SAFEGUARD OUR HEALTH, HUMANITY

The coronavirus pandemic is a grave public health concern and is also profoundly revealing about some truths about ourselves as a society and as the human race. How we respond to these truths could determine our future for several generations to come.

With a global death toll that has claimed more than 10,000 lives, COVID-19 is a challenge to humanity. Its potential for ravaging the health of millions and the economic devastation it could bring in its wake have rightly energized governments and people around the world. At every level in our society, people are concerned not only for their own health and safety but for the health and safety of those around them.

Within San Diego, the pandemic and accompanying economic slowdown has meant a loss of income for a lot of people. For many families in the community, there are looming questions on how they will pay rent and meet other basic necessities. And yet, there is much in this crisis that can make us a better community and a better society. The Holy Quran (chapter 94, verse 5) says, “So, undoubtedly, along with the hardship there is ease.” In other words, for the heart that is sensitive and mindful, one can see benefits even in times of hardship.

The pandemic has compelled many of us to slow down and limit our activity. Herein is an opportunity to reflect on our collective

vulnerability before God and to strive to guide our actions to resonate with the Divine. For those who are compelled to stay home have an opportunity to bond with family members and to nurture and enhance relationships we say are important to us, but rarely are able to find adequate time for.

No doubt getting through the difficulties would be uppermost in our minds, but let that not take away from the joy of overcoming the difficulties together and the concomitant bonding that no expensive vacation can bring.

The pandemic is bringing out the inherent goodness in people that, in the Islamic tradition, we call fitrah. From young people in the community taking the initiative to help the elderly with basic necessities, to organizations stepping up to maintain essential services, the amazing collective resolve to address a shared challenge is one of the most heartening aspects of this pandemic. It is also indicative of how closely our individual destinies are intertwined with the collective destiny of the society around us. It is important for all of us to be working for the collective good, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the wise thing to do.

Of course, COVID-19 is not the only challenge to our collective destiny. There are others that are equally if not more pernicious, and also require collective decisive action. What might humanity accomplish if we were to bring the same urgency and resolve to the burning issues of our time, such as child abuse, food insecurity, inadequate health care, climate change, human trafficking, economic exploitation, and the enormous suffering caused by the increasing objectification of women?

A strikingly obvious aspect of the coronavirus is that it is a human affliction, unfettered by considerations of race, religion, ethnicity or immigration status. In that regard, the inanity of calling it the “Chinese virus” is astounding. This is a time when we must demonstrate our desire for unity in both word and deed, and

eschew anything even remotely close to divisive rhetoric.this is also a time to demonstrate immense gratitude. Gratitude to God for the blessings that we have become accustomed to, and perhaps started taking for granted. Gratitude for the people who play an essential role in bringing these blessings, of food, water, gas, electricity and other essentials without which it is hard to imagine life. The coronavirus has reinforced the point that there really is no such thing as a “selfmade” person. We are all dependent on each other and collectively to God for our every existence.

The world needs copious amounts of compassion and justice so we can safeguard not only our health but also our humanity. COVID-19 is undoubtedly a calamity, but it also has the potential to shake us up from our collective complacency, and to sensitize us once again to the suffering of fellow humans. It has the potential to remind us that we are all children of Adam and Eve, and that we can only be fully human when we behave in ways that reflect an acknowledgement, nay a celebration, of the brotherhood of humanity.

The pandemic is bringing out the inherent goodness in people.