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Coronavirus – An Islamic Perspective
This epidemic – COVID19- , whatever the cause was , started by Allah's will. If Allah did not allow , it would not occur. Allah said: ( Verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "Be!" and it is .)
When someone caught that virus, no one would save him but Allah. Allah said:
(And verily, if you ask them: "Who created the heavens and the earth?" Surely they will say: "Allâh (has created them)." Say: "Tell me then, the things that you invoke besides Allâh - if Allâh intended some harm for me, could they remove His harm? Or if He (Allâh) intended some mercy for me, could they withhold His Mercy?" Say: "Sufficient for me is Allâh; in Him those who trust (i.e. believers) must put their trust.) .
Taking the right precautions to avoid such diseases is undoubtedly useful. Allah's preparing for that hated and fatal disease is not lack of wisdom whether we knew that wisdom or not. The secret of that wisdom is mainly to test people's faith in times of weal and woe, Allah said:
( Everyone is going to taste death, and We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good. And to Us you will be returned.)
The goal of such bad destiny is to make people repent of their sins and misdeeds . Most good times are full of inattention and negligence so that Allah knows those who disobey him at those times , Allah said
(And We sent no Prophet unto any town (and they denied him), but We seized its people with suffering from extreme poverty (or loss in wealth) and loss of health (and calamities), so that they might humiliate themselves (and repent to Allâh - Then We changed the evil for the good, until they increased in number and in wealth, and said: "Our fathers were touched with evil (loss of health and calamities) and with good (prosperity) -So We seized them all of a sudden while they were unaware)
They got themselves engaged in joys of life and forgot the times of misery . They added to that negligence that they dared to disobey Allah. If people obey their lord ( Allah ), he will ,generously, give those who obey. Allah said:
(And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwâ (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn (polytheism and crimes).
The biggest catastrophe in human beings life is the negligence of Allah's orders. They neither regret their mistakes nor get afraid of Allah's punishment. Allah said
(Did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment by night while they were asleep? - Or, did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they were playing? -Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allâh? None feels secure from the Plan of Allâh except the people who are the losers -Is it not clear to those who inherit the earth in succession from its (previous) possessors, that had We willed, We would have punished them for their sins. And We seal up their hearts so that they hear not? - Those were the towns whose story We relate unto you (O Muhammad). And there came indeed to them their Messengers with clear proofs, but they were not such as to believe in that which they had rejected before. Thus Allâh does seal up the hearts of the disbelievers (from every kind of religious guidance).
The biggest people's negligence is to be aware of life , which is concrete , and ignore the abstract Hereafter. Allah said:
(… but most of men know not - They know only the outside appearance of the life of the world (i.e. the matters of their livelihood, like irrigating or sowing or reaping, etc.), and they are heedless of the Hereafter - Do they not think deeply (in their own selves) about themselves (how Allâh created them from nothing, and similarly He will resurrect them)? Allâh has created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, except with truth and for an appointed term. And indeed many of mankind deny the Meeting with their Lord - Do they not travel in the land, and see what was the end of those before them? They were superior to them in strength, and they tilled the earth and populated it in greater numbers than these (pagans) have done: and there came to them their Messengers with clear proofs. Surely, Allâh wronged them not, but they used to wrong themselves )
This epidemic –COVID19- occurred due to people's misdeeds and disobeying Allah's orders. It is a big ignorance to doubt that truth. It is clearly shown when Adam was got out of paradise due to disobeying Allah's order. Allah said:
(And We said: "O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zâlimûn (wrong-doers) - Then the Shaitân (Satan) made them slip therefrom (the Paradise), and got them out from that in which they were. We said: "Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time).
