The Heavy Impact of Covid-19 on the Agriculture Sector and the Food Supply Chain

The agriculture section has been receiving a lot of impact due to sudden outbreak of
covid-19 since the year 2020. It has changed how the most important sector in the nation
working as well as the sudden disruptions of supplying goods due to the lockdown order. In
Penang, agriculture sector has been severely depleted throughout the first phase of covid-19
during its arrival on Malaysia causing a large amount of defective labour and limited amount
of reach towards the agricultural marketing. The movement control order which was
announced heavily affected the movement of agricultural product to be exported to the local
marketing area causing a great loss over the time, especially those who heavily relies on the
agricultural product to gain earning for their own life. This pandemic and the impact in
agricultural can be interpreted in various perspective. However, should we talk about Islamic
perspective of this outbreak, it should be a long topic to discuss.

In Islamic perspective, the hardship people went through most of the time does not
exceed their capability in taking it head on. Yet people especially those who are ungrateful
often time asked God or rather blame Him on why they were given such hardship. Allah
mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah verse 286 saying that “Allah does not burden a soul beyond
that it can bear…” This verse alone was demonstrated by Allah Himself to show that his
kindness, compassion, and generosity to His subject. When related to the current outbreak in
which it affects the agricultural sector, He did not do it just to give despair to the people who
live by agricultural product. Rather it is meant to see how His subject react to the hardship he
sends by, whether they will go back to ask Allah for guidance or continue blaming Allah for
the difficulty that they went through.

There is something we can learn from this topic, which include not to give up
whenever a hardship falls upon us. People may often say that its easier said than done
because they are not in their shoes, however that mentality was proven wrong. Everyone,
even people in the past especially during the time of Prophet Muhammad went through large
amount of unbearable hardship no modern people can go through. Yet they manage to live
through, because their mind only has Allah as their motivation to get pass through the
hardship. This prove that the mentality of giving up can be countered effectively by positive
thinking. Therefore, the reason Allah send the people hardship is that they can learn
something from it and always stay positive.
Tiktok Viral “Ustaz showed a lack of politeness when giving donations”.

Recently, a viral video on tiktok social media showed a ustaz dressed in a white robe
showing an unpleasant attitude while giving donations. In that video, it shows that the ustaz
speaks in a loud voice and asks questions that can expose the shame of the individual in
question in the video. The ustaz gave some questions such as asking for the people that they
are praying or not, asking to recite the intention of the obligatory prayers in Arabic and
asking to recite qunut prayers. When an individual does not read intentions correctly, the
teacher said angrily that the intention should be read prayers in Arabic and cannot read the
Malay language. This is not true; Islam is a simple religion. If we cannot speak Arabic, we
can also intent in the Malay language, or another language and obligatory prayer is still valid.
Intention is also not obligatory to utter because intention is a practice of the heart and not a
verbal practice.

The ustaz has also said that he is a religious teacher with a high tone and said his son
is a memorizer of the quran and can read any verse from the quran and then ask more
complicated questions to other individuals. As a muslim, we need to guard our speech and
conversation. We cannot say as we please our fellow Muslims. Maybe for the ustaz the
matter is trivial, but we are afraid that on the side of Allah the word will be heavy.

Rasulullah once said which means: "a person speaks words that he thinks are okay,
then (unexpectedly) he falls for a reason into hell (the depth of which) as far as the journey of
seventy years" hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad. In this case, he is also seen to have
humiliated the individual who was asked heavy questions and compared the individual with
his son who memorized the Quran. Allah says in the Qur'an which means: "O you who
believe! Let not a party (of men) mock and disparage another group of men, (because) the
party that is mocked should be better than them; and a party of women scorn and despise
another party, (because) the party that is mocked should be better than them "(Surah Al-
Hujrat: 11). From this story, we can make a lesson that no matter how high our faith and
knowledge, we need to keep the shame and respect of others. We cannot differentiate one
individual from another. Let us not say anything without thinking first. Finally, I hope all
Muslims can help their fellow Muslims.
The impact received by small traders throughout the MCO 3.0.

The short -term announcement of the Movement control order (MCO) 3.0 that was
made earlier was seen not only as annoying but also affecting most traders. For almost a
week since MCO 3.0 was implemented, it was found that the average small and medium
enterprise, especially small enterprise owners, is not ready to face the implementation of
MCO 3.0 because it will start to affect existing businesses. Therefore, the average trader has
now started to lose their livelihood and this effect is not only felt by business owners but will
also be felt by employees soon as there are already among small traders who cannot afford to
finance their business operating costs. rent payments and possibly having to lay off
employees because their average amount of income is simply breakeven. In addition, the
government is also advised to take immediate and appropriate action to help these affected
small traders so that their fate can be defended as the industry is one of the main drivers of
the national economy.

