You Want to Pray with Social Distance? Come to Our Parking Lot!

An Ikea store near Frankfurt, Germany volunteered its parking lot to a local mosque for 800 Muslims to attend a socially-distanced prayer marking the end of Ramadan.

Kadir Terzi, the chairman of a mosque in Wetzlar, approached Ikea in search for an alternative space for prayers following social distancing restrictions put in place amid the coronavirus.

Terzi says he didn’t expect a positive response “but the store manager didn’t hesitate for a second and said ‘yes, you can pray’. I was surprised and happy at the same time”.

Worshippers brought with them their prayer mats as well as face masks, while the mosque reminded them to keep apart and leave children under 12 at home as per Germany’s coronavirus rules. A similar act of kindness took place in a church in Berlin who also hosted Muslim prayers at the end of the holy month.