By: Wali Ejaz Nekokara
Corona-virus is getting currency in the country and numbers of cases are rising. The government is emphasizing on the precautionary measures as it is an impossible task to contain the virus without the support of the public. Amid the lockdown imposed by the government to curb unnecessary movement, non-serious attitude is being noticed by the people and clerics. When everyone is worried about circumstances the infectious virus has created, clerics are not ready to use their noodle. Clerics’ reluctance to allow the “Friday Prayer” at home forced Government to direct the limit religious gatherings. Two categories of clerics came to fore, one emphasized on the gathering and second category little bit moulded their views towards the decision of the government. The clergy has become an overdeveloped institution in our society. Madiha Afzal in her book, “Pakistan under siege” mentions that “Militants thrive where their narrative gets acceptance”. Same is the case with clerics, they too get clout where their concocted version of Islam gets acceptance. The majority of Pakistani people due to inadequate knowledge and poor grooming can be wooed to the clerical version of Islam.
Holy Prophet SAW advised to take precautions and to stay away from the outbreak. Secondly, it is also true by a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari, in which Prophet Muhammad SAW on a rainy mud day, advised the Muaddin ( A person who call the people towards prayer) to direct the people to offer prayer at home while Azan. In Islam, the words of the Prophet SAW can never be overlooked. Then why the clerics are showing this non-serious and irrational attitude? There is a history of ignorance, non-seriousness and irrationality behind this. Since Muslim abandoned the scientific approach, the irrationality and non-serious demeanour became dominant. Between the thirteenth to sixteenth century, Muslim witnessed a scientific decline. According to Bernard Lewis, “the era of renaissance, Scientific Revolution, Reformation and the enlightenment went purposeless and unnoticed by the Muslim World”.
In Zia era, an international conference was conducted to understand the temperature of hell and to know the chemical nature of the demon or jin. This issue of intellectual bankruptcy is being cemented by the state and its people alike. The actions and policies of state since the inception of this country have tarnished conducive environment for scientific and educational development of the people. Using religion as a political tool to notch up political objectives has provided the religious clerics with the breathing space. To escape from the international watch-dog for terror financing state arrested Hafiz Saeed, these kinds of policies are hindering Pakistan from the development. According to reports, Pakistan is 11th largest arms importer but the educational system is pathetic and outdated. Ironically, scientific institutions like SUPARCO are handed over to army men instead of relevant people.
Developing a vaccine for flattening the curve of the virus is no doubt an onerous and arduous job for the world community but for the majority of Pakistani people, it is even impossible to think about the vaccine. It is the 21st century, in which we need thinking minds and rational people. Even, Islam emphasizes on the act of thinking or pondering over the different phenomenon of life. Changing our priorities from painting this country as a security state to prosperous one, investing in the right direction and provision of quality education would be useful to mitigate the overwhelming impact of the religious cleric on our society. It is high time to reconsider our priorities otherwise the future challenges could be more serious than Corona. This clerical version of Islam is a real enemy of our society.
The writer is a student of politics and International relations at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. He can be reached at waliejaz04@gmail.com
