Mirza Yawar Baig – Post Covid Opening Masaajid

			Many brothers and sisters salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah. But
		

			Alhamdulillah
		

			we are seeing the opening of the lockdowns in different countries.
		

			And we are also seeing that our brothers and sisters are quite understandably very happy about that.
And many people are saying that Oh, that is so nice. And now we can go back to the massages and we
can
		

			pray as usual and so on and so forth. Now it's in that context that I want to talk to you about what
is the meaning of as usual, my brothers or sisters,
		

			let me say a few things to you, which I request you to listen to very carefully.
		

			The first thing is that both the lockdowns and the lifting of the lockdowns were political
decisions, they were administrative decisions, they were not medical decisions,
		

			both locking down as well as lifting the lockdown were essential. Because
		

			that is that is the extent of the knowledge that we had, that social distancing.
		

			Self quarantine is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID. And so therefore, lockdowns were done
across the world, in all countries, airline travel was stopped, all kinds of public transportation
was stopped and so on and so on.
		

			Now, obviously, those lock downs had a negative effect on the
		

			economies of countries, on people earning a living and so on. And so therefore, those lock downs
have to be lifted. Believe me,
		

			it is easy to criticize, from hindsight, hindsight is always 2020. But believe me, if you are there
in the place of the of the people, the leaders of the countries with locked up, and who are lifting
those lock downs, if I was in their place, you and I would have done exactly what they have done,
and what they did,
		

			because neither you are getting what he nor am I getting away, nor are they getting away, or we are
all human, and we try to act to the best of our abilities with the best of intentions for the
betterment of everyone concerned.
		

			So criticizing today is easy.
		

			And it is pointless. What we have to understand is that the as I mentioned earlier, the lifting of
the lockdown is a political decision. It's an administrative decision, it's not a medical decision,
it does not mean that the danger of COVID is over, and that we can go back to our lives as we used
to live them. This does not mean that please understand this and understand it very very clearly.
		

			So therefore, what must we do? Therefore, we must continue to exercise the safety measures and the
precautions that we have been exercising, we must continue to wash our hands We must continue to
wear masks, we must continue to maintain social distance where we are with people with these things
must not change. Because please understand my brothers and sisters for the COVID
		

			virus, the best and the fastest environment in which it can spread is when there is a crowd inside a
building.
		

			The virus doesn't care what the intention of that crowd is it does not care why those people came
together in that place. Whether they came together to worship Allah, whether they came together to
worship some, some somebody or something else, whether they came together to have a party, whether
they came together for a wedding or a funeral, whether they came together to study in a university
or a school, that wireless doesn't care about that it doesn't matter to the virus, the spread of the
virus will happen because a whole lot of people came together in one confined closed space.
		

			What adds to that is the use of air conditioning is the use of fans and so on which only helps the
virus to spread more.
		

			Therefore what must we do? Do not gather do not come together in buildings. The fact that that
building is a must it makes no difference. It is equally dangerous. It is equally dangerous. My
brothers and sisters. So therefore my recommendation is evil
		

			Though governments have opened the masajid you please do not open them. Do not open them. Don't open
every Masjid maybe one or two big massages in the cities if you insist on it, and there in those
massages, please exercise total and complete caution and every precaution that we are supposed to
take, which is masks and washing of hands before you come to the masjid make whoodle before you come
to the masjid, bring your own prayer mat and mark the spots which have a clear six foot
		

			two meter space around them. spend the least amount of time possible in the masjid just five
minutes, 10 minutes, if it is Juma 15 minutes, including the coda, and leave, don't stay there for
an hour, Phil don't stay there to make dua and so on and so forth. Then all elderly people, anyone
over the age of 65, anyone with any chronic ailment like diabetes, or heart conditions, and so on
and so forth. Anyone who has elderly people in the house and is going to end and that person will go
back to those elderly people, women, children, all of these people, please do not go to the massage.
		

