It is certain that we need more moderation than ever in order not to cause confusion by falling down to neither extremism nor understatement in speeches made due to the coronavirus epidemic threatening the whole world and our country.
One third of the Qur’an is about the stories of the ancient communities. In these stories, it is stated that there are lessons to be learned from their adventures in life and special warnings are made to us in order to avoid sharing the same fate with them. In our study, we examined our responsibilities and the precautions to be taken in this process, and we gave information on the provisions regarding congregational worships such as Friday and Eid prayers. In addition, after taking all the measures prescribed by the government, the Coronavirus Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Health and the doctors, the religious, legal and moral principles that Muslims must demonstrate are emphasized and the subject is discussed with various examples. On the other hand, it is mentioned that it is wrong to accept this calamity, which affects our country and our people both materially and immaterially, as if it did not exist and also it is a wrong approach to associate the pandemic with the errors, faults and sins of our Muslim people.
In this study, we focused on how to understand the current pandemic event by taking the nass as our reference. In examining the material and spiritual dimensions of calamities, we drew attention to the fact that Allah also has wrath in addition to His mercy; and we stressed the importance of discussing the two together. In this context, we dealt with the issue of sunnatullah and adatullah (customs of Allah), and with various dimensions of evaluating the experiences with an approach to draw lessons from them. In order to explain all these, we reinforced our arguments by giving numerous examples from verses and hadiths.
By focusing on the nature of calamities and how to interpret them, we pointed out that there are two aspects of worldly life. Indeed, even though everyone accepts that everything that exists in life has a consequence, people may overreact in the face of adversities. In this study, we tried to remind people of the balance between blessings and burdens. In this regard, we emphasized that Allah is the absolute owner of property and all existence, and therefore it is of high importance to perform tasks in accordance with the commands of the Owner; as a consequence, we mentioned the logical need to obey the rules set by the Owner. On the other hand, we evaluated the blessings and torments given to people in life in terms of Uṣūl al-fiqh. In fact, divine and acquired incidents that cause the loss of legal capacity/ability to act are required to be legally evaluated, and since the coronavirus epidemic also causes loss of legal capacity, we indicated some points in terms of fiqh. Also, the life in the grave and the afterlife are examined so as not to undermine the integrity of the topic, but we only included them in the footnotes in order not to exceed the scope of the study.
We reiterated that when Muslims face with such incidents, they must first obey legal orders and make maximum efforts and attention to take the necessary actions. Additionally, we have tried to explain the benefits of being grateful, patient, merciful, compassionate and kind in such situations. Besides, we emphasized the effect of continuous repentance, prayer and charity, which are among the general orders and recommendations of Islam, on human and social life. While mentioning that the financial hardships experienced in the world will also affect our lives, we emphasized the nature of the solidarity that Islam has ordered or recommended depending on the situation, and drew attention to the emergence of current problems related to zakat. In this context, we stressed the importance of supporting the aid campaigns launched in our country. Starting from the fact that human health concerns the whole world, we pointed out that it is no longer possible for everyone to act as they see fit, that everything will be very different, and that we must prepare accordingly.
In this study, the mode and the conceptual framework were primarily emphasized on the basis of equilibrium. Subsequently, by mentioning where and how the calamities and blessings occur, it is pointed out how the attitude of Muslims should be against these. In the conclusion, we share the projects related to how to convert this epidemic process to good for both ourselves and our nation.
