12th May, 2020
PRESS RELEASE:
COVID-19: JOIN HUMANITY IN PRAYER & FASTING - MURIC
As part of its efforts to realize the
objectives of the Document on Human Fraternity, the Higher Committee for Human
Fraternity has announced that Thursday May 14th, 2020, should be observed as a
day for fasting, prayers, and supplications to overcome COVID-19 and for the
good of all humanity.
“In response to this call, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has
called on Nigerians from all walks of life to join the rest of the world in fasting
and praying on Thursday, 14th May, 2020. The call was made in a
press statement issued by the Director of the human rights organization,
Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Tuesday, 12th May, 2020.
The statement reads:
“The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity has requested all
mankind to engage in fasting and prayer on Thursday, 14th May, 2020.
The purpose is to find a spiritual platform for combating COVID-19. This is a
spiritual exercise that cuts across all faiths.
“The document from the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity
actually came through the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA)
for further dissemination and we consider it our duty to give it maximum
publicity for the benefit of our great country, Nigeria.
“Homo sapien is currently focused on finding a scientific
solution to corona virus. The search has been going on for months but there is
no solution in sight yet. Realising that man is body, soul and spirit, the need
for bringing in the spiritual angle to complement science has become very
germane.
“Man may labour in vain
looking for the way out of a problem if there is no divine inspiration. Prayer is
useful as we can use it to seek refuge in the All-Powerful. Most importantly,
prayer is capable of opening the gates of wisdom as mankind searches for the
right medication for COVID-19. Therefore the call for resort to prayer is not
tantamount to giving up on a scientific solution but a means of seeking
guidance for our scientists.
“Though Muslims are already in the Ramadan fasting period, the
rest of humanity is urged to join in this quest. It is an interfaith exercise
that has nothing to do with Ramadan. Muslims who are already fasting are
therefore urged to dedicate the day to praying for the panacea for the corona pandemic.
“Our major prayer point
should be that Allah, God, Ubangiji, Chineke, Ebube Dike, Olorun Olodumare,
Osanobwa, Soko or whatever name we call Him in our various creeds should guide
scientists all over the world to find a lasting solution to the current
scourge. Also that the Almighty, the All-Knowing who knows the origin of
COVID-19, who Himself is the font et origo of all knowledge and from whom the
sorce of COVID-19 cannot be hidden, should in His Infinite Wisdom and
Inconprehensible Compassion, forgive humanity its iniquities and evacuate the
pandemic from the earth in no distant time.
“In a nutshell, we enjoin Nigerians
to sink their differences and join hands in fasting and praying together on
Thursday, 14th May, 2020, for a solution to COVID-19 and the safety
of humanity. We charge all religious leaders and the Nigerian people to hearken to the call of
the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity to beseech God Almighty together, in
the words of the Committee ‘to safeguard the entire world, to help us overcome
this pandemic, to restore security, stability, healthiness, and prosperity, so
that, after this pandemic is over, our world will become a better place for
humanity and fraternity than ever before.’”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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