Pakistan is facing its biggest challenge ever: how to mobilize its broken state as the number of coronavirus cases rapidly spreads in the world’s fifth most populous country.
More than ever, the epidemic is showcasing weaknesses in the government, and the tensions between it and the country’s powerful military. Many within the country’s clerical establishment have refused to help, rejecting calls to limit mosque gatherings and bringing together at least 150,000 clerics from around the world this month in a religious gathering that helped spread the virus.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) admonished his followers that one should first take necessary measures and then rely upon Allah. It is narrated in book of Hadith that “One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, ‘Why don’t you tie down your camel?’ The Bedouin answered, ‘I put my trust in Allah’. The Prophet (saw) then said, ‘Tie your camel first, and then put your trust in Allah’.
Regarding a pandemic Muhammad (saw) said: “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague outbreaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”
Regarding isolation, the Prophet (saw) taught that those who are sick should not in any way compromise the community at large. He said, “Do not place a sick patient with a healthy person.”