Within the United States, church closures have been widespread as a result of COVID-19. Many churches and religious organizations have therefore turned to online forms of worship in order to fill the void that has occurred as a result. Although this unexpected change has been hard, it appears as if most Christians (including myself) have adapted appropriately. That being said, I was interested in gaining a deeper understanding for how this has impacted Muslims, and Islam as a whole, throughout the world. Through reading Shaykh Sajid Umar’s article Closing Mosques – Islamic Justifications for Coronavirus Lockdowns, I learned a lot about Islam through their response to this current crisis.
Umar began by acknowledging that this is the first time that the world’s mosques have been closed to the public since Bilāl, a Sahabah of Muhammad, had initially raised the call to prayer. This initial doing was over 1400 years ago. This unprecedented motion is therefore seen by many Muslims as a despiteful action by Shaytān. According to my research, Shaytān is most commonly transcribed as being a devil like spirit or jinn. I found this reflection to be very insightful and revealing. Although as a Christian it is very unfortunate that we aren’t able to have regular religious gatherings at this time, my first reaction isn’t to blame satan for “hijacking” life as we know it. Additionally, Umar commented heavily on the way of the Sharia. Within our previous in-class discussion on “Sharia Law,” I gained a better understanding of its meaning, as well as its close relation to beliefs found within both the Qur’an and Hadith. According to the Sharia, preservation of life holds great value. Within the Hadith, the profit is reported to have said: “If you hear of a disease outbreak in a land, do not go there, and if you are there during an outbreak, then do not flee from it” (Umar). Both of these revelations ultimately do support the Islamic jurisdiction’s decision.