When you read the Qurʾanic verses and the noble narrations concerning the tasks of the scholars of religion, you find that the wise dimension of leadership, for the sake of rescuing the Umma and guiding it in
the darkest circumstances and challenges it goes through, is the most prominent dimension, and it is the dimension that gives the scholars their due and shows the depth of their insight.
The coronavirus pandemic, over which the world has surged from one end to the other, is an event unique of its kind, however much some minds have tried to deny it altogether; and regardless of its true and actual causes, which none knows except Allah the Exalted, it is a challenge among the challenges of confrontation that have befallen mankind—indeed, it was of the kind of general challenges in which all countries have shared, such that history will record it as one of the defining events in the social history of nations.
At this historic moment, many scholars of religion have restored to us the memory that had been forgotten despite its being evident—that memory which the verses of the Noble Qurʾan engraved from its beginning to its end, that memory which was a gushing forth of the pure springs in the conduct of the Household of Prophethood (a), in what it contains of the prophets of Allah, the Imams and their righteous devotees stepping forward to shape awareness and illuminate the path for people’s minds in the darkest circumstances.
You may read how awareness can be falsified through direction and programming; you may recite the verses about the deviation of conduct when facing harsh challenges; indeed, you may discover how philosophies take shape amid the clamor of trials and hardships. It is weak man, who tries to find for himself a justification wrapped in awareness in order to flee from confronting with awareness, whether he realizes it or not. You may read all those realities and more in the statements of the noble verses, in the insights of the noble narrations, and in what the sacred conduct of the Infallibles faced.
Yes, the stepping forward of a group of scholars in this rare historical period, and their not isolating themselves from the Umma and its concerns, summons to our memory all those stances, restores confidence in the insightful spirit with which their awareness moves, and takes pride in the breath of faith that carries the torch of responsibility toward faith and the human being.
We may make a brief reference to some of those tasks that the scholars of religion undertook, whether they were among those who appeared in public or those who supported from behind the curtains, as follows:
1- The fatwas that were present for awareness of the religious duty, especially given the existence of a jurisprudence of one-upmanship and superficial thinking.
2- Educational guidance in the face of the challenges, especially given the existence of a culture of distraction by the event, or of the obsessions of panic, with forgetfulness of the areas of proper educational investment.
3- Intellectual guidance and awareness of the doctrinal dimensions and the worldview, in a world of stoking the spirit of skepticism and atheism.
4- Founding and supporting social and charitable initiatives in communities, and strengthening the cooperative spirit of faith.
So thank you for the stance of awareness, honor and responsibility.
Thank you, scholars of religion.
Thank you to the thinkers, the intellectuals and the believers who follow their path.
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
