Religious arrogance at its worst

Just got back from Friday Prayer, where the preacher said that staying at home, not praying Friday Prayer or not going to the mosque for congregation in the times of plague is an act of hypocrisy, which is equally as bad as apostasy. That the covid-19 virus is God's creation and we should not be afraid of it. This accusation goes beyond the common people, as there have already been fatwas (Islamic rulings) from the Saudi Scholars, Al Azhar (Egypt) scholars, and even scholars in Indonesia to (for the time being), pray from our homes. Frankly, it saddens me hearing preaches accusing other people of being hypocrites. Because the fatwas to stay at home were given to remedy the condition, not to make it worse. Its these kinds of preaches that do (make things worse).

There are several scenarios possible. People who are doing their best to stay at home because they assume that they have high potential of being carriers might be encouraged (or forced to come due to peer/community pressure) to come to the mosque. If they are indeed carriers, the whole congregation might be infected, which includes the elderly and children, which have high risk of mortality when infected by the covid-19 virus. Another scenario is that people who are doing their best to quarantine themselves lose trust in the so called "religious people" and the religion in and of itself due to the arrogance, hardness and accusations. This is religious arrogance at its best. It ruins the love among us and make us even further apart.

It may not be understandable to some people, but many of us are not scared of being infected by the virus. If we are infected, we'll take it and be patient with it. We just don't want to infect other people. We don't want to be the cause of suffering for people that we love and care for; and the suffering of other people as well. There has been substantial proof that this is not a media game. People that we know have been infected. Some of them have succumbed to the disease, even though they were in great shape. So being extra careful is understandable, especially for those who have their parents living with them or are living with children.

We are often tested the most in hard times. And this is one of them. We need to stop arrogance toward each other. The choices that we take aren't black and white nowadays. And we need to respect the choices of others and refrain from harsh words that may make the situation even worse.

Imam Al-Hasan Al-Basri said of hypocrisy: “No one fears it but a believer, and no one feels safe from it but a hypocrite.” In other words, if you feel that you don't have hypocrisy, there is a good chance that you are a hypocrite.