It doesn’t matter where we live in this increasingly “small” interconnected World, because the life of almost every person has been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). But throughout history people have always believed that disasters could deliver otherworldly messages that, if interpreted correctly, would point the way to a better future. This can encourage people to want to understand the causes of disasters that have occurred, so as to try to avoid them in the future, because even a pandemic, however distressing it may be, can provide valuable lessons for the life of those who have faith.
Like everything that happens “under the Sun” (Kohelet 9, 1) as believers we must always try to understand the hidden meanings behind the events that break into our lives, because GOD never allows plagues, pandemics and other types of afflictions to come only to harm us, but in equal measure so that they can build and construct, and the current pandemic of Coronavirus is no exception.
The Quran states:
وَلَقَد أَرسَلنا إِلىٰ أُمَمٍ مِن قَبلِكَ فَأَخَذناهُم بِالبَأساءِ وَالضَّرّاءِ لَعَلَّهُم يَتَضَرَّعونَ42 Already We sent to the communities before you, then We smote them with adversity and affliction, that they might become humble.
(Quran 6, 42)
So if everything we perceive as good, and likewise as evil, comes from GOD, then even events that may seem to have come as a punishment, if carefully considered, can prove advantageous for a beneficial development. Adversity allows us to meditate more wisely on the paths we are taking and to reconsider our direction, and the humility mentioned in the Quranic verse reminds us just that: to remain (or become) humble in order to be able to make better choices. In the last century, great economic growth, prosperity and technology have been great achievements for humanity, but we must not allow all these privileges to make us complacent. We have never been and we will never be the masters of the world, we do not have control over life, neither over our own, nor over that of others, and this is what the pandemic is reminding us at our expense. We must heal our Spirit by decreasing our ego, and our Earth as a common home for all, and only by remaining humble and submissive to GOD and His Laws, we will be able to walk a path of growth and evolution for a better future for all.
Humility and patience
Humility and patience are never enough in the life of the believer, and during this fight against the Coronavirus these two qualities if increased will allow us to create in us an improvement necessary for our ultimate goal. Without humility and patience intolerance grows and corruption spreads like the worst virus among men. GOD in cathartic moments sends trials and punishments that like warnings encourage repentance, making us return to Him. The Surat 30 (“Al-Rum” “To the Romans”) in verse 41 states:
ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِِ الْبَِر وَالْبَحْرِ بَِِا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِ ي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَ عْضَ الَّذِ ي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَ رْجِعُونَ
41 Corruption has appeared on the earth and in the sea because of what the hands of men have committed, so that GOD may make them taste part of what they have done. Perhaps they will return ?
(Qur’an 30, 41)
Ecological disasters are the result of disobedience to the laws of GOD and affect all men. The material progress disjointed from the fear of GOD put in the hands of men terrifying instruments of destruction of humanity itself and its home, the Planet. In addition to trying to protect ourselves physically (self-quarantine, good hygiene, medical treatment, etc.) we should take this opportunity as a reminder to protect ourselves spiritually as well, getting closer to the good and correcting the mistakes on which during this forced isolation we have enough time to reflect.
Coronavirus did not come to kill, but to rescue
لَهُ مُعَقِّباتٌ مِن بَينِ يَدَيهِ وَمِن خَلفِهِ يَحفَظونَهُ مِن أَمرِ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ ما بِقَومٍ حَتّىٰ يُغَيِّروا ما بِأَنفُسِهِم ۗ وَإِذا أَرادَ اللَّهُ بِقَومٍ سوءًا فَلا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَما لَهُم مِن دونِهِ مِن والٍ11 There are before and behind , and they watch over him by the command of GOD. Verily GOD does not change the reality of a people until it changes in its innermost being.
( Quran 13, 11)
GOD doesn’t intend to harm anybody, but only wants to lead us to our salvation. Renouncing sins, behaving like better men and women, asking GOD and our neighbors for forgiveness, not judging, doing righteous deeds, all these are ways to “change” our “reality” as Sura 13 of the Quran says. But then what is our responsibility as believers during this pandemic? Definitely seek for forgiveness, as this can save us, as it is written:
وَمَا كَانَ اللََُّّ مُعَ ر ذِبَُِمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَ غْفِرُونَ
33 GOD would not punish them while they seek forgiveness
(Quran 37, 33 – Surah Al-Anfaal)
Being humble means being able to ask for forgiveness, and GOD never punishes those who repent deep down. This repentance should be done by ordinary people as well as by leaders (political, religious, media, business, etc.) because the rise and fall of a nation depends first on them who are its representatives. On an individual level then, each one of us believers should sincerely ask GOD to forgive our mistakes, understand them and finally avoid them, not only to “do a favor” to others, but for our own well-being first and foremost.
Jews and Christians: Pandemics in the Bible
21 Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the LORD declares: “‘Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.’” 23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, 24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah 9, 21-24)
The COVID has also entered through “our windows” (v. 21), it is in the air penetrating us and affecting the lives of many people in the World. With these words, the prophet Jeremiah addressed a disaster of his time, many centuries before the present era. Some religious leaders have suggested that the virus is GOD’s message to people, and the Bible contains many stories of diseases sent by GOD that typically communicate a punishment for great sins committed. Understanding the human need to find explanations for the unknown can help us understand the many unscientific explanations people continue to give for the pandemic.
In verses 23 and 24 we find instead the invitation to humility, but by no means to the renunciation of glory. GOD does not rebuke man’s instinct to seek it, but guides that desire toward a right destination for glory. We should not glory in the wrong things, because the three vanishing glories (wisdom, strength and wealth) of verse 23 are very different from the three that remain lasting in time (good, justice and righteousness).
Whoever glories should glory in this, in knowing GOD, directing his desire to glory in something righteous, because the greatest of glories is in understanding GOD. To know GOD means to know how to live in this life, but also to understand eternity. The false things that men glory in, wisdom, power, wealth, fame, are not only misleading, but are also paltry compared to the greatest glories and highest of aspirations, which are realized in GOD and in our true understanding and knowledge of Him.
In such difficult conditions as a pandemic, the only comfort the wise man can find is in the mercy (hesed) and justice of GOD. Hesed is commonly used in the Old Testament to denote covenant love, and GOD is pleased to see us emanate His nature, His attributes and all that is good known and understood by mankind about the CREATOR.
Conclusions
By His infinite wisdom GOD created these diseases to examine and test His children. There is no disease in this world that GOD has created, without also creating its cure. So we must have faith, patience and in the meantime wish peace to the people we meet and be merciful to our neighbors, this is a path of growth:
O GOD, I ask you for well-being in this world and in the Hereafter. O GOD, I ask you for forgiveness and well-being in my faith, my earthly affairs, my family and my possessions. O GOD, hide my faults and protect me from that which troubles me. O GOD, protect me from in front and also from behind, from my right and my left and from above, and I seek refuge in Your Greatness lest I be destroyed from beneath me.
(Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith no. 5074)
May GOD protect and guide all people who seek the good, may He also give strength to those who suffer, and may the whole world be granted a complete and speedy recovery from this pandemic. We also ask GOD to forgive our shortcomings in this search for Truth, and reward all those who like us seek the good.