قال الله تبارك وتعالى في محكم كتابه المجيد وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّبِيٍّ إِلَّا أَخَذْنَا أَهْلَهَا بِالْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَضَّرَّعُونَ
We are at the time of crisis, what crisis? That one which encompasses every single corner of our life. First of all, look at the crisis regarding economy. According to the authentic investigation and deep understanding about economy, we see that the whole world is facing two very dangerous problems: the inflation and the stagnation. The global GDP is estimated to be $85 trillion whilst the global debt is estimated to be $350 trillion. Brothers and sisters look at the gap between the debts and the GDP. It is four times greater and more than the GDP for the whole world. If this continues as it is now, we don’t know what will happen and the size of this, and the effect of this crisis will end up with what? Most of the airlines are reporting losses. The stock market and all types of economy, not only shaking, rather it is at a big loss and threat. I am sure that you all saw on TV how people rush to buy toilet paper. They are fighting over some other sanitation and everything that is needed for them. So, this is one aspect of the crisis, the economy. The second one is the political crisis: the tyrants, the superpowers treat innocent people in the world with maximum of atrocity and injustice. They cause them death, they cause them restrictions, sanctions and deprive them from their own rights. And here, we see how these dictators who claim to be acting democratically, but in reality, are no better than dictators, repeat to us the image of Hitler and of people who cause maximum injustice to the nations and to others. Now, the third aspect of this crisis is the health issue, and yesterday the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 as pandemic. This means that the number of people who are either infected or already dead is rising every day in every part of the world, not restricted to a particular part of China and Italy for example, but that threat and that crisis will cover according to the World Health Organisation every community and every country. How do we deal with this type of stress and psychological problem and crisis? Of course, agitation, distress, fear, burning anxiety and confusion, all these are seen everywhere, whether in the East or the West, whether it is in well supported communities and well-financed or those who are at the deepest way of poverty. This is applicable to all.
So, one issue is about our religious duty, because the burial and whatever is related to a funeral, the rulings of Sharia regarding how to handle this case, how to deal with it. We know that the World Health Organisation, health authorities will not allow the Ghusl, which means that washing the body of the deceased, if someone was ending up with that Covid-19 killing him or her. When it is not permitted to wash them of course, because any possible contact with water will lead to the spread of the disease or the virus to the larger community. What do we do about that? What about shrouding? What about the burial? What about the close relatives? Are they allowed to attend the burial or not? All these confusions, all these questions lead to stress, confusion and anxiety and this has its impact on all the minds and the psyches. So how to face this crisis? How do we do with it? Shall we say it is our fate, as they call it the act of God? Shall we say that this is the end of the time? Are we to remain indifferent or we have to do something about it? Of course, we have to do something about it. What do we do? First of all, to take every precautionary measure to stop the public meetings, gatherings, to protect ourselves and exercise self-isolation when any sign of this virus is seen in a member of the community or family, that is very very important brothers and sisters.
So first of all, prevention or trying to exercise the maximum measure of precaution in a sense that not allowing the disease to spread and become part of the cause for death for many. Neither for ourselves, we are not supposed to be the means for transferring this to others and that is very very important. So, this is part of the solution, part of the way about how to face this crisis. The economical and the political crisis we don’t have the ability to amend them or to do anything about them, because those who caused it those who were the reason for all this loss in the economy or this mishandling of power, they are responsible for it. But this one, in two aspects of it: whether regarding the health control or regarding the psychological impact of it, it is in our hands. We have the duty to deal with them, as I said first to try to exercise the maximum of precaution and not allowing the virus to spread in a wider area. The second one, is more important and it is in accordance with the Aya which I started the speech today. First of all, Allah (S.W.T) tells us Sura number 96, Aya six and seven (كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَىٰ. أَن رَّآهُ اسْتَغْنَىٰ) “people tend to rebel when they are rich and accumulate wealth”, because everybody thinks about money and wealth and to have the upper hand in this way to control everything financially, this leads to arrogance, this leads to people to be rebellion and that is really a dangerous thing, so instead of focusing only on money let’s focus on morality, on faith, on understanding our religious duties and acting upon them more seriously. But the Aya which I started the sermon with, it is in sura Al-A’raaf, Aya number 94, Allah (S.W.T) says that we see people with the stress and adversity that they might behave in a more logical and humane way, (لَعَلَّهُمْ يَضَّرَّعُونَ).
So, brothers and sisters it is our duty to concentrate more on our spiritual obligations, about our mental health, about how we be more serious about our faith, about understanding and acting upon our religious duties, the commands of the Quran, to know that if we exercise the spiritual values, the piety (تقوى) Allah promised to open the gates of blessing from heavens and earth to pour on us, but when people send their back to religious duties, moral values and they deny their obligations, they pay less attention to the spiritual duties in comparison to their financial and worldly concerns Allah (S.W.T) says that we try to awaken them, so this is a waking alarm and that is something which allows us to wake up, and this allows us to see we have gone so far in going away and turning away from your religious duties. Brothers and sisters, in this crucial time, and this most difficult time with various aspect of the crisis, let’s strengthen our communication with Allah (S.W.T). Let us take our religious duties more seriously, let’s think of others and assist those who are less able to have some type of comfort, let’s pray to Allah (S.W.T) and see that communication with Allah by heart, by mind, by supplications is very essential in our time.