Everything About the Religious Event in Indonesia Whereby Muslim Pilgrims Gather Despite COVID-19 Outbreak

By
Shawn Ambrose
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If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the Covid-19 outbreak, it’s that one tiny error in judgement can lead to a huge spike in cases and even deaths.

From 27 Feb to 1 March, 16,000 people attended a religious event at the Sri Petaling mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

These people had gathered to pray, but unbeknownst to them, the coronavirus was quietly spreading unnoticed among the guests.

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Now, Malaysia has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia, with 513 of the 790 cases linked to the event.

Two people have died, and some foreigners who attended the event brought the disease back home with them.

Brunei has confirmed 50 infections linked to it, while Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have also said citizens were infected there.

It’s evident from this example that large gatherings of any kind should be avoided for the time being, right?

Well, not everyone thinks so.

Thousands Gather For Religious Event in Indonesia Despite COVID-19 Outbreak

Thousands of Muslim pilgrims from across Asia gathered in Indonesia for a religious event despite the serious Covid-19 situation.

Just like the event in Malaysia, it was organised by members of Tablighi Jama’at, a global movement of evangelical Muslims that promotes proselytising, known as dakwah.

According to one official, people from all over the world – Thailand, Arabia, India, and the Philippines – are coming to the country to attend the event.

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But why would the organisers go through with it despite the dangers?

“More Afraid of God”

The organisers said the event had already begun, although the regional police chief said he was making a last ditch-effort to persuade organisers to call it off.

The organisers had also rejected a formal request from authorities to postpone the gathering, said a regional official, Arifuddin Saeni.

“We are more afraid of God,” one of the organisers, Mustari Bahranuddin, told Reuters, when asked about the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.

“Because everyone’s human, we fear illnesses, death,” he said. “But there’s something more to the body, which is our soul.”

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Promotional material for the Indonesian gathering read, “The pleasure of living in this world is only a little, compared to the afterlife.”

Is there Chendol in the afterlife, though?

Saeni estimates that a whopping 8,695 people had already assembled in Gowa, saying that the large numbers would make it difficult to call off the event.

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The organisers were checking pilgrims’ temperatures as a precaution, however.

Saeni said health officials had also visited the site and asked to monitor participants.

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227 Infections

Indonesia currently has 227 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 19 deaths.

It’s unclear when this religious event will end, but let’s just hope it doesn’t cause a huge spike in cases in the country like it did in Malaysia.

If not, we might see a lockdown in Indonesia, and there goes Indomie.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]