Friday Sermon: How to conduct ourselves in the Pandemic
by Raffique Ali
27 November 2020 (Wajidali Memorial Mosque, Trinidad)
Reason for Repeating the Sermon:
Raffique Ali explained that he had originally intended to deliver a new sermon, but the continuing presence of COVID-19 had led him to revisit an earlier address. He had once expected the pandemic to pass more quickly. Because it had remained a serious concern, he had decided to remind the congregation of the principles Islam had provided for responsible conduct during an epidemic.
The Pandemic’s Worldwide Disruption:
He described COVID-19 as a global crisis that had affected every nation, although some countries had suffered more severely than others. By November 2020, several major cities had entered renewed restrictions or lockdowns. The crisis had altered daily life, employment, recreation, commerce and international trade, while national economies had experienced substantial setbacks.
He noted that activities once conducted face to face had rapidly moved into virtual forms. Markets, prayers, sermons, worship services and even funerals had been conducted remotely. The word ‘virtual’ had consequently become part of ordinary speech. He believed that some innovations and habits developed during the crisis would continue long after the immediate emergency, meaning that the world might never return completely to its former patterns.
Islamic Guidance on Epidemics Had Been Rational and Practical:
The speaker said that Muslim attitudes towards epidemics had been formed during the earliest period of Islam. Those attitudes had been grounded in reason and had drawn upon the Holy Quran, the Sunnah and Hadith. Although later scientific theories of disease transmission had not yet been formulated, early Islamic teachings had already recognised that people could reduce risk by controlling movement, avoiding infected areas and protecting communities from exposure.
He rejected the idea that every epidemic should automatically be treated as a punishment for personal sin. Calamities had instead formed part of Allah’s decree and had tested human beings. Despondency had not been the proper Muslim response. Believers had been expected to combine courage, patience and hope in Allah with every sensible precaution available to them.
Patience During Trial:
Raffique Ali reminded the congregation that earlier peoples had also endured severe trials. The COVID-19 crisis had therefore not been the first occasion on which humanity’s faith and conduct had been tested. He referred to the Holy Quran’s warning against disputes that destroyed courage and strength, together with its instruction to remain patient because Allah had been with those who showed patience.
He also referred to chapter 39, verse 10 of the Holy Quran, which had promised the patient a reward without limit or calculation. A Prophetic report had similarly described the spiritual reward of a person who remained patiently in a plague-stricken place, hoped for Allah’s reward and understood that nothing occurred outside His decree. He used these teachings to show that patience had not meant ignoring danger; it had meant remaining faithful and composed while observing protective measures.
Quarantine and Restrictions on Travel:
The sermon had presented quarantine as consistent with Prophetic teaching. Raffique Ali cited the instruction that people who heard of plague in another land should not enter it, while those already within an affected land should not flee from it. This had limited the movement through which disease could spread. He compared the principle with modern border controls, lockdowns and stay-at-home measures.
He added that Muslims had historically been permitted to remain at home instead of attending the mosque when circumstances created serious difficulty or danger. Reports concerning the call to prayer had shown that worshippers could be told to pray in their homes during severe weather or travel. These precedents had demonstrated that temporary restrictions on communal activity were neither foreign to Islam nor an abandonment of faith.
The Example of Hazrat Umar:
He recalled that Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph, had once travelled towards Syria on administrative business but had learned that plague had broken out in the region. After consulting his companions and considering Prophetic guidance, Hazrat Umar had decided not to continue the journey. The epidemic had spread widely through surrounding lands and had caused many deaths.
Raffique Ali treated this event as a powerful ethical precedent. Avoiding an infected area had not shown a lack of trust in Allah. It had shown that trust in Allah and prudent action belonged together. Muslims facing COVID-19 had therefore been expected to follow sound measures designed to contain infection.
Following Government and Public-Health Instructions:
The sermon stressed obedience to directions issued by government and health officials. Raffique Ali said that people who considered disregarding official announcements should first reflect upon Islam’s concern for preserving life. A person’s choices during an epidemic had affected not only that individual but also family members, the wider community and ultimately the whole country.
He warned that insistence upon attending a gathering despite a known risk could expose an entire congregation and then transmit the danger to others. In his view, cooperation with medical expertise had represented responsible religious conduct. Doctors and health authorities had been entrusted with protecting life under those exceptional conditions, and Muslims had needed to respect their knowledge and instructions.
The Higher Objectives of Islamic Law:
Raffique Ali introduced the concept of maqasid al-Shariah, the higher objectives of Islamic law. He listed the preservation of religion, life, intellect, family or future generations, and property. Each had represented a basic good that Islamic law sought to protect. Human life, he explained, had been a precious gift from Allah and had needed protection because the purposes of earthly life could not be fulfilled without living human beings.
He acknowledged that scholars sometimes differed over the ordering of these objectives. Some placed the preservation of religion first and might therefore resist restrictions on congregational worship. Others gave immediate priority to preserving life when an epidemic threatened both personal and public health. The speaker supported the view that religious practice could be temporarily adapted to protect life without surrendering religion itself.
Worship Could Be Adapted Without Being Abandoned:
He explained that Islamic worship had already contained allowances for human need. Travellers had been permitted to combine or shorten prayers, while people who were ill or disabled had been allowed to pray seated or lying down. These concessions had shown that the form of an obligation could be modified when circumstances required it, while its spiritual purpose remained intact.
On the same principle, Friday prayer or ordinary congregational prayer could temporarily be replaced by prayer with family members at home. Raffique Ali observed that the community had recently experienced such restrictions before the authorities again permitted attendance at the mosque. He concluded that a government prohibition on dangerous gatherings had not contradicted Islamic principles when it had aimed to preserve public health.
Preventing Harm and Protecting the Community:
The speaker cited the Islamic maxim that neither harm nor the returning of harm should be allowed. He said that group prayers could be suspended when circumstances such as severe weather, war or epidemic made gathering dangerous. He also referred to a report in which the Holy Prophet Muhammad had avoided direct physical contact with a person suffering from a contagious condition, using it as evidence that courtesy and religious fellowship did not require unsafe contact.
He relayed guidance given in the 2020 emergency concerning avoiding unnecessary contact with infected people, suspending Friday prayers in affected places, and adapting funeral arrangements when ordinary procedures created a risk of transmission. Imams and other religious leaders had been obliged to cooperate with health authorities. Their responsibility had included protecting congregations rather than encouraging practices that could spread illness.
Cleanliness and Hygiene:
Raffique Ali connected public-health precautions with Islam’s long-standing emphasis upon cleanliness. He referred to the early command in chapter 74, verse 4 of the Holy Quran to purify one’s garments, as well as passages describing Allah’s love for those who kept themselves clean. He also mentioned the ablution required for the five daily prayers and the wider rules of purification in Muslim life.
Regular handwashing had therefore not been an unfamiliar discipline for Muslims. Prophetic traditions had discussed personal cleanliness and hygiene in many forms, including the teaching that cleanliness had been half of faith. The speaker urged Muslims to recognise that practical hygiene and religious devotion supported one another rather than belonging to separate areas of life.
Reflection, Reliance and Remembrance:
He explained that affliction had also called believers to contemplation. The pandemic could be treated as a sign and a lesson that exposed human vulnerability and the limits of worldly control. Muslims had been required to remain patient, rely upon Allah and remember that He had remained fully aware of their circumstances.
At the same time, reliance upon Allah had not cancelled human responsibility. The sermon had consistently joined prayer with precaution, remembrance with hygiene, and spiritual patience with obedience to measures intended to protect society. True faith had required people to act responsibly while placing the final outcome in Allah’s hands.
Overall Message:
Raffique Ali’s central message had been that Islam offered a balanced response to a pandemic. Muslims had needed to avoid panic and hopelessness, but they had also needed to reject carelessness disguised as faith. Early Islamic precedents had supported quarantine, limits on travel, prayer at home and avoidance of harmful contact. The higher purposes of Islamic law had required the preservation of life, and religious observances could be adapted temporarily for that purpose.
He had therefore urged the congregation to show patience, maintain cleanliness, follow medical and governmental instructions, protect other people and continue remembering Allah. Responsible conduct during the crisis had not weakened belief. It had expressed the mercy, reason and concern for human life that he understood to be central to Islamic teaching.