Voice of British Muslim Women

Iffat Mirza, Raynes Park

Seeing images of empty supermarket shelves up and down the country a few weeks ago immediately highlighted the individualistic view of some members of our society which, I must admit, was saddening. It certainly made me doubt how well as a society we would face the impending storm that was the coronavirus. However, as the initial fear settled, I was overwhelmed most positively by the response of local and national communities.

Coronavirus has reminded us of our very nature. Human beings are not individualistic beings. We can only thrive in society and it is our instinct to look to each other in times of help. We have proven, that there is in fact such thing as ‘society’ as the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, told us in his video message on 29^th March via Twitter.[1]

But what does it mean to reconstruct a broken society? It is no doubt that the recent political climate has entailed much finger-pointing, name-calling, and abuse from all sides. Much of the political rhetoric post-Brexit has been to ‘reunite the divided nation,’ and certainly one did not need to look too closely to see the emerging cracks.  We had forgotten what our responsibilities were and we only considered our own rights. However now that the world faces a common enemy, one that does not discriminate, it is evident that we need each other more than ever. It is not without reason that the Holy Qur’an states in chapter 4 verse 37:

‘And worship Allah and associate naught with Him, and show kindness to parents, and to kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and to the neighbour that is a kinsman and the neighbour that is a stranger, and the companion by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess. Surely, Allah loves not the proud and the boastful,’[2]

Whilst we may believe that we live in an enlightened society, one that no longer needs God, and one that can rely solely on human reason, we should not fall into the error of believing that society is a man-made concept. As the aforementioned verse shows, God has directly ordained man to foster societal relations, and to consider the well-being of those he may know personally, and those he does not know personally. Therefore, to reconstruct a broken society we must firmly establish not only in our minds but also our hearts, the submission to the belief in need for a society that is governed by altruistic sentiment which can only truly be achieved with the belief in the Almighty. We are not strong enough, as individuals, to survive this world and it is only with a firm faith in God and a desire to be contributing members of this society that we can achieve a harmonious lifestyle.

Covid-19 has certainly been a wake-up call and we have been reminded that every member of society has a vital role to play in our lives. Prior to this pandemic, it never even occurred to me that I should pray for the postal workers, or the grocery shop workers. To me we all seemed to be mere cogs in a complex system and we all worked together to maintain our services. However now, certain cogs have had to grind to a halt, and others have continued to rotate, ceaselessly. Just as clockwork is only smooth if all cogs are functioning, so are those of our society, and this pandemic has proven to us which are the strongest and most necessary of cogs.

The #ClapforCarers has put a grave responsibility on everyone to hold the frontline workers of our nation in the highest esteem. We cannot fail them by forgetting their sacrifices to maintain society whilst it was on the verge of crumbling. The days following this pandemic are unlikely to be easy, with experts warning that we may face the gravest global recession of our lifetime.[3] In such a time, our enemy will no longer be a microscopic virus. It will not be easy for us to band together as humans as we are doing now, but it will be more necessary than ever. As such, we cannot let the society that we are trying to reconstruct in the face of this pandemic collapse. If we can continue with such strong sentiments of generosity and sacrifice, we will surely be able to face whatever the future may bring.

[1] https://twitter.com/borisjohnson/status/1244339182690066433?s=12

[2] Holy Qur’an Chapter 4 Verse 37 Translated by Maulwi Sher Ali Sahib (ra)

[3] https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/covid-19-impact-morgan-stanley-expects-global-recession-in-first-half-of-2020