Muslim civil servants ask community members to ‘act responsibly’, urge media to ‘cooperate’

Invoking the sayings of Prophet Mohammed, a group of Muslim civil servants have appealed to the members of the community to act responsibly and stand out as examples for fellow citizens in the fight against coronavirus.

They have also urged the media "to cooperate with us" in this effort.

In an open letter, the group of 80 retired and serving officers have said, "Of late, a message is going in the society at large that Muslims, as a group, in India are not adhering to 'social distancing' and other measures to counter the spread of the pandemic."

In their letter, they have referred to some “distressing videos in wide circulation” showing stone-pelting at health workers, and clash of men from Muslim community with police personnel who were enforcing the law.

“In some videos, policemen are being forced to baton-charge the people hell-bent to go to a mosque for prayer," they have said.

Members of the Muslim community through their act of omission or commission should not offer anybody an opportunity to accuse them for the spread of the epidemic in India, the officers said.

"They must adhere to the guidance of the public health experts and the orders of the government, since what is correct must be followed irrespective of whether one finds support for that or not in religious scriptures," the letter said.

The officers said, “temporarily avoiding going to the mosque to prevent the spread of the disease does not mean one has deserted the mosques permanently, as many wrongly believe".

Contracting the virus even to one's own self is a sinful act as per the Islamic traditions, they said.

Suicide and courting danger and disease by one's rash and negligent act is haraam, the officers said.

"The virus does not remain confined to the body of the person who invited it to himself through his foolish act. It travels rapidly in the family and society, and brings indiscriminate deaths to innocents," the letter said.

The Quran says if one kills an innocent human being, it is as if he had killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it is as if he had saved the life of all mankind, it said.

"In this hour of deep crisis, we the following (80) officers working in various civil services of India, feel compelled to appeal to the Muslim community in India that they should act responsibly and stand out as examples for fellow citizens in the fight against coronavirus," the letter said.

The officers also cited a news report that 25 per cent of the positive cases of novel coronavirus reported in India are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi in March.

"Muslims can pray collectively at the mosques after the pandemic dies out and the normal life is restored… One can pray at home by observing social distancing. Our responsible behaviour would help save the individual, his family and the country at large," it said.

There are many sayings and hadiths of the Prophet directing us to take steps to prevent the spread of the epidemic, and to protect oneself, the officers said.

Even if there were no religious sanctions to avoid a plague or remain in quarantine during a raging epidemic, adopting measures to safeguard oneself from it would still be the sensible thing to do, they said.

"We reiterate that in this hour of crisis, Muslim community in general should come forward and strengthen the hands of the government of India and state governments in the fight against this pandemic by following their directions sincerely to fight and stay protected from the coronavirus pandemic," the letter said.

"Lastly, we request the Indian media to cooperate with us in this effort during this hour of crises which could help in the efforts of the government and society in the fight against this deadly disease," said the letter, signed by various IAS, IPS and IRS officers