Kaustav Ghosh
I am a born human. I am by faith a Hindu, by nationality Indian, by ethnicity a Bengali. So I can say I am a proud Bengali Hindu Indian. But you may ask why I am talking about identity. No, do not worry. I am not suffering from any identity crisis. I, belong to a civilization which is more than 5000 years old and we from our childhood been taught to respect every religion, culture, language. That is why whenever we meet someone we greet by folding our hands and say namaste(नमस्ते)/ namaskar(নমস্কার)/ namaskara(ਨਮਸਕਾਰ!)/ Vanakkam (வணக்கம்). I have mentioned devnagari font which is used in both sankskrit and hindi, then bengali, after that punjabi, after that tamil way to say hello. This is only four ways and you know there are many languages spoken, read and written in India. So there are many ways to say hello and greet with our guest. None is superior and nor inferior. We all are related because we all are created by God. This philosophy is sown in India from pre primary stages of a child. That is why when I opened my history book in my primary school I found interest and love for Guru Nanak, Zarathustra, Prophet Muhammad(P.B.U.H), Jesus, Goutam Buddha, Mahabir Jain, Prophet Abraham. I lived in a area which is not only multi linguistic but also a place where people having different faith lives here. But in my school I could find only muslim friends along with hindus and used to listen to their story on islam, holy Quran and their rasool. My house is in a fantastic location- to the north east there is a mosque, to the south east there is a church, to the south west there are temples. I welcome you to my story where I will share you what Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and holy Quran says about qurantine.
Quarantine– Covid-19 pandemic changed our life totally. It has introduced us with various new words such as quarantine, lock down. Not new words, but sounds like new because many persons were either unaware about this term or know little about it. In the lifetime of many people, they have not faced any pandemic or lock down. I saw the word ‘Quarantine’ in the comics book of Tintin. What is quarantine then? ‘Quarantine’ is a specific period of time in which a person or animal that has a disease, or may have one, must stay or be kept away from others in order to prevent the spread of the disease. 1 Quarantine in a simple word is a process to stop the spreading of any contagious disease. Covid-19 forced us to perform our faith in our own house. Many, irrespective of the faith could not become strong to perform their faith in their house. They went outside, breaking the pandemic law could not understand what religion teaches us. As a hindu we believed in “Bahujana sukhaya bahujana hitaya cha”. What about muslims? What their holy book and Prophet told us about quarantine more than 1000 years ago. In this article we will discuss about it.
Quaran and Quarantine– Quran is not only a holy book which is believed to be words of Allah, the merciful but also it has various commandments. Now lets back to pandemic when many people including islam did not follow the rule of quarantine. They said prayer can heal every disease and defeat every pandemic. But is it really true? Is it not the defence of callousness?
We know cleanliness is next to godlinsess and this is may be the reason I saw muslims before offering nawaz performed Wudu (ওযু, الوضوء) in the mosque. By the way Wudu is the procedure to cleansing the parts of body. It is like a self purification. In surah al maidah(5:6) of holy Quran it has been mentioned-“O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.”2 Quran specifically says in Surah-al-baqarah (2:222)-“..Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.”3 We can understand from this verses that it is the holy duty of the persons following the path of Islam that to maintain great standard of physical and spiritual hygiene.
Sahih al Bukhari 5728 Book 76 Hadith 43 mentioned Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said-“When you heard about a plague in any land, then do not enter it . If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”4 It is the simple way to stop spreading diseases. Holy Prophet also said (Sahih al Bukhari Hadith 1461) “Do not put a patient with a healthy person as a precaution.” Sahih al Bukhari Hadith 3474 says “If one in the time of an epidemic plague stays in his country (or stay in his house as mentioned in different narration) patiently hoping for Allah’s reward…”5 This means it is better for the society to stay at home or land whenever there is an outbreak of disease.
Another important aspect I want to share here that “even the companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم )had disagreements amongst themselves, but they weren’t disrespectful to each other. This is very important things people should know. When opinions have difference people get angry, intolerant. Different opinion have differences but when the common intention is pure, that is welfare of the people then only that matters. That is niyat. It is also important to note-“Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge.”6 and “He who goes forth in search of knowledge is considered as struggling in the Cause of Allah until he returns.”7 All the followers of Islam should never forget-“Do not cause harm, and don’t get harmed”8 ,”A believer never satisfies doing good until he reaches Jannah.”9 Irrespective of your religion, language, caste, creed, color the only thing I believe that matters-“And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”10
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1)https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/quarantine
2)https://legacy.quran.com/5
3)https://myislam.org/surah-baqarah/ayat-222/#:~:text=Say%2C%20%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20harm%2C,loves%20those%20who%20purify%20themselves.%E2%80%9D
4)https://www.bostonislamicseminary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/What-Does-Islam-Say-About-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-Shaykh-Dr.-Asif-Hirani-1-1.pdf
5)ibid
6) Riyad al Salihin 1381 Book 12 Hadith 6
7)Riyad al Salihin 1385 Book 12 Hadith 10
8)One Who Builds Something on His Own Property That Harms His Neighbor, Sunan
Ibn Majah Vol. 3, Book 13, and Hadith 2341 retrieved 8/07/2022 from
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/13/34
9) Riyad al Salihin 1386 Book 12 Hadith 11 derived from Riyad-us-Saliheen. N.p.: IslamKotob, (n.d.).
10) Surah al Maidah 5:32 Sahih international
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