Religious Leaders Urged to Play Central Role in Pandemic Mitigation

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

The atmosphere of intimacy between interfaith leaders at the Mass Vaccination of Ulama, Interfaith Leaders, and Santri at the auditorium of the Great Mosque of Central Java (MAJT), Semarang City, Wednesday (10/3/2021).

The involvement of religious leaders is needed to encourage communities to address COVID-19 together. This encouragement needs to be conveyed in a communicative and amicable way.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The recent COVID-19 case spike, which has resulted in the soaring occupancy of hospital beds, is attributable partly to public ignorance about the pandemic. Interfaith leaders have been urged to become role models to help remind people to increase their awareness and comply with health protocols.

Former Muhammadiyah chairman Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif said the current surge in cases showed that the disease could harm anyone, regardless of social rank, ethnicity, race or creed.

Also read:

> Vaccines for the Entire Indonesian Population

> The World Enters Critical Stage of the Pandemic Again

“Those who are in denial of the existence of COVID-19 are only a few or a minority in the community. This small group must be incessantly pushed toward awareness," said Buya, chairman of Muhammadiyah central executive board from 1998 to 2005.

He was speaking during a webinar titled “Cendekiawan Berdedikasi Kompas 2021” [Kompas Dedicated Scholars 2021] held on Thursday with the theme of the contribution of religious leaders to handling the pandemic.Buya blamed the emergence of COVID-19 denialism on social media, which he said was difficult to control. Unscrupulousness in processing information, he said, could cause people to fall prey to heretical and radical doctrines.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif

A recipient of the Kompas Daily Dedicated Scholar Award in 2013, Buya accused COVID-19 deniers of manipulating faith and intelligence. In fact, he said, religion was intended for thoughtful people.

Buya said that during the leadership of [caliph] Umar bin Khattab, a group of Muslims from Medina decided to stay away from an area reportedly experiencing a disease outbreak. Umar and his entourage chose to prioritize safety. This showed, Buya said, that religious people used their minds to engage with issues.

He also warned against the use faith as a pretext to disregard COVID-19.

Reflecting on the story, he urged the community to implement preventive measures by complying with health protocols so as not to contract the virus. He also warned against the use faith as a pretext to disregard COVID-19.

‘Covid is real’

Buya pointed out the need to continue to provide facts and understanding about COVID-19 to the disease’s deniers. He called on religious leaders to invite their congregations to join forces to curb the virus by implementing health protocols.

KOMPAS/HERLAMBANG JALUARDI

Chairman of PB Nahdlatul Ulama Said Aqiel Siradj in his office, Thursday (23/4/2020). Said appealed to Muslims to continue to worship at their respective homes during the month of Ramadan, even until Eid al-Fitr for the sake of mutual safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Religious leaders must continue to impart reminders that the danger of COVID-19 is real and not concocted. Use persuasive language that touches the heart. Maybe this method will be more communicable because humans, in essence, are good,” he said.

A call against following misleading COVID-19 narratives was also made by Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Marsudi Syuhud, who said that the spike in cases and the subsequently overwhelmed hospital beds were a testament to reality and danger of the disease.

Separately, Catholic clergyman Antonius Benny Susetyo appealed to fellow religious leaders to set an example by implementing the health protocols “because, so far, people have lost their role models and trust in many political elites who have violated health protocols”.

Kompas/Priyombodo

Elderly people talk after receiving the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the church of ST Stefanus, Cilandak, South Jakarta, Tuesday (13/4/2021).

The government is enforcing micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM), which according to Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin in a special interview with Kompas, are believed to be the best possible way to deal with the ongoing spike in cases. (MTK/INA/WKM/CAS/HAR)

(This article was translated by Musthofid).