Will coronavirus hit the Muslim countries badly in Ramzan?

Will coronavirus hit the Muslim countries badly in Ramzan? 

Ramazan is just around the corner. As usual, Muslims around the world are very excited; as this month is considered an opportunity for salvation and forgiveness. At the same time, the fear of coronavirus spread is throwing cold water on their expectations of getting maximum concessions from Allah. But stop!! Some Muslims are really not concerned by this virus; they are undeterred, and will pray just as they used to before. Muslims are defying the ban on congregation prayers by Governments. Some of them term all this a conspiracy. This sounds ridiculous now considering the death toll and its impact in the developed countries. 

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If you are expecting that the graph of coronavirus spread, particularly, in Muslim countries will come down or flatten in the near future; let me tell you: you are living in a fool’s paradise. Governments have become soft on lockdown, letting the people offer prayers in congregations provided they would maintain the distance of six feet or so, a limited number of worshippers, and follow the preventive measures.

The Pakistani Government has also done the same. It has succumbed to the religious pressure. Now the questions are: Is it a wise decision? Will people maintain such a discipline during prayers? Only time will tell whether it as a wise decision or not. As for maintaining distance, I do not have favorable views knowing the fact that Prayers, in Islam, teach us discipline and harmony. Regrettably, such traits are hardly learned. The concept of offering prayers is now just confined to earning the rewards from Allah so that they can enter the paradise- "Jannat". On the whole, it has only become the numbers game. The more you pray, the more you have chances of getting salvation. Not a bad trade-off at all. What about the concept of spirituality, goodness, justice or other virtues which also matter? If you watch over media, you would come to know that worship is more important than coronavirus concerns in the sight of devotees. Hence, the probability of attending prayers, sitting shoulder to shoulder and paying little heed to instructions is very low. Suffice it to say: this is going to aggravate the situation direly not only in Pakistan but also in other Muslim countries.

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How will you fight such mindsets that even defy the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about pandemics?   One may be familiar with religious Tablighi groups of Pakistan that hail from Raiwind. Despite the government’s restrictions, they continued their practice across the country, moving from city to city. Some of the scholars among them were tested positive for COVID-19. When they were quarantined, they tried to flee and a few of them were successful in attempting so, endangering the lives of others whom they interacted. How will you rate this behavior now? Is this not a crime? Does here not come into focus the famous Ayah of the Quran that if you save a single life, you save the whole humanity; and if you kill a man, you just like kill the whole humanity [Al Maidah-32]. Further, quoting the renowned Islamic Scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, “ If a person knowing that he is infected and can affect others do not observe precautions is accountable to Allah.”

In essence, the things will be getting terrible. I am afraid the curve of coronavirus will fatten vertically not horizontally. It is hoped that the situation will not cross the Rubicon and this  Ramazan will bring more happiness and overcome the difficulties of the Ummah. May Allah give us the courage to fight this challenge. We can only pray and lament now.

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