Voice of British Muslim Women

Kholood Tahir, Morden

In the past few months, we have lived through  unprecedented times which will indeed make it to the history books . Covid-19 has rattled the world in such a way that people from all walks of life – the elderly, the young, the rich, the poor – are left fearing for their lives. Although viral infections are quite common, what has made Covid-19 so dangerous is its tendency to spread easily and the lack of any vaccine or treatment. On the 23^rd of March, England entered lockdown with only essential travel being permitted and just key workers going to work. This indeed had a great impact on the lives of many, including students. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) stated that:

‘Acquiring knowledge is an obligation on all Muslims.’[i]

For some seekers of knowledge, the news of lockdown brought a temporary pause to their daily routines, with exams being postponed until September or being cancelled altogether; for others, education continued through a remote format with assignments and exams being conducted online. For the second type of student, whilst the world was trying to learn new skills, bake the tastiest banana bread or whip up the perfect dalgona coffee, the only thing on their mind was to prepare for the strangest exam season of their lives, with Muslims reciting the Qur’anic prayer:

‘…My Lord! increase me in knowledge.’ [ii]

At King’s College London, most of the senior lecturers for the Medicine course are also clinicians or doctors, so they were pulled away from their teaching duties to serve at the front line. Therefore, we as first year medics were given access to the previous years’ lecture recordings, as well as workshop/ seminar worksheets with answers and an email of good luck to complete the rest of the year by ourselves. It was a challenge for us to complete units such as Neuroscience, Epidemiology, Genomics etc. on our own. Where normally teaching would be supported with anatomy practical sessions, we tried to make do with YouTube videos and turned to resources on the internet to help us through this time. Many of us who were accustomed to studying in quiet spaces away from home, were left with no choice but to clear the clutter from our bedroom desks and transform our rooms into libraries.

‘…Our Lord, in Thee do we put our trust, and to Thy do we turn repentant, and towards Thee is the final return.’ [iii]

Personally, the arrival of Ramadan during lockdown for me was God’s Gift to help me get through those increasingly stressful days preceding my exams. During the day, I endeavoured to fulfil the Haquq’Allah (Rights of God) by fasting and spending my time in the remembrance of Almighty God and during the nights I would endeavour to prepare myself to one day fulfil the Haquq-ul-Ibaad (Rights of people) by studying the various systems of the human body and the biochemical pathways that take place to keep us alive. One of my favourite modules to revise was Nutrition & Metabolism as it was interesting to learn in depth the processes that take place in the body whilst fasting and the many physical benefits all the while being mindful that Allah is the ultimate Healer.

‘O Lord of mankind! Remove my illness and cure me. Only You can cure and there is no cure except through You. Such a cure which leaves behind no disease.’ [iv]

More than anything, the experience of living through a global pandemic taught me the value of service to humanity and the incredible role all key workers have played for the wellbeing of the country and the world. During the span of the time, all worldly activities such as retail, transport, leisure and social activities came to a stop, however service to humanity continued. A few months ago His Holiness Khalifatul Masih V reminded us that the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) taught “…spiritual advancement is intrinsically linked to serving humanity and so a Muslim could not attain the love of God Almighty just through worship and prayer. Rather the love of God Almighty requires Muslims to serve humanity.” [v] May Allah the Almighty enable us to do this, Ameen.

‘…Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as good in the world to come…’ [vi]

[i] Hadith Sunan Ibn Majah

[ii] Holy Qur’an chapter 20 verse 115. Maulawi Sher Ali translation

[iii] Holy Qur’an chapter 60 verse 5. Maulawi Sher Ali translation

[iv] Prayer for healing as cited by Huzoor Aqdas in his Friday sermon of 28 Sept 2018. Translation taken from Al Hakam of 19 Oct 2018.

[v] Address by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V delivered at UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France. https://www.alislam.org/articles/islamic-principles-on-education-serving-humanity/

[vi] Holy Qur’an chapter 2 verse 202. Maulawi Sher Ali translation