Jordanians urged to stop kissing amid swine flu threat

[Naveed Yaseen]

AMMAN: Jordanian authorities issued a religious edict on Thursday urging Muslims to avoid kissing each other, as the number of reported cases of swine flu in the kingdom reached 274. “People should not kiss at social events and gatherings. Instead, they should just shake hands,” the government’s Fatwa Department said in a statement. “If kissing spreads diseases, then it is forbidden.” The edict comes a few days ahead of the Eidul Fitr festivities marking the end of Ramzan, when Muslims traditionally pay each other visits and hug and kiss. In the conservative Arab world, rejecting a kiss on the cheek could be seen as offensive. But the Fatwa Department insisted that Eid “should mark the beginning of the end” of cheek kissing. “We advise people to replace kissing with handshaking, particularly during Eid - which is the case in many civilised Muslim countries,” it said. The statement was issued after Health Minister Nayef Fayez announced that 274 cases of the H1N1 virus had been recorded in Jordan, 82 of them among schoolchildren. No deaths have been recorded and the government has repeatedly said the “situation is under control”. afp

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