Muslim Views, April 2020

Ramadaan and compassion in the time of COVID-19

This Ramadaan is perhaps the most extra-ordinary Ramadaan we will ever experience in our lives. We are in the grip of a global pandemic. COVID-19 has grabbed the world’s attention and all human beings are its hostage. Somehow, a feeling of uncertainty binds us all with a desire for relief and the need for compassion, writes Shaikh SA’DULLAH KHAN.

For the first time in human history, over two billion people world-wide – almost half the world’s population – is in lockdown.

All this is due to a pandemic triggered by a microscopic virus that has caused titanic devastation. It has collapsed oil prices, crashed stock markets, caused economic meltdown, has closed trade, travel, sports, schools and places of worship in virtually every country on earth.

Ramadaan is a month of heightened consciousness, a month of fasting, of increased worship, spiritual reflection, of philanthropy and compassion.

Ramadaan encourages the promotion of the spirit of ubuntu, of humanity to others. It is about consciously caring and sharing, about being compassionate, about deepening our understanding of our world while simultaneously empathising with the challenges faced by the world around us.

The current pandemic is forcing us to acknowledge that we are a world of common problems and solutions, we are all in this together, one humanity; what harms one harms the other.