Muslim hardliners refusing medical help may expose non-Muslims to COVID-19 for their beliefs By Radhika Singh

Jihad Watch : The world is reeling under the threat of coronavirus, which has become a pandemic. Europe and the Middle East having suffered enormous loss of life, and others struggling to curtail its impact on their civilians. Borders have greyed out, continents have merged, and nations have put their heads together to find a cure to battle coronavirus. And then there are Islamists, who are galloping in an entirely different parallel. Although the epicenter of Islam, Saudi Arabia has responsibly suspended travel to many holy sites, to curb the spread of this epidemic, Muslim fundamentalists don’t cease to surprise us.

The Indian government has repeatedly urged citizens to stay indoors and avoid crowds and gatherings. But a gentleman, while interacting with a media personnel, proclaims his defiance and goes on to boast that majority of the Muslims in the country pay no heed to the precautionary advice broadcast by the government and health care officials. Defying recommendations of offering namaz (Islamic prayer) within the safety of four walls, he insists on performing his routine prayers outside, along with other Muslims. He refutes the recommendations by stating that it is for the women to stay at home and offer her prayers; men can’t be caged in the house.

Another gentleman firmly believes that getting infected by COVID-19, or not, is all in the hands of Allah. If he wishes, he will protect his followers. Indifferent to using sanitizers and hand wash, he persists wriggling his hands while reciting a religious sermon. Four Muslim youths in India have returned from Dubai and are now giving a hard time to the administration. The young men, now in Bhatkal, a remote town in the state of Karnataka in South India, have been harassing the state’s health care machinery by maintaining their “religious” stance and asserting that these tests are opposed to the ideals of Islam.

Given that the Middle East has reported numerous positive cases and the death count is on a constant rise, it is vital for these men to abide by the medical surveillance set by the government. The privileged minority of India knows how to twist the arms of the authorities, and it does so by waving that minority card and “our religion does allow us” card at regular intervals. With COVID-19 demonstrating itself to be a highly contagious viral disease, if the second largest majority refuses to cooperate with the administration, one can only imagine the havoc mankind would face should there be an outbreak in densely populated India.

While we are hopeful that most Indian Muslims will display wisdom and adopt all necessary precautions, even if the slimmest slice of this demographic group concurs with the philosophy presented above, it would contribute immensely to the disaster in the offing. Muslim fundamentalists in other parts of the world are not sparing the world, either. 44 Muslims perished by consuming bootleg alcohol in Iran following a rumor that circulated widely, misguiding people into believing that ethanol might ward off the fatal virus.

On the other hand, a local imam in the city of Qom, Iran, shared a long list of possible cures of the disease with more than 120,000 of his followers through Telegram. One of these cures included dipping a cotton ball in violet oil and shoving it in the anus at bedtime. Another imam called the virus the wrath of Allah, a punishment of sorts. He was later tested positive for COVID-19. While these anecdotes may tickle your funny bones, the superstitions spread by some Iranian clerics are outrageous to say the least.

A Shi’ite cleric, Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, is resolute against using Israel-made vaccines to combat coronavirus. “It is forbidden to purchase or sell the vaccine if we know for certain that the profit made by the companies [producing it] will go to the Zionists and Israel unless this is the only medicine [available] and there is no other alternative.” He shares this with an Iranian daily, Hamdeli. Even in the face of an unrelenting contagion, the Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, failing to cast off his intense hatred for America and look beyond the binary of “infidel” and “believer”, rejects treatment offered by the US.

“Trump, you have filled the world with wars, occupations and poverty, and now you claim that you are the healer.. But this disease is spreading because of your awful policies,” exclaims the influential Shia leader. The Muslim ecosystem demonstrates an extended history of resisting recommended medical procedures, because: “religion”. “It’s against Islam”.

In a country exploding with people, the Indian administration finds itself constantly challenged by the Muslims’ aversion for birth-control, Polio vaccinators have even been battered by Muslim families. In Europe, Muslim parents have desisted vital vaccines for not being “halal” enough.

The world has overlooked their deviations for the longest time, but what they are doing now doesn’t have a bearing on their lives alone. Having a global presence, they are surrounded by people of all communities, races and cultures who don’t necessarily subscribe to the Islamic school of thought and must not be smothered by orthodoxies of Islamic hardliners who are tied down by premedieval dogmas.