This is because, the resources obtained by these small traders come from the main
sector which is one of the country's income. In the meantime, the government is also advised
that special financing assistance can be channeled through government agencies and not
through banking institutions such as financial assistance during the MCO 3.0 period. The
previous implementation was found to be less effective as banking institutions still applied
strict conditions for each application which caused traders to have difficulty in applying for
assistance. Allah says in the Al- Quran, be sure we shall test you with something of fear and
hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil) but give glad tidings to those
who patiently persevere. Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and
to Him is our return.

The Prophet Shollallohu alaihi wasallam said: 'Allah ta'ala revealed to Musa bin
Imran alaihi salaam:' hey Musa, whoever is not pleased with My destiny, is not patient with
My trials, is not grateful for My favors, then come out from between my earth and my heaven
and seek other gods besides me. While as traders, they must remain patient and find other
initiatives that can reduce the burden borne as well as cover the burden of problems faced for
today, they also need to calm down and continue to be patient to find solutions to face the
crisis and patience is also one of a form of our gratitude to God.

Online and Distance Learning (ODL) in the pandemic situation

Nowadays, we are in pandemic situation almost 1 year, in our country, everything

happened very challenging to all citizens in our country, especially students. The
environment to study changed 100%. Before this, all students learn at school or university,
they can learn in the classroom with friends, go library, eat in the canteen, play sports and
many more but, during the pandemic and lockdown, all those things disappeared. It gives too
much impact to all students. The government decided to change their learning system from
face to face to online learning.

As we know that ODL is learning system that we learn in a way online. We learn at
the home without friends and teacher in physical, cannot play in the field, cannot eat in the
canteen together and many more. There is something good when ODL. Online ODL based
learning is also in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which covers automation
technology that challenges all sectors, including education in Malaysia, which requires
changes in line with digital transformation to produce dynamic students to remain
competitive locally and internationally. Students can use the internet to exchange ideas,
interact, and do homework and assignments until they complete their schoolwork and
semesters. The usage of virtual learning apps necessitates a set of abilities, particularly
among professors and lecturers. In the good things, there also have problems that students
need to face. In PdP, students can usually manage whatever application the lecturer gives
them. Despite having limited internet connectivity, professors can provide online help based
on the syllabus using this programme.

The most important thing is to have connection to the internet. Not everyone who
attends IPT is financially secure. Some people who reside in rural areas are poor and cannot
afford to buy internet-connected smart equipment. Students who use mobile phones to access
the internet are required to purchase data. They must invest a lot of money to make
communication easier. But that is all obstacles from Allah. Allah said in Al-Quran “And
Satan has no power to mislead them except as a test to bring forth Our knowledge as to who
is the true believer in the Hereafter and who is in doubt about it. And (remember) your Lord
is ever Watchful over all things.” We need to be patience for what we are face. If we follow
the rules by government, we can fight for this pandemic and can live with normal life.

Hajj Pilgrimage Postponed this Year.

Due to the pandemic Covid 19, Saudi Arabia has announced this year’s hajj pilgrimage will
be limited to only 60,000 people. The announcement that has been made on 12 June by the Ministry
of Hajj and Umrah has restricted the annual Haj pilgrimage to citizens and residents only. This
confirmation after many considerations comes out of constant concern for the safety of pilgrims,
safety, and security of pilgrims as well as the safety of their countries. The pilgrimage would be
limited to those who have been vaccinated and are below 65 years of age with no chronic illnesses or
have recovered from Covid 19 at least month prior to attending. It will be the second year in a row
that the country hosts a downscaled Hajj amid the pandemic.

Many people expressed their disheartened especially Muslim upon knowing that they unable
to fulfilling obligation of Hajj. With the restriction order, it can affect the queued turn for pilgrimage,
so the waiting period getting longer. The decision that been made due to the Covid 19 cases that rise
globally and worries grow about the emergence of new variants. The government said its decision to
drastically limit the number of pilgrims was aimed at preserving global public health due to the lack
of a vaccine for the pandemic. Such a move would restrict the pilgrimage to Mecca, a once in a
lifetime duty for every Muslim that able to afford the cost is one of the initiatives to protect people
from epidemic transmission.

The pilgrimage is considered the fifth fundamental pillar of Five pillar of Islam. In calling
Muslims to perform the hajj, the Quran says, “Proclaim to men the pilgrimage: they will come to thee
on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path”. The rites of hajj are believed to
reminisce events from lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. Before the pandemic
enforced social distancing globally, some 2.5 million pilgrims used to visit the holiest sites of Islam in
Mecca and Medina for the weeklong haj. Despite the obligations of hajj, the safety of the people in
the country and the pilgrimage is being prioritized especially on the eve of Eid al adha, a celebration
day for Muslim to commemorate both the devotion of Ibrahim and the survival of Ismail. Even
without the hajj, Muslim still can celebrate the eve with their family.