is in accordance with the set quota.
The mosque also said they had politely informed the congregants about the gates which will be closed once the capacity is full.
Regardless, they still apologised for the incident that had gone viral in the video clip.


The incident had earlier caught the attention of Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Ahmad Marzuk Shaary who asked for the mosque to treat congregants attending the prayers equally.
In the livestream last night, Ikmal said he was disappointed with those who recorded and spread the incident, seeing as those waiting outside the gates that day had been informed of the situation.
As inter-district travel has been allowed starting last Friday, Ikmal said he believes many congregants from nearby Putrajaya had come to Masjid Putra for Friday prayers, to the point of maximising their quota.
Though he admitted that he was not at ease with the act of recording the incident, Ikmal said he will pray for them to get guidance from Allah, but they still have to apologise to him first.
“If there is anyone listening to this, please convey this message. Take this video of me speaking, cut it a bit and send it to whoever (involved),” he said. - Mkini

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