Razaq Bamidele
A faith-based organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has enjoined all Nigerians to participate in fervent prayers and fasting for the country, albeit, the whole world to see the end of the ravaging disease called Coronavirus.
This call was contained in a statement signed by the group’s Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola as part of efforts to realize the objectives of the Document on Human Fraternity.
The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity has announced that Thursday May 14, 2020, should be observed as a day for fasting, prayers, and supplications to overcome COVID-19 and for the good of all humanity.
In response to this call, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has also called on Nigerians from all walks of life to join the rest of the world in fasting and praying on Thursday, May 14, 2020.
The statement reads:
“The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity has requested all mankind to engage in fasting and prayer on Thursday, 14th May, 2020. The purpose is to find a spiritual platform for combating COVID-19. This is a spiritual exercise that cuts across all faiths.
“The document from the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity actually came through the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) for further dissemination and we consider it our duty to give it maximum publicity for the benefit of our great country, Nigeria.
“Homo sapien is currently focused on finding a scientific solution to corona virus. The search has been going on for months but there is no solution in sight yet. Realising that man is body, soul and spirit, the need for bringing in the spiritual angle to complement science has become very germane.
“Man may labour in vain looking for the way out of a problem if there is no divine inspiration. Prayer is useful as we can use it to seek refuge in the All-Powerful. Most importantly, prayer is capable of opening the gates of wisdom as mankind searches for the right medication for COVID-19. Therefore the call for resort to prayer is not tantamount to giving up on a scientific solution but a means of seeking guidance for our scientists.
“Though Muslims are already in the Ramadan fasting period, the rest of humanity is urged to join in this quest. It is an interfaith exercise that has nothing to do with Ramadan. Muslims who are already fasting are therefore urged to dedicate the day to praying for the panacea for the corona pandemic.
“Our major prayer point should be that Allah, God, Ubangiji, Chineke, Ebube Dike, Olorun Olodumare, Osanobwa, Soko or whatever name we call Him in our various creeds should guide scientists all over the world to find a lasting solution to the current scourge.
“Also that the Almighty, the All-Knowing who knows the origin of COVID-19, who Himself is the font et origo of all knowledge and from whom the sorce of COVID-19 cannot be hidden, should in His Infinite Wisdom and Inconprehensible Compassion, forgive humanity its iniquities and evacuate the pandemic from the earth in no distant time.
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“In a nutshell, we enjoin Nigerians to sink their differences and join hands in fasting and praying together on Thursday, 14th May, 2020, for a solution to COVID-19 and the safety of humanity.
“We charge all religious leaders and the Nigerian people to hearken to the call of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity to beseech God Almighty together, in the words of the Committee ‘to safeguard the entire world, to help us overcome this pandemic, to restore security, stability, healthiness, and prosperity, so that, after this pandemic is over, our world will become a better place for humanity and fraternity than ever before.’”
