Author: Aya Batrawy

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Jeruslaem's Al-Aqsa mosque re-opens on 31 May 2020 (photo: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli)

COVID-19 and religion in the Middle East

Mosques re-open in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem amid virus woes

There were signs of a return to something akin to normality at the weekend as mosques in Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem re-opened for the first time since COVID-19 struck in mid-March. Whether Muslims can look forward to the hajj this year is another matterMore

Indonesia tells hajj pilgrims to stay home amid coronavirus uncertaintyMuslims and the COVID-19 pandemic: No pilgrims in times of coronavirus?The Hajj: Symbol of Muslim unity, equality and spiritual rejuvenation

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Psychologists sound the alarm: in December 2019 Iran's health minister warned of the high economic and social costs of mental illness in Iran. The Association of Iranian Psychologists estimated that one quarter of the population suffers from depression. The American Cato Institute saw Iran in 2019 as the third most unhappy country in the world. Since then, the country has been broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic

Iran: knee-deep in trauma and depression

The country's mood was already weighed down by economic and social problems and military crises before the pandemic reached Iran. The regime's crisis management has done little to improve things. By Shabnam von Hein