When people see those who commit obscenities with no condemnation, curse and severe anger of Allah will be upon them all. Allah said: ( Those among the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed by the tongue of Dâwûd (David) and ‘Îsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary). That was because they disobeyed (Allâh and the Messengers) and were ever transgressing beyond bounds. - They used not to forbid one another from Al-Munkar (wrong, evil-doing, sins, polytheism, disbelief) which they committed. Vile indeed was what they used to do). Disobeying ,by itself alone, is not as harmful as when it is accompanied by obduracy and stubbornness . Allah said :
(And of mankind there is he whose speech may please you (O Muhammad), in this worldly life, and he calls Allâh to witness as to that which is in his heart, yet he is the most quarrelsome of the opponents - And when he turns away (from you "O Muhammad "), his effort in the land is to make mischief therein and to destroy the crops and the cattle, and Allâh likes not mischief - And when it is said to him, "Fear Allâh", he is led by arrogance to (more) crime. So enough for him is Hell, and worst indeed is that place to rest! ).
As Evil ( Satan ) is an enemy of people, they must disobey him. On the other hand , they must obey , love and worship Allah. Allah said:
( Surely, Shaitân (Satan) is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy. He only invites his Hizb (followers) that they may become the dwellers of the blazing Fire).
Allah is above the sky but can see those who disobey him . He can see those who worship a creature and ignore the Creator. As Allah's blessings come down, people's misdeeds go up. He created them but they worshipped another and he gave them but they thanked someone else. Oh Allah ! how patient you are ! Allah said:
( Do then those who devise evil plots feel secure that Allâh will not sink them into the earth, or that the torment will not seize them from directions they perceive not? - Or that He may catch them in the midst of their going to and fro (in their jobs), so that there be no escape for them (from Allâh’s punishment ? - Allah Or that He may catch them with gradual wasting (of their wealth and health). Truly! Your Lord is indeed full of Kindness, Most Merciful? - Have they not observed things that Allâh has created: (how) their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto Allâh, and they are lowly? ). Allah hears those who call Jesus " son of God" . Allah said: ( And they say: "The Most Gracious (Allâh) has begotten a son (or offspring or children) *as the Jews say: ‘Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allâh, and the Christians say that He has begotten a son [‘Îsâ (Jesus)+, and the pagan Arabs say that He has begotten daughters (angels and others) - Indeed you have brought forth (said) a terrible evil thing- Whereby the heavens are almost torn, and the earth is split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins - That they ascribe a son (or offspring or children) to the Most Gracious (Allâh - But it is not suitable for (the Majesty of) the Most Gracious (Allâh) that He should beget a son (or offspring or children - There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allâh) as a slave - Verily He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting – And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection (without any helper, or protector or defender).
When Allah gave The Jews a good land( Jerusalem ) and asked them to eat from its good production and bow while entering that land saying " Hitta" = remove i.e. O' Allah remove our sins ( forgive us ) , they dared to enter crawling on their buttocks saying "Hinta" instead of "Hitta" . Consequently, Allah's curses and anger were upon them. Allah said :
( And (remember) when We said: "Enter this town (Jerusalem) and eat bountifully therein with pleasure and delight wherever you wish, and enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility) and say: ‘Forgive us,’ and We shall forgive you your sins and shall increase (reward) for the good-doers - But those who did wrong changed the word from that which had been told to them for another, so We sent upon the wrong-doers Rijz (a punishment) from the heaven because of their rebelling against Allah's obedience ).
Allah can hear those atheists who dare to misevaluate the strength of Allah the almighty as they misevaluate the weakness of themselves. Allah said:
( O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily those on whom you call besides Allâh, cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thing from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought - They have not estimated Allâh His Rightful Estimate. Verily, Allâh is All-Strong, All-Mighty). The biggest misevaluation of Allah the almighty is to worship other than him like Jesus the Christ , idols , graves or dead people. Those are gentile and wrongful people. Allah said: ( Allâh is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakîl (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian) over all things -To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. And those who disbelieve in the Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh, such are they who will be the losers - Say (O Muhammad to the polytheists) : "Do you order me to worship other than Allâh? O you fools! - And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad), as it was to those (Allâh’s Messengers) before you: "If you join others in worship with Allâh, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers - Nay! But worship Allâh (Alone and none else), and be among the grateful -They made not a just estimate of Allâh such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified be He, and High be He above all that they associate as partners with Him! ).