			And if anybody the massage committee is the massage administration, I'm speaking to if anybody
insists on that, if anybody argues about that, if anybody tries to make a nuisance, please call the
police. As simple as that, please call the police and place a restraining order on that person
because that person is harmful to himself or herself and to everybody else. My brothers and sisters,
I want to remind you of this very, very critical important factor which is that in Islam the number
one criterion for decision making, theologically speaking is the preservation of human life.
		

			For the preservation of human life, even something which is normally Haram, which is normally
private, it becomes permissible, if it is necessary to preserve human life, if a person is going to
die of starvation is in danger of dying of starvation and if the only thing available in the only
food available is pork, then that person that Muslim is permitted to eat that pork that one time to
save his or her life.
		

			So therefore, it is our primary responsibility that we do not get COVID and we do not become the
unwitting vectors and the unwitting propagators of COVID. Because of our not taking precautions,
this is our number one religious duty theologically speaking, I'm not even saying medically
theologically speaking, my number one religious duty is that we do not endanger ourselves and we do
not endanger others, unwittingly I know you will not do it deliberately, but unwittingly because we
do not take precautions. That is a very, very important thing to understand. Now, I'm hearing people
are sending me hot bars and lectures by various people from India, from Pakistan and various other
		

			places who are arguing these mcgurrin and these hottie herbs, these speakers and these, these
preachers, they are saying that this is the time for us to gather in the massage, this is the time
for us to come together in the massage. This is the time for Muslims to come together and seek
forgiveness of Allah subhanaw taala for our sins and for the sins of other people. This is the time
for us to gather together and make dua to Allah subhanho wa Taala and seek His protection and ask
Allah subhanaw taala to remove this virus and this epidemic from us and the Lille the the the proof
that they are giving, they are saying that also nosara salam used to gather people for solar and
		

			lunar eclipses to read a special salah and to make dua. Now, my brothers sisters, please understand
this. If the person who is saying this cannot differentiate between a solar and lunar eclipse and
COVID an epidemic that is highly contagious, and which spreads even by asymptomatic people through
contact personal contract or through being together in the same place, if this person cannot
differentiate between a solar and lunar eclipse and an epidemic, a contagious epidemic like this,
that that person has no right to speak, that person has no right to the platform he or she is
standing on. That person has no right to open their mouth. The best thing that can be said to them
		

			is if you cannot say something constructive Shut your mouth Keep your mouth shut and they should not
be given the state they should not be given a place to speak. And if you are foolish enough to
believe such people and if you are foolish enough to follow such people, then believe me you are
responsible for
		

			What comes out as a result of that, you know, and I know that in India, there was a web HTML, which
happened just before the lockdown. And the people in India, they blamed Muslims and the web is in
particular, and Muslims, all Indian Muslims in general, for the spread of COVID in India, believe
me, that was a false claim that was unjust, that was very, very unjustified. And it was very wrong.
But you can break your head saying that nobody is going to believe you. There are people in India
there are marketplaces and so on and so forth, where people are saying, Don't buy from Muslim shops
because Muslims spread COVID Believe me, if you open your masajid and COVID spreads, that is what is
		

			going to be said about Muslims worldwide. And you and I will not be able to show our faces outside
on the street. And we will be responsible for that. It doesn't matter that that would be unjust.
Yes, it is unjust. But we don't care. People don't care, because people only believe what they want
to believe. And doing this, opening the massage and allowing COVID to spread will be like giving the
islamophobes and the anti muslim propagandists a gift of gift wrapped package to say, here is our
own behavior. Please take it and use it against us. It would be something as foolish as that. Now
you might say well, what is the evidence that COVID will spread with the opening of Masada? Let me
		

			give you just this morning I got a message from South Africa to say that in the Garden City COVID
ICU the whole ICU is full of COVID patients in which there is only one person who is not Muslim,
everybody else is Muslim. How did that happen? Because of the eat gatherings and because of the
opening where people ran to the massage in Milpark COVID ICU it is full and every single person is a
Muslim. As a result in Roshni, which is in Johannesburg, and in other places, massage that once
again been shut down. Tell me Is this what you want to happen? Is this what you want to happen in
your places that you are blamed for the spread of COVID
		

