HAROON RASHID BHAT
“You are the one Who saved the ark of Noah, parted the water and made way to Musa, cooled down the fire for Ibrahim. Kindly accept our repentance (Tawba) and save us from this mysterious disease – COVID-19 that made our lives distressful”
The omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, creator of the universe, You blessed us a unique status. You addressed us with a beautiful agnomen as Ashraful- Mukhlukat- the meaning the best among all. We can’t count Your blessings, You granted us heaven as our first home, You blessed us with a beautiful and dynamic body as a means to interact with the physical world, an intellectual faculty to differentiate good and bad, a spirit/Ruh to know the original reality. You bestowed all of us numerous gifts; unconditional and everlasting love, abundant natural resources like land, forests, water, fossil fuels, minerals, sunlight, air, etc. You have given meaning to our life by connecting us to the rest of the world through social relationships. This web of relations gives us an identity and the capacity to deal with whatever challenges come to us.
Alas! We could not sustain the legacy of our forefathers who considered serving mankind as part of their prayer and caring for other living or non-living entities as their prime duties. We underestimated our position; we have forgotten the original promise that we made in Your court. We are behaving like rebels, putting Your guiding principles or teachings aside, defying Your rules day and night, disturbing the equilibrium of nature. We have given preference to evil deeds over good deeds. We considered ourselves merely as the genetic machines; concerned only with our survival and replications. Our selfish and ruthless nature made us blind. We are utilizing all our energy to attain material gains; erect big barriers on Your land. Defaced the beautiful landscape, vandalized all natural resources in the name of development. Instead of sharing love, goodness, we feel proud as being the front runner in making this beautiful planet hell by our wicked deeds. You constructed, we demolished. We spoiled every gift that you blessed us. We interpreted Your word to suit our personal gains or quench the materialist thirst.
It is the law of nature that any wrong action has adverse results. Now we are experiencing frequent climate-related disasters, the spread of mysterious diseases become common. It is all because of our irresponsible attitude and selfish nature. Our Animal instincts overshadowed our original personality, We crossed the boundaries of immorality; teasing, molesting the daughters of Eve in the broad daylight, Supporting dishonest persons, projecting corrupt politicians defending hypocritical religious leaders. These all odd actions became my day-to-day affair. We have taken pleasure in watching horrible scenes-killing, looting, fighting. Our heart has become hard and my eyes don’t get wet at the time of grief. Our false pride made us the follower of Dr. Faustus –the character who is better-known for his material greed and nefarious deeds that led him to hell. Like him, we ignored the advice of good angles and practiced the acts of Lucifer day and night. ” My extreme greed made me the follower of Icarus- the Greek mythological character who is better known as the flyer who fell from the sky when the wax that joined his wings was melted by the heat of the sun.
O! Creator, the most gracious, the most kind, Savior, and Comforter, we are burdened with our sins, we are ashamed, our future seems to be bleak, Now, we’re standing on the door of hope-Repentance, with folded, hands seeking forgiveness of our bad deeds. You are the one Who saved the ark of Noah, parted the water and made way to Musa, cooled down the fire for Ibrahim. Kindly accept our repentance (Tawba) and save us from this mysterious disease – COVID-19 that made our lives distressful.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher and columnist, can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com.
