Pray to God, but tie your camel too

Ziauddin Choudhury

There is an oft quoted hadith where a Bedouin asks Prophet Mohammed (sm) if he should tie his camel
and trust in Allah, or he should leave the camel untied and trust in Allah. The Prophet said, tie her and
trust in Allah. (Sunnah Al-Tirmidhi).

Nothing is more precious than life and when the entire world is in the throes of a pandemic that is
growing exponentially each day, the saying above is truer than ever. When country after country is
taking unprecedented measures to protect their people from this scourge asking people to help
themselves and their fellow beings from the current free flowing corona virus by social distancing and
adopting other healthy practices we sadly and woefully observe how some people are defying these in
communal gathering seeking “ironically” divine intervention. But in doing so they ignore an important
tenet of religious belief, “God help those who help themselves”.

This defiance or irrational response to a universal crisis has manifested in many countries, mainly in
congregations for prayers and religious meeting. In Bangladesh despite government urgings and even
orders for social distancing and bans on large group meetings there have been big religious gatherings in
some places not to mention holding of Friday prayers in mosques. In India thousands of people gathered
for Tabligh convention in Delhi when the country was entering the first phase of corona virus attack. In
Pakistan religious gatherings of thousands took place in gay abandon of the restrictions on social
gathering.

Unfortunately, in this reckless conduct in defiance of health guidelines to contain the spread of the virus
Muslims of the subcontinent are not alone. In France recently the evangelists converged in a church to
“pray” when the country was going through the crisis of containing the vicious virus. In USA, a pastor in
Florida had to be arrested when he called the faithful to his crowded to church to pray. At the beginning
of the current crisis sweeping through New York which now accounts for half of corona virus incidents in
the country a synagogue held a congregation from where the early incidents occurred. In South Korea
gatherings in a cult like church is believed to have spread the virus.

Now where does this lead us? Does faith have to be so blind as to defy rational thinking or endanger not
only one’s own safety but also others? According to Washington Post more than 500 corona virus
incidents and 10 deaths resulted from the Tabligh Jamaat assembly in New Delhi and more are expected
as the attendees came from all over India and other Muslim countries. We do not know how many
corona virus incidents already have occurred or may occur in the future if the congregations in
Bangladesh continue further unabated. We already know how this was spread, at least partially, from
the religious gatherings in South Korea, France, and New York. Are we ready to allow this?

In countries like South Korea, France, USA, and similar developed countries the defiance or reliance on
faith to combat this crisis may be limited to a few churches and sects on the fringe. The community at
large in these countries are far too civic minded and responsible to allow the fringe behavior of a small
segment of the society to disrupt the injunctions and restrictions imposed on the country and the
communities for social distancing and health guidelines. The government will come down with a heavy
hand on the fringe communities if they do not conform or continue to defy the restrictions. But what
about countries and communities that let themselves be governed by their interpretation of “divine
help” when a calamity strikes, and they keep praying together instead of “tying their own camels?”

In USA and other similarly developed countries governments may arrest a clergy or even close down a
church for failure to abide by the safety rules. This may not be just undoable but unthinkable in our
countries. This is because in Muslim dominated countries a parallel government exists in the form of
clerics and clerical institutions where religion and society are concerned. In matters of religion a Mufti’s
fatwa or edict conveys far more power than a government order. Some countries such as Saudi Arabia
and some Arab countries may have a government friendly clergy and religious institutions that toe the
government line. But in others the clergy and the religious institutions may at times work at cross
purposes. And when this is the case, the role of the clerical institutions becomes absolutely necessary in
interpreting the true message of their religion and conveying it to the people to help them in times of
crises.

Never Allah will change the condition of a people until they change themselves. (Al Quran 13:11). So
how will Allah help us when we throw caution to the wind and converge in hundreds in a small place to
pray and seek his help? We are dismissing the fundamental caution to keep a distance from other
people because close proximity between people is a cause of spread of this virus. Do we think that we
can touch a germ and not got infected by it because Allah will save us? No, Allah will not save us if we do
not use our reason that He gifted us with.

Unfortunately, no government edict or fear of punishment of breaking the rule will force the conduct of
a person who believes by staying away from a congregation for prayer he is shying from his religious
duty. A large majority may abide by the government edict on health guidelines on social distancing, but
for those among us for whom congregation and joint prayer is a must, only a right call from our religious
leaders and religious institutions on refraining from congregations will work. This will become most
necessary in the upcoming month of Ramadan when our mosques are filled with worshippers three
times the number of a normal month. It is necessary to prevent further spread of the virus, further
fatalities. May our leaders, most particularly the clerics and heads of religious organizations wake up and
give the right call.