Religious Logic Against the Pandemic
Death is so close. It approaches and snatches those closest to us, even our family members. Sad news is broadcast incessantly on social media channels.
When mapped typologically, religion has played at least two conflicting roles in society’s fight against Covid-19: a productive role and a contradictory role.
The productive role is when religion is used as ammunition to support the national Covid-19 response. On the flip side, it takes a contradictory role when religion is used as an instrument to erode efforts to fight the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, these two roles have existed and have created dialectics in society. In the early days of the pandemic, religious narratives were even used by a handful of individuals as a tool for spreading propaganda that countered the existence of Covid-19. Some viewed the pandemic as a “trick” (conspiracy theory) employed by certain parties to undermine the religious spirit: that people should not be afraid to fight the virus and should only fear Allah; that the deaths were not caused by the virus, but the will of God; etc.
Cognitive dissonance
However, in the present, especially amid the "raging" new Delta variant, most people are more aware and alert to the real threat of Covid-19. Horror is haunting all, everywhere.
Death is so close. It approaches and snatches those closest to us, even our family members. Sad news is broadcast incessantly on social media channels. The deaths and interment of Covid-19 victims has raised a deep awareness among the people that dying from Covid-19 is real and cannot be underestimated.
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> The Role of Religion in Facing Covid-19
In big cities such as Jakarta and Surabaya, the sound of sirens as ambulances shuttle back and forth has dramatically heightened people’s emotional state. The virus’ spread (positivity rate), the bed occupancy rate (BOR) at hospitals, the difficulty of finding hospital rooms and the phenomenon of abandoning patients at hospitals have reinforced a belief among people that the threat of Covid-19 is real.
Slowly but surely, those who initially doubted the existence of Covid-19 have been left speechless now as they witness the heart-wrenching "death parade".
This is where what is known as "cognitive dissonance" is happening, when logic is not functioning consistently in digesting this phenomenon of life.
Their consciousness and beliefs truly changed only when they saw victims were falling to the disease everywhere.
On the one hand, most members of our society believe in the occult, mainly because it is among the pillars of faith. On the other hand, many remained unconvinced that Covid-19, which is also invisible, is real. Their consciousness and beliefs truly changed only when they saw victims were falling to the disease everywhere. In a somewhat hyperbolic term, they were utterly stunned when death became an undeniable “new normal.”
Divided reason
Cognitive dissonance occurs due to a split in people’s logical processes when perceiving the pandemic: between the inductive and positivistic logic of science on the one hand, and the deductive and normative logic of religion on the other. The two seemed to be entirely disconnected, even as they appeared collide diametrically.
Saudis and foreign residents circumambulate (Tawaf) the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca, on October 4, 2020, as authorities partially resume the year-round Umrah for a limited number of pilgrims amid extensive health precautions after a seven-month coronavirus hiatus.
As a result, adhering to the health protocols during worship is considered an erosion of religious “values”. In addition, restrictive regulations regarding places of worship and religious activities during the pandemic are deemed to be belittling, even undermining, religion.
Family members forcibly reclaiming the bodies of Covid-19 victims, which occurred at a number of hospitals, is another example that shows the people are still divided in their logic as regards the country\'s pandemic policies. They still want the burial procedures and rituals to take place within the framework of religious tradition. They believe that the health protocols regulating the treatment and burial of Covid-19 victims violate religious tradition, which could then result in the souls of the deceased being left in the grave.
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> COVID-19 Handling Command Strengthened
Fortunately, slowly but surely, society is now becoming relatively better informed as regards the intricacies of Covid-19. In general, public logic has been undergoing a process of transformation towards a more positive direction in accepting the reality of the pandemic. The transformational process of communities in their response to Covid-19, of course, cannot be separated from the positive and productive narratives that are developing simultaneously and consistently from scientists, religious leaders, community leaders, the political elite and a number of mass organizations in Indonesia, who are telling the public that the threat posed by Covid-19 and all related aspects are real.
Measuring religious logic
The challenge in handling Covid-19 in the future, therefore, is how to prevent religious logic at the grassroots level from blocking government policies. This is where the logical divide must be addressed immediately, by taking account of religious logic as it applies to every public policy on Covid-19 handling. This is intended to ensure that policy logic is inseparable from religious logic.
The success of integrating the two types of logic can be measured, for one, by an absence of public resistance to policy. Saudi Arabia is one country that has succeeded in overcoming the division between secular and religious logic in each public policy it has issued in relation to Covid-19 handling.
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President Joko Widodo gave a statement 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).
It is possible that its success derives not only from the absence of opposition and resistance from a number of interest groups, but also from its social assistance scheme as compensation for any harm the policies might effect at the grassroots level. As a result, the closure of the two great mosques at the center of the haj –Al Haram Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet\'s Mosque in Medina – did not provoke controversy and excessive resistance among the public.
In this context, the brief speech from Indonesian Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin during the takbir prayer on the eve of Idul Adha 1442 H deserves appreciation. Quoting the views of prominent cleric Sheikh Nawawi al-Bantani, the Vice President emphasized the need for public obedience to all Covid-19 regulations, which were based on benefiting the public.
"Observing that government regulations contain the public good is obligatory mu\'akkad, or very mandatory," said Ma\'ruf. This kind of narrative is a positive effort to "embody" religious narratives into public policy, which can then be expected to reduce public controversy and resistance.
In terms of prevention, religious narratives can be used as a basis for arguing for the implementation of localized lockdowns (PPKM Darurat).
In addition, incorporating religious logic as a function of any pandemic policy can be maximized at two concurrent levels, the preventive and the curative. In terms of prevention, religious narratives can be used as a basis for arguing for the implementation of localized lockdowns (PPKM Darurat).
This strategy has been carried out by the New York City government, when it quoted the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad in one of its video ads: “If you hear of an epidemic in an area, then do not enter it. But if a plague occurs where you are, then do not leave that place.” (Bukhari).
If necessary, the government\'s call to fight Covid-19 must be interpreted as a "holy war" or jihad during the time of the pandemic, with the Covid-19 deaths classified as martyrdom as in the Prophet\'s Hadith: "Whoever dies from the plague, he dies." (Bukhari)
As a last resort, holding congregational prayers online can be a preventive strategy to help boost each individual’s immunity through a placebo effect, or through the effect of (psychological) suggestion. Let us hope!
Masdar Hilmy.
Masdar Hilmy, Rector UIN Sunan Ampel, Surabaya; Survivor of Covid-19
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).
