Leaders cite Ramadhan lessons to rally support versus coronavirus

COTABATO CITY --- Leaders in the Bangsamoro region again urged constituents to obey Malacañang’s anti-coronavirus regulations, invoking Ramadhan fasting norms as good insurance from infection.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadhan, which started April 24, both as a religious obligation and imbue among them the value of self-restraint to achieve spiritual perfection.

“Let the Ramadhan spirit inspire us to strictly adhere to government regulations intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Basilan. While fasting, we have to pray for divine intervention on this problem that the world is facing now,” Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman said Wednesday. 

He said residents of Basilan, which has 11 towns and two cities, Lamitan and Isabela, must not be complacent with not having even a single COVID-19 case in the island province since President Rodrigo Duterte declared a national health emergency last March. 

Islam has extensive teachings on quarantine procedures, as taught in the Qur'an and as practiced by the religion's progenitor, Mohammad to protect Muslims from contagious diseases.

There are religious books telling stories about the suspension for many times of the yearly hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah in what is now Saudi Arabia, due to outbreaks of infectious diseases in Middle Eastern areas.

“The restrictions must continue. Not having any COVID-19 patient in Basilan should not be a reason for us to disregard quarantine protocols,” Salliman said. 

Salliman also urged fasting residents of Basilan to observe social distancing during the five obligatory daily prayer rites in their homes. 

The Darul Iftah, or House of Opinions, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, had earlier asked Muslims to refrain from converging in mosques for the nighttime Ramadhan tarawee prayers in support of the government’s COVID-19 containment efforts. 

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. also had a similar appeal Wednesday to residents of the 39 towns in the province and in the more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City. 

“We also have to avoid spreading fake news about the COVID-19 situation in the province and elsewhere. Doing so is a sin in our religion. Let the essence of Ramadhan keep us strong and together in our common war on COVID-19,” Adiong said in an emailed statement. 

He said Maranaws should only listen to COVID-19 advisories from government agencies, from the provincial government and from the local government units in their hometowns. 

“Most importantly, we have the Bangsamoro Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 and, in the national level, the Inter-Agency Task Force for Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases from where we can get correct and truthful advisories” Adiong said. 

Adiong said Maranaws also ought to immediately report to their local government units any suspected COVID-19 case in their communities.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, who is BARMM’s local government minister, said he is thankful to fasting Muslims involved in physically taxing anti-COVID-19 assignments in the field. 

Sinarimbo is overseeing the operation of BARMM’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence, or READI, which is in the forefront of the Bangsamoro regional government’s campaign against COVID-19.

“Let us pray for the good health of those in the frontlines, the employees of different regional and national agencies, personnel of the police and the military who are working together against this pandemic,” Sinarimbo said. 

He said the BARMM has just downloaded P1 million for each of the 116 municipal governments in the region to augment LGU funds for anti-COVID-19 operations. 

The Bangsamoro region’s two cities, Lamitan and Marawi, each received P2 million while the provincial governments in its constituent-provinces, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, each got P5 million anti-COVID-19 fund support from BARMM.