Reflection in the Midst of Coronavirus

Bismillah.

Subhan’Allah what odd times we are witnessing. Surely, those who make it out of this global pandemic alive will look back years later and tell future generations about it. Throughout, this whole quarantine situation, one aspect of my normal life I miss the most is the regular masjid trips I used to make. This was something that was embedded into my daily life and is definitely one of the things I took for granted. I would have never in a million years imagined practically every masjid worldwide being closed to the public. Truly, we have angered Allah (swt) in unimaginable ways. While the reasons for canceling daily salah at masajid worldwide is entirely legitimate, what’s truly disturbing is not knowing when they’ll open again. In actuality, not being able to pray in the masjid means not having:

• The opportunity to erase our sins by walking to the masjid in state of wudu while gaining ajr for every step
• The chance to make duah’s between the Adhan and the Iqamah
• The chance to pray nafl salah in the masjid upon arrival
• The reward of the jamaat which would be 27 times more reward than praying individually at home or in the markets
• The chance to greet and interact and develop brotherhood/sisterhood with fellow believers
• The chance to have the angels pray for us as we wait in the masjid
• The opportunity to benefit from Jumuah khutbat

“We only realize the value of a thing when it is lost.” This saying resonates especially at this time and juncture. This coronavirus outbreak has definitely put many things into perspective. First, as humans we are weak creatures. To think that something we cannot even see is causing so much fear and panic is mind blowing. We are at the mercy of something that is so small that it can’t even be seen with the naked eye. In this difficult time we can do actions such as:

• Pray in jamaat at home with our families
• Have a family halaqah a couple times a week to increase knowledge and gain appreciation for Allah (swt) and his deen. This is especially beneficial for the younger generation since this time can finally be a moment in their life where they can dedicate time to learning about the deen without outside distractions. Halaqat can be about learning new duat, knowledge of the Prophets, Sahabah’s lives, fiqh, Islamic history, etc
• Get a group of friends and start a virtual halaqah. Fortunately, we only need to be quarantined physically, but virtually anything is still possible. The idea is the same as the family halaqah, but this time with friends.
• Quarantine = Qur’an time. I saw this on a meme and I thought it was actually pretty accurate. With all this extra time, it would be a crime if we didn’t dedicate a set amount of time to pondering over the Qur’an every day. Perhaps Allah (swt) is giving us all this time to reflect and ponder over His book. We can easily get rewarded 10 times over for every letter recited.

While doing all this, we can remember the hadith that states that acts of worship during times of difficulty as if we emigrated to see the Prophet (saw). Let’s start with purifying our intentions and then acting sincerely upon righteous deeds to gain as many good deeds as possible during this difficult time. May Allah (swt) protect all of us, forgive us for our since, and increase us in our knowledge, Ameen.