A spiritual awakening to end the pandemic
Aglobal day of prayer uniting all faiths to pray for solutions through science and an end to the pandemic sweeping the world is another unique UAE initiative that makes this country truly special. It is a humbling experience and is the spiritual awakening the world so badly needs in these times of crisis when the death toll and cases from Covid-19 continue to rise by the minute. Humanity finds itself on a precipice and appears to have lost its way. The pandemic has wrecked all that people have built over generations. Well laid corporate and personal plans have gone haywire. Guns have fallen silent. Death is now personal. How the mighty have fallen! The rich have been made poor and the poor have been made poorer. Technology did not see it coming. Science has been caught napping as it spread. This pandemic is beyond human understanding in some ways and has shown civilisation its place. Lives have been destroyed and jobs have disappeared. Families have lost loved ones and are in tears. This tragedy wrought by the coronavirus has invaded every conversation in the real or visual spheres. This is the modern world’s darkest hour in a hundred years. Modern science has failed to find answers so far, and countries that are deemed superpowers are at odds with each other on how to tackle it and come up with common solutions.
Indeed, the perfect world is crumbling before human eyes and frail bodies are succumbing to a virus that is mysterious and evades the naked eye. Amid this tragedy and the gloom enveloping the world, people are being asked to look inside themselves, to reflect and to seek mercy. People often pray as individuals or as communities, but this initiative is beyond communities or countries; it involves the world.
United in prayer. How often has the world come together, heads bowed in humility, praying for divine deliverance from the plague that is in our midst, consuming us and tearing into the vitals of society. The call for the day of prayer was given by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. What is truly meaningful is that this day comes during the holy month of Ramadan that holds special significance in the lives of the world’s more than two billion Muslims. People of all faiths will join Muslims today in prayers from their homes and offices. The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity led by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr Ahmed El Tayeb is urging people of all religions, nationalities to unite, and the response has been overwhelming. The power of prayer can redeem, it can save, it make make the world whole again.
The power of prayer can redeem, it can save, it make make the world whole again.