Daily Times

If “no man is an island” then no community is complete without all its segments pulling together for the common good. Since the earlier days of December of 2019, the COVID19 has swept the entire globe by surprise and in the process, it has underscored the fragility of the human species. We used to read in the Holy Qur’an and in the Hadith how the arrogant and proud King Namrud and his army was taught a humbling lesson by tiny mosquitoes. In the year 2020 we were jolted into a similar reality when an invisibly small virus brought the entire world along with all its mighty Namruds down to their knees.

In a surprising twist of fate, this calamity has actually helped a significant portion of the human race look beyond the cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries that we have carved out for ourselves. For the first time in ages, each nation is looking at its neighbors both near and far for signs of inspiration and hope in our individual struggles with the common enemy: COVID19. In ways, every day at news hour, we find ourselves cheering for countries throughout the globe in their efforts to find a potential cure for this common threat.

Besides helping the world look beyond our self-imposed boundaries, COVID19 has changed the way we communicate socially and professionally on the global scale. Web-conferencing is being used more frequently for day to day professional requirements ranging from office meetings to real estate tours to work from home to job interviews and even non-urgent patient care to name a few. In my cancer clinic in an eastern state in United States, I represent a group of physicians who are actively seeing patient via video conferencing. In USA where the death toll from COVID19 within the past few months has surpassed the total deaths during the nineteen years long Vietnam War! Hence, online meeting platforms have made it a lot safer and efficient to take care of professional obligations without the risk of added exposure and without the overhead costs. World Wide Web based communications are here to stay and we in Pakistan ought to adopt to it as well. This same American model can be expanded to benefit the Pakistani society based on our own social, religious and ethical needs.

From a national point of view, there is no doubt that the Pakistani nation is exceptionally resilient when it comes to fighting natural calamities. However, there still remain many opportunities for improvement. While every Pakistani citizen has felt the impact of COVID-19, it is the individuals with fewer resources, unfortunately forming the bulk of our population, who have suffered the most. These individuals form the backbone of our economy and therefore their well-being remains crucial for our survival from an ethical, moral and religious point of view. An empty mind is a devil’s paradise and without properly channeling people’s anxiety we might not only fail in our attempts at any meaningful social-distancing but may also be faced with unintended consequences like a spike in unlawful and unethical activities due to economic hardships and a lull in social activities.

While the government ought to provide both state and local oversight, a vast majority of Pakistani communities are usually woven around a central Mosque and who better to assume a leadership role in our fight against COVID19 than our Masajids themselves? After proper consultation, approval and under the guidance from our esteemed religious scholars, during the COVID19 crises and beyond, Masjids can serve as “virtual minbars”, with inspirational khutbas shown live via individual YouTube channels, within the comfort of people’s homes. Masajids, can also offer complimentary short courses on topics like Seerat-un-nabi, leadership, Islamic financing, calligraphy, tafseer, tajweed and answer pertinent questions that the people might have. These channels can also be used to broadcast live Salaat five times a day which will not only help people feel more connected with their communities but will also instill a quality seldom practiced in desi Muslim households: Praying as a family unit in Jamaat.

Pretty much every household has someone with WhatsApp application on their mobile phone. An honest and tech-savvy citizen from each Masjid’s inner circle can make one or multiple WhatsApp groups for that community, with aim to include atleast one member from each family for any ongoing announcements. Individual citizens can act as vigilantes to ensure proper conduct within these groups. This platform can be used for effective and efficient communication to share community’s requests and queries with their respective Masajids. It can also be used to collectively discuss new initiatives with the entire community all at once.

In a surprising twist of fate, this calamity has actually helped a significant portion of the human race look beyond the cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries that we have carved out for ourselves

Another role the Masajids can play is to act as a “community pantry” and act as Qarz-e-hasna distribution centers. Unfortunately, during COVID19 pandemic, most of our Masajids are rightly practicing social distancing which has limited the number of attendees and activities alike. Why not request our Masajids to lead from the front in using their appropriate space to cook a three-meal course within our Masajids each day, with the goal to feed atleast 50% of the poorest households within their respective communities on a daily basis! These Masajids can also help individual families with grants aka Qarz-e-Hasina to cover the cost of their essential services and dire needs like groceries, medications, hospital visits, travel expenses, rent, utility bills etc during the time of this epidemic. Government can also play its part not only with funds but also through tax subsidies, for instance for utility companies who forgive or heavily discount the bills for “reasonably used” electric, gas, water and sewer utilities for these Masajids during these trying months of COVID19 pandemic. Travelers and laborers from far flung areas stuck at the city of their current gig can also benefit from these services by getting in touch with Masajids near them. Government can honor and appreciate these community-based grassroot efforts by announcing winners from each city in a presidential dinner at the end of this nightmarish episode.

Educational institutions can also open up government subsidized YouTube channels and provide short vocational training to families stuck at home which can then jumpstart the economy once the COVID19 epidemic blows over. Mobile phone companies can be tax incentivized by the government to play their part by offering highly subsidized internet data during these trying times for specific online activities sanctioned by the government. Imagine how healthy it would be to have an environment with multiple new YouTube channels representing different Masajids and educational institutions giving people a free of cost option to browse between broadcasts to suit their spiritual and intellectual inclination that day.

Last but not least, a sincere and organized effort should be made to ask our affluent citizens, overseas diaspora and commercial groups for their financial consideration during this time of need to support these efforts. Donation channels should be made with convenient online portals where creditcard, bank or paypal-type services can be used to transfer finances for this cause and beyond. Our neighboring country has seen tremendous help from their private sector and at a time when every bit counts, the help from private sector will certainly aide in our efforts, listed above, to fight our common enemy: COVID19.

Together, our Masajids, the Government, the Private sector and the educational institutions can serve as beacons and uplift people in this time of gloom. All these short courses and cause-specific lectures from both Masajids and educational institutions are aimed to keep the nation engaged and to energize, revitalize and retool the workforce in various aspects of self-growth and microeconomics so as a nation we can hit the ground running once COVID19 pandemic has reached its natural course. While we do not have control over the virulence of COVID19, how we address our shortcomings and deal with this enemy will impact our trajectory as a society for generations to come.

Dr. Khurram Tariq is a Hematologist and Medical Oncologist at the Seby B. Jones Regional Cancer Center, an affiliate of UNC, in Boone North Carolina where he is the Director (Chair) of the Oncology Service Line at Seby B Jones Regional Cancer Center