Injustice is an unforgivable misdeed. Killing the innocents ,especially the weak ones, is an unforgivable misdeed. The unjust dominating of strong people upon weak ones , displacing them from their homes and exploiting poor people in unfair usurious benefits are unforgivable misdeeds. Allah said:
( And come not near to unlawful sex. Verily, it is a Fâhishah (i.e. anything that transgresses its limits: a great sin), and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allâh forgives him - And do not kill anyone whose killing Allâh has forbidden, except for a just cause. And whoever is killed wrongfully (Mazlûman intentionally with hostility and oppression and not by mistake), We have given his heir the authority [to demand Qisâs, - Law of Equality in punishment - or to forgive, or to take Diyah (blood money)]. But let him not exceed limits in the matter of taking life (i.e he should not kill except the killer). Verily, he is helped (by the Islâmic law) - And come not near to the orphan’s property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength. And fulfil (every) covenant. Verily, the covenant, will be questioned about -And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with a balance that is straight. That is good (advantageous) and better in the end - And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not) that of which you have no knowledge. Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of those one will be questioned (by Allâh) - And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can neither rend nor penetrate the earth, nor can you attain a stature like the mountains in height - All the bad aspects of these (the above mentioned things) are hateful to your Lord ).
Arrogance, vanity and overconfidence are causes of letting down as Allah sets what is opposite to their expectations. Allah makes them see their weakness in order to give up. Then, their only wish would be to survive , forgetting what they were planning to do . As Allah said about Karun :
(Verily, Qârûn (Korah) was of Mûsâ’s (Moses) people, but he behaved arrogantly towards them. And We gave him of the treasures, that of which the keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men. Remember when his people said to him: "Do not exult (with riches, being ungrateful to Allâh). Verily Allâh likes not those who exult (with riches, being ungrateful to Allâh - But seek, with that (wealth) which Allâh has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of lawful enjoyment in this world; and do good as Allâh has been good to you, and seek not mischief in the land. Verily, Allâh likes not the Mufsidûn (those who commit great crimes and sins, oppressors, tyrants, mischief-makers, corrupters - He said : "This has been given to me only because of the knowledge I possess." Did he not know that Allâh had destroyed before him generations, men who were stronger than him in might and greater in the amount (of riches) they had collected? But the Mujrimûn (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners) will not be questioned of their sins (because Allâh knows them well, so they will be punished without being called to account.) Allah gave him the wealth but he was arrogant. His end was as Allah said : (So We caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling place.)
The arrogance of Pharaoh faded away as he saw the truth. Allah said:
( And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Fir‘aun (Pharaoh) with his hosts followed them in oppression and enmity, till when drowning overtook him, he said: "I believe that none has the right to be worshipped but He (Allâh) in Whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of the Muslims (those who submit to Allâh’s Will - Now (you believe) while you refused to believe before and you were one of the Mufsidûn (evil-doers, the corrupters - So this day We shall deliver your (dead) body (out from the sea) that you may be a sign to those who come after you! And verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc. ). Repentance should be s and Allah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness : (before death. Allah said repent soon afterwards; it is they whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise - And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: "Now I repent;" nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment ).
No one will die before or after the time that Allah has set already. Allah said :
(And no person can ever die except by Allâh’s Leave and at an appointed term) and said: ( Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in fortresses built up strong and high!). Death cannot be avoided by precautions. Allah said: ( Did you (O Muhammad) not think of those who went forth from their homes in thousands, fearing death? Allah said to them, "Die". And then He restored them to life. Truly, Allâh is full of bounty to mankind, but most men thank not ).
Although it has different reasons, death is the same. And the catastrophe that might be faced after death is bigger than the death itself . Allah said: ( And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allâh are far better than all that they amass (of worldly wealths – And whether you die, or are killed, verily, unto Allah you shall be gathered).
