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Eko Hot Blog Ramadan Message.
The month of Ramadan is a holy month during which the Muslim faithfuls, who are medically fit, are mandated to fast for the 29 or 30 days. Aside from the fasting there are other spiritual endeavors that are expected to be fulfilled during this month, a Muslim can’t be said to have duly partaken in Ramadan if these fulfillment are not met.
Under the resulting conditions, Muslims generally were unable to fully approximate all the collective rites of worship customary to this period, the most important being tarawih prayers, i’tikaf and of course the Eid prayers.
However, this year’s Ramadan has got to be the most surreal and strangest in modern history of mankind no thanks to the virulent COVID-19 infection that brought the world to the the knee. The disease has unleashed unprecedented mayhem on human race, infecting 5.4 million and killing over 345, 000 people. Aside from the frightening mortality causation of the infection, it’s has also engendered a catastrophic economic downturn as the world came to the brink.
The world as it is now is at its darkest stage in modern history, one made possible by a virulent infection called COVID-19. This disease has had a devastating ripple effect on the whole world, it has led to loss of jobs and depletion of savings as people dip into their reserve for financial buffer as they strive to stay sane and safe amid lockdown.
The pandemic has exposed the susceptibility or fragility of mankind to superior forces of nature. The concern of everybody especially Muslims at a time like this should be on how to reconfirm the Quranic values of peace, justice, goodness, human fraternity and coexistence and to promote these values everywhere.
It is equally important to promote the spirit of sacrifice and universal mercy, mutual cooperation and culture of tolerance to strenuously deal with a common threat like the pandemic which the world is currently experiencing. These are all important messages of Ramadan, its fasting and its festival.
It is time to talk about sustainable development and unveil a new vision of social inclusion and social empowerment programme for those who keep falling through the crack in our society. It is time to spread and anchor the social safety net for the vulnerable. It is time to work for and pursue global peace and harmony. It is time to commit to preserving humanity through conscious effort and global cooperation.
Our conditions now must focus our minds on the important issues of those whose natural environments have become the trouble spots of the world. While the rich and middle class have economic buffer to fall back to to cushion the devastating effects of the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the downtrodden, needy and dregs of the society do not so much as enjoy such luxury, hence they have to rely heavily on generosity of benevolent citizens.
We must think about the less privileged, the needy, the vulnerable who are mostly worsted by the pandemic because they had been living with the pre-existing conditions of poverty, hunger, deprivation, social exclusion and other inequities.
The pandemic should also serve as a wake up call for the those at the helms of affair, to stand up to the rising occasion, the COVID-19 has further exposed the deplorable state of the public health care system in Nigeria which is made possible by years of ingrained distasteful governance and endemic corruption. Seeing how close the COVID-19 pandemic hit too close to home as it affected the elites and political class, one would expect that is unprecedented global health debacle will usher in a epoch moment that will revive the health sector.
Infrastructural facilities and social amenities that would boost the standard of living and put the country at a vantage position to enable it better tackle a health scourge of the type we are currently faced with should be aggressively embarked on.
As our Muslim brothers and sisters mark the conclusion of this year’s Ramadan with a low-key Eid el Fitri celebration, it’s quite instructive and imperative to point out the poignance of continuing the good deeds and actions that were exemplified during the holy month by the adherents of Islam as we hope and pray that next year’s Ramadan and subsequent ones meet us on earth.
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