The coronavirus is a new calamity and has created new problems, some of them of religious nature not conceived before. While efforts are being at the global level to deal with the contagion, there is an urgent need to find solution to the new developments.
One of the serious problems being faced in some countries concerns the burial of the dead, as a result of which the bereaved families don’t know what to do.
There are reports from some countries that those who succumbed to the fast-spreading contagion are not being allowed a resting place in the graveyards, a situation that calls for immediate intervention of religious scholars.
Offering funeral prayers is another serious problem demanding immediate attention of the religious leaders.
Then there is a controversy about offering regular obligatory prayers at mosques.
Religious scholars of the OIC will be doing a great service to all member states by coming up with solutions to the problems being pointed out in the write-up.
According to a published report, Saad Malik has been trying for a week to get a space for the burial of his father, who died because of the coronavirus, but cemeteries across Iraq have refused to allow the elderly man's burial.
Fearing the respiratory illness could somehow spread from the corpses to nearby population centres, Iraqi religious authorities, tribes and townspeople have sent the bodies of COVID-19 victims back to hospital morgues, where they are piling up.
"We couldn't hold a funeral for him and haven't been able to bury his body, even though it's been more than a week since he died," Malik told a news agency.
Armed men claiming to be tribal leaders threatened Malik, his family and his friends, saying they would set fire to his car if they tried to bury the body in their area. "Can you imagine that across this huge country Iraq, there aren't a few square meters to bury a small number of bodies?"asked a devastated Malik.
According to Iraqi health ministry spokesman, the government is taking all possible precautions when burying bodies, including wrapping them in bags, disinfecting them and placing them in special coffins. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric, has said those who lost their lives to the disease must be wrapped in three shrouds and insisted authorities facilitate burials.
But rejections of burials have continued, including in the two shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf.
AFP quoted an Iraqi medic in Najaf that the health ministry had tried to intervene directly to convince Najaf authorities to allow burials of COVID-19 victims, but to no avail.
The medic said he had witnessed one widower beg authorities to release his wife's body. "Just give me the body and I'll bury her in my own home," the heartbroken husband had said. "This is the situation after just 40 deaths. What happens if it gets worse? Where will we put the bodies?" the medic asked.
There is another report from London. It says Fuad Nahdi, a journalist, interfaith activist, and prominent figure in the British Muslim community, died in London on Saturday after suffering from long-standing health issues.
In the United Kingdom, social gatherings are banned, but funerals are not prohibited. Even so, there are new restrictions on the number of attendees. Usually, hundreds if not thousands attend the funeral of a prominent Muslim figure. But on Tuesday, only 20 members of Nahdi's family said final goodbye in person.
Nahdi's family and the funeral directors wore masks in an attempt to protect themselves and others from the pandemic.
Several Muslim funeral directors have also taken measures to prevent the risk of transmission.
"They're putting the deceased into a plastic body bag, they perform tayammum [wiping over the body bag], put the body into a coffin, and it's straight to the graveyard," said a report.
COVID-19 has created a completely unpredictable situation for the people across the world, especially the Muslims who are supposed to adhere to the Islamic provisions in all situations.
The OIC must find a solution to all situations for the guidance of all Muslims.
Religious scholars of its member states should let the Muslims know how they should offer congregational prayers in the prevailing situation. They should also make it clear whether it is right to restrict the congregational prayer to a few people (comprising the mosque’s staff). If so, how can other people wanting to offer congregational prayers perform the obligation?
Another question needing an immediate answer is whether it is permissible for the participants of a congregational prayer to stand at a distance of about a metre from one another.
As mentioned above in a case in Iraq, where should the Covid-19 victims be buried? Is there a need to set up new graveyards for such cases?
The OIC scholars should also shed light on what the Muslims should collectively do to get rid of the fast-spreading contagion.
Unless the OIC scholars come up with some solution to the situation, confusion is bound to persist and people will go by their individual opinions.