Corona Virus and Muslim Adhan (Azan) 1st April, 2020

Corona Virus and Muslim Adhan (Azan) 

PREAMBLE: 

People are associating and negotiating with the coronavirus at interesting levels. With the age of social media at its peak friends, relatives even family are sharing all sorts of videos, audio, and kinds of literature concerning different angles covering this dreaded virus.

 With the opinion of people relating the pandemic to the punishment of God, or perhaps the advent of the end of times, I wrote on that particular perspective, titled ‘Corona Virus and God’, putting forth my reasoning from the Qur’an’s perspective.

 As we are encountering the pandemic the mosque's loudspeakers are blaring with the Adhan at odd hours, especially at night. The Muslim understanding generally is perhaps to associate making the Adhan during calamities to invoke God’s mercy. The Adhan is a Muslim call for prayer, which is only five times a day at appointed times.

MAIN THRUST OF TOPIC:

As Muslims when we perform rituals or acts linked with religion, it is well advised to conform those rituals and acts to the recommended acts of the Prophet Muhammad, Alaihissalam.

Prophet Muhammad Alaihissalam’s way in such matters was simple. He did what was the natural thing to do. The Prophet used to offer two rakaat nafal and seek Allah’s mercy and forgiveness. He never resorted to making adhan at odd hours to invoke Allah’s mercy. This brings us to the very critical aspect of whether all religious practices of Muslims is Sunnah. The recommended acts of the Prophet Muhammad, Alaihissalam in matters of religion are called Sunnah. All other religious practices that do not originate from him are Bid'ah.

A Bid'ah is a strongly condemned practice because it is an attempt at adding to religion what doesn't belong to it. Only the prophet had the authority to introduce a religious practice in the Sunnah. Like no one has the right to add a verse to the Qur'an or take away from it, no one can add a single religious practice in the corpus of Sunnah or take away from it.

Let me share a hadith of the Prophet Alaihissalam narrated by his companion Abdullah. He narrates: The Prophet said, "I will be your predecessor at the Lake-Fount (Kauthar) and some men amongst you will be brought to me, and when I will try to hand them some water, they will be pulled away from me by force whereupon I will say, 'O Lord, my companions!' The Almighty will say, 'You do not know what they did after you left, they introduced new things into the religion after you.'” (Bukhari).

CONCLUSION:

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) states: Moral beliefs and attitudes should be held on the basis of critical reflection rather than passive adoption (blind following) of the particular conventions of one’s society, church, or profession. This is often what is meant by “authenticity” in one’s commitment to moral values. Those beliefs and attitudes, moreover, must be integrated into the core of an individual’s personality in a manner that leads to committed action.

It is advisable to stay connected at an intellectual level with the source of our understanding. Associating to one’s faith at an emotional level belies human intelligence. Adhering to rituals, practices because of our ancestors, clerics, scholars may not serve the purpose until and unless they have a valid reference to context. No one would advise this practice (of adhering to aspects in life at an emotional level) in any other field of knowledge. Confining ourselves with old scientific theories at an emotional level, only because our ancestors thought so would have relegated us to horse drawn carts. No one is impressed with this approach.

Every field of knowledge owes its progress to the highest level of intellectualizing based on the use of human intellect. No one is prepared to absorb any reasoning which is presented at an emotional level. The reference to context of the points presented at any level is part and parcel of the presentation. It is the only channel which the audience understands.  

God too, like us, is desirous to employ the faculties of seeing, hearing, speech, and intellect to understand Him. Amongst all species only humans have the ability to see beyond, hear truth, speak truth, intellectualize truth. God has spoken to humans through His messengers. God’s last message, The Glorious Qur’an, and the practices of His last messenger, Prophet Muhammad Alaihissalam, in religious matters paves way for our salvation in God’s eyes.

Aamir Yazdani