Research Article

The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona

Number: 7 June 30, 2022
EN TR

The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic has been ongoing for almost two years now. Not only did it surprise the whole world in the initial stages of its occurrence, but also the world left it in shock. Therefore, the instant solution strategies included complete lockdowns in order to prevent the spread of such a disease. However, as the lockdowns lasted longer, it generated negative psychological effects on people globally. This being the case, collective endeavors and efforts were performed, in the hope of achieving a concrete solution in order to overcome the bad repercussions that seemed visible on societal levels, which of course, included religious aspects; and in some cases resulted in social separation as well as a dramatic rise in suicide rates. On the one hand, this caused a retraction from the religion and religiously oriented rituals, but on the other hand, it also made people turn more to religion as it provided a psychological relief from the heavy burdens of the pandemic. These psychological conditions had theological resonances that made already complicated issues even more complex. Among them, the nature of God’s actions and the human position in this matter can be given as examples. This article is an attempt to place and define the issue of the pandemics and plagues from the perspective of Islamic theology, in particular, to shed light on three main points. The first is the problem of pains and aches, and how it was mentioned in theological literaturey and discussed by Islamic theologians (Mutakallimūn), as the issue of pandemics and plagues indisputably fall under this matter. The second point tackles the problem of whether “such calamities as pandemics and plagues come from God's Decree, or not?”. The last point focuses on the issue of fatalism and tries to show whether the de facto acceptance that pandemics are from God’s Decree would require the servant to stop taking measures in response to them. To answer the questions at stake, this paper will focus on four different perspectives of the Mu’tazila, Ash‛arī s, Māturīdis, and Ahl al-Hadīth, by using a selective methodology and focusing on their prominent and pioneering theologians (Mutakallimūn) of these schools.

Keywords

References

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  4. Çetinel, Hasan – Mahmoud, Ramy. “Arap Edebiyatında Eğitici Bir Edebî Tür Olarak Makâme ve İbnü’l Verdî’den Salgın Dönemlerine Ait Bir Örnek”. UMDE Dini Tetkikler Dergisi 3/1 (2020), 47-83.
  5. Ḥājjī Khalīfa. Kashf aẓ-Ẓunūn ‘an 'asāmī ‘l-Kutub wa'l-funūn. 1941.
  6. Hays, J. N. Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
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  8. Ibn Fūrak, Abu Bakr Muhammad bin al-Hasan. Mujarrad maqālāt al-Shaykh Abī al-Ḥasan al-Ashʻarī : min imlāʼ al-Shaykh al-Imām Abī Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Fūrak. ed. Daniel Guimaret, Beirut: Dār al-Mashreq, 1986.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Religion, Society and Culture Studies

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 30, 2022

Submission Date

November 15, 2021

Acceptance Date

June 13, 2022

Published in Issue

Year 2022 Number: 7

APA
Mahmoud, R. (2022). The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona. ATEBE, 7, 79-98. https://doi.org/10.51575/atebe.1023710
AMA
1.Mahmoud R. The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona. ATEBE. 2022;(7):79-98. doi:10.51575/atebe.1023710
Chicago
Mahmoud, Ramy. 2022. “The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona”. ATEBE, nos. 7: 79-98. https://doi.org/10.51575/atebe.1023710.
EndNote
Mahmoud R (June 1, 2022) The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona. ATEBE 7 79–98.
IEEE
[1]R. Mahmoud, “The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona”, ATEBE, no. 7, pp. 79–98, June 2022, doi: 10.51575/atebe.1023710.
ISNAD
Mahmoud, Ramy. “The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona”. ATEBE. 7 (June 1, 2022): 79-98. https://doi.org/10.51575/atebe.1023710.
JAMA
1.Mahmoud R. The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona. ATEBE. 2022;:79–98.
MLA
Mahmoud, Ramy. “The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona”. ATEBE, no. 7, June 2022, pp. 79-98, doi:10.51575/atebe.1023710.
Vancouver
1.Ramy Mahmoud. The Speech of Fate in the Time of the Corona. ATEBE. 2022 Jun. 1;(7):79-98. doi:10.51575/atebe.1023710