			is a very dear friend of mine is like my neighbor who says to be our data. He says if you say this,
then they will pronounce you a Kaffir they will say that you are you have left Islam they will say
that you have a pastor sighs I say to you, my brothers and sisters, whoever wants to call me an
apostate most welcome. Please do that. Because only Allah knows what is in the heart and Allah
subhanaw taala knows that in my heart I am Muslim. I am saying this for your benefit. I am saying
this so that Muslims will not be blamed for the spread of COVID. Please exercise every caution. I
submit you do not even open or massage. Don't open the massage. If you insist on opening open one or
		

			two big massage and exercise all precautions. As I mentioned earlier, I'm repeating it please
forgive me for repeating, but exercise every single precautions. My brothers and sisters, those who
don't want to listen to the doctors and those of the alama who don't want to listen to doctors,
please understand this. When doctors try to talk about theological things. What do you say? You say,
don't talk about something in which you are not an expert. We are the experts. You ask us you don't
tell us. I said say the same thing to you. You are not medical practitioners, you are not medical
experts. Don't open your mouth in something that you have no knowledge about. You are not doctors,
		

			listen to the doctors. Don't argue with them. Listen to them. You are not doctors, you are not
qualified to give an opinion in a medical matter. Just as they are not qualified to give an opinion
in a theological matter, you if you want to give an opinion, take their opinion first listen to
them, be convinced by them and then you may open your mouth and you may say what you want, don't
interfere with them. That would be a sign of ignorance and I hope our Allah will not do this. Please
understand that I'm only saying this because people have sent me clips, audio and video clips of
people who are giving who are speaking on public platforms who are giving Juma hotbars or uploading
		

			videos within course, people who are called Allah a saying that why should we do that? They are
saying they open the bars and they open the liquor shops doesn't COVID spread with that please try
to use some intelligence. We are not saying COVID doesn't Of course COVID will spread through the
bar and the disco and the and and the liquor shop. But Muslims will not be blamed for that. If that
same COVID spreads to the masjid you and I will be blamed for that if you are not even intelligent
enough to understand that and you
		

			Want to use this kind of an argument? Please keep your mouth shut. Please keep your mouth shut. That
is the safest thing to do. Right? Keep your mouth shut. Don't talk, don't if you are not intelligent
enough to make if you're not, if you don't have the sense to make an intelligent, a conservative
comment, keep your mouth shut. That is the safest thing to do.
		

			The question of opening bars and so on and so forth. Nobody says that is good. Nobody says that
should have been done. Whatever reason it was done, it was done. But you are not to be blamed. I'm
sure many of you saw many tweets posted by non Muslims. Because the opening of the bars and the
liquor shops happened just after the WD Jama thing where everyone was blaming the W DS and the
Muslims, non Muslims posted tweets with pictures of bars and long lines of people standing close
together, and so on. And they said how many calories are in this, please count the number of
calories. Please count the number of Muslim people who are speaking for you and for me, people who
		

			are defending you and me, my brothers and sisters, don't take that away. Don't take that away by
your own unnecessary enthusiasm to open the massage right. So please do not open the massage. If you
have to open exercise every single caution. And if anyone argues about that, enforce those rules.
Even if it is necessary to call the police to do that and to place restraining orders. It is not a
matter of a man. The one who is arguing in favor of not taking precautions is the one who must
consider and check their roadmap. It is not it is not the one who wants to be careful. It is the one
who does not want to be careful who must be careful about who must who must check his his or her own
		

			email. ask Allah subhanaw taala to protect you from COVID ask Allah those who are sick, wherever and
whoever they are. May Allah subhanaw taala cure them completely and totally May Allah protect all
human beings everywhere from COVID Mela live this, this, this disease and this problem from all of
us. Let us all pray together in our own homes. Allah subhanho wa Taala knows and here's our prayer.
You don't have to physically come together to pray, pray from wherever you are, and ask Allah
subhanaw taala for itself alojado salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato