Identifying the Spirit of Hope by Religion to Cope with COVID-19
Graphic Design: Krizia Angelina
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it is undeniable that the world has fractured in responding to the disease. Not only do we see political tensions among political leaders, in a small scale we also witness community divisions in the religious context which is interesting to discuss. Referring to Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order which was published in 1996, it may look relevant how the world would be no longer divided into political battle between democracy and communism but cultures.
After the end of the Cold War, identity conflicts remain potent and each individual would insist on their version of “right” and “wrong”. For instance, the hardliners of the Islamic States (IS) stressed the COVID-19 pandemic as punishment from God to “Crusader nations”. Police arrested four IS suspects after they planned to attack the United States (US) military based in Germany in April. Also in April, the hostility between the Hindu nationalists and Muslims in India erupted after Jamaah Tablighi disobeyed the social distancing rules to conduct religious gathering. Meanwhile in Indonesia, the efforts to minimalize COVID-19 transmission were defied by some conservative Muslims who insisted on conducting congregational prayer. Similarly, the conservative Christians in the US claimed lockdown measure has limited religious freedom and planned to bring the case into lawsuit.
On the other hand, we also witness religious communities united to fight COVID-19, symbolizing hope, harmony, and cohesiveness to stand strong through a crisis. For instance, even though Americans were deeply polarized in the 2016’s election, in which analysts claimed religions to make the situation worse, we witness a different pattern as some Jewish, Muslims, and Christians established a multi-neighbors network to collaborate during this pandemic. In Pakistan, which the ABC News referred to as “the most dangerous country on Earth”, people commemorated this year’s Ramadan as a momentum for solidarity by offering zakat or the Muslim charity tax more than it is obliged. Considering that Pakistan ranked 94 from 117 countries on the Global Hunger Index by “serious” category, it is surprising the country has turned into one of philanthropic nations. In Nigeria, where people are exposed to a high degree of conflict and vulnerability, the Islamic conservative group demanded to collaborate with another groups—something that was unlikely to happen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile in the Holy Land (one of the most disputable areas between Israel and Palestine), Christians along with several Muslims conducted a fundraising and distributed 13 tonnes of food to the locals.
So, how do we understand the positive attitude embraced by religious communities during the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this, let’s take a look into religion in the philosophical level. Some scholars claimed religion as something hierarchical (for example putting women as second-class citizen) or something that can be the source of conflict triggered by different theological basis. In contrast, some scholars argued that religion can bring harmonious relations between its believers. Emile Durkheim characterized religion as “social cement” that unites individuals by the presence of certain common principles.
Referring to Durkheim, it is safe to say that the spark of unity promoted by religious communities during the COVID-19 pandemic was the result of social consciousness upon a common threat, which inspired different believers to cooperate and break the boundaries to address the same issue. For instance, the Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican was celebrated without congregation for the very first time in last April. Mecca’s grand mosque and the prophet’s mosque in Medina were also closed for public to prevent the wider contagion of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, Balinese Hindus refrained from celebrating the Ogoh-ogoh parade during Nyepi (Day of Silence).
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some of us might try to find an answer of why the pandemic happened. Most of us also hope it would be over soon. It is common for believers to make religion as their alternative to lean their body and soul. Durkheim had mentioned how religion could provide answers to mysteries that human beings could not answer. Despite science having played a major role to provide logical explanations on how to combat the pandemic, religion still influences people to ask God or the “higher beings” to interfere in this matter. Muslims believe that the COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder from God, Pope Francis said that prayer is a powerful weapon, while Jewish Rabbis allowed their congregations to cry over God during the crisis as well as enhancing their spirituality. These reactions are what Durkheim called “emotional comfort”, which means that humans feel attached to the “divine” because they perceive it as a powerful creature and “panacea”.
Especially in time of crisis, some people turn into becoming more religious. According to a survey published by Pew Research in March 2020, 55% of Americans prayed for the COVID-19 pandemic to be lifted, 59% of them confessed that they attended religious services more often than in the previous year, and 57% said they watched religious services online or by television. In Canada, 71% mentioned they prayed as usual, 22% prayed more than usual, while 7% did less than usual, according to a survey released by The Angus Reid Institute in April 2020. Similar to the US and Canada, the religious activities are also more intense in Indonesia. The Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque, K.H. Nasaruddin Umar, stated that ulamas are involved more often in dakwah (sermons), for at least 4 times in a day during this pandemic.
Having said that, how far the religiosity could inspire the solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic? Diane Winston, an expert on religion and media from the University of Southern California identified the civil societies where religious folks are one of the elements and actively involved in charitable activities. Winston added, “Every day, new volunteer opportunities appear in my email.” Similar to Winston’s idea that pointed out the cohesiveness among societies at current crisis, Mohamed Elsanousi from the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers which is based in Washington, D.C. has urged for religious actors in Northern Nigeria to counter narrative the present stereotype of COVID-19 as “white-man virus”. Elsanousi emphasized that blaming specific groups based on race or religion is not acceptable. Pope Francis also called for solidarity by persuading political leaders to conduct ceasefire and relax sanction underwent by some countries. Meanwhile, K.H. Nasaruddin Umar noticed the solidarity among Islamic groups in Indonesia, to the point where some hardliners shifted their political views into COVID-19 issue rather than ideological battle.
Another important point to discuss is the ritual adjustments during COVID-19 that reflect the dynamic of religion and which religious leaders play significant roles to disseminate the understanding. For some believers, religion might be sacred and the holy book is an absolute truth, but some believe there is always a room to compromise upon certain condition for the sake of public interest. As an example, The Council of Buddhist Communities (Walubi) banned their followers to have Vesak procession in temples and urged them to pray at home. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) also took a measure by issuing a fatwa to prohibit Muslims from having Friday prayers in mosques to prevent wider contagion of COVID-19. We need to admit that religion in any degree has taught us about humanity. Ideally, the pandemic should be our moment to call for more solidarity. We also need to appreciate those who pull out from mass congregation because they know what love is.
Yusnan Hadi Mochtar is Research Intern at INADIS’ Unit of Area Studies.