The\ncoronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on life in\nunprecedented ways. Never before has any issue wreaked havoc at such a grand\nscale not just globally, economically, socially, personally and even\nreligiously. Indeed, COVID-19 has marked a tragic cost of human lives, and\neconomic distress as the world has been put in a great lockdown to flatten the\ncurve. Although there are countries that have gradually recovered, many are\nstill struggling with surges. Until effective vaccines are found, preventive\nmeasures should be relentless. Besides adhering to movement control policies and\nactions, the Shariah mindset must be considered in exploring new norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\noutbreak is ultimately a test from God despite various theories invoked about\nits origin. Outbreaks, disasters, and tests faced by humans are nothing new or\nimpossible. It is mentioned in the Qur’an that the ancient peoples who had\ngreater achievements and economic strength were also tested and destroyed for what\nthey were proud of. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were buried in the earth by\nshowering brimstones and clay that destroyed their arrogance. The grand armies\nwho were trying to destroy the Kaaba were attacked by small birds carrying only\nsmall stones (surah<\/em> Al-F\u012bl<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Surah Al-Rum<\/em> verse 41 Allah says: \u201cCorruption\nhas appeared throughout the land and sea by (reason of) what the hands of\npeople have earned so He may let them taste part of (the consequence of) what\nthey have done that perhaps they will return (to righteousness).\u201d COVID-19 is neither\nexclusive nor completely unexpected but not impossible. What is the wisdom behind\nthe pandemic that God has for us to ponder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed,\nthe main lesson from the test is to remind those who are astray and guide them back\nto the right path. The immediate solution prescribed by Prophet Muhammad (Peace\nbe upon Him) is to break the chain of infection by restricting movements of people\nwithin a certain area like what Malaysia has been implementing in the Movement\nControl Order from 18 March 2020. A standing hadith<\/em> of the Prophet PBUH that emphasises every disease has its\ncure is indeed a motivation for the medical fraternity to not stop in their research\nefforts in finding the vaccine to curb the COVID-19 disease. Amazingly, the approach\nin dealing with pandemics is covered by the 14 centuries old hadith<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntime has come for us to think deeply on how we govern ourselves. Humans should\nnot detach themselves from God nor disregard any of the tests brought down upon\nthem except to learn the wisdom behind such trials. The ignorant and arrogant\nresponses expressed by some leaders and people in the early stage of the\npandemic, for example, have proved that the situation is worse than they are\nwhere rates of infection, and even death spike. Inevitably, what follows is\nrecession as the effects of multiplying critical economic problem set in. Indeed,\nthe adverse effects of the outbreak on economic activities, have been\nparticularly severe or almost impossible to fully recover without changing the\nfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nclassical and neo-classical economics presume and uphold rationality, self-interest,\nand scarcity. These are the three fundamental axioms of the economic convention\nthat are in contradiction with the Shariah. Self-interest shall not be absolute\nover and above public interest. One cannot pursue his\/her interest if the\ninterest affects the public or neighbourhood or community. The role of\nspiritual and social capital improves trust and reduces transaction cost,\nmaking the market more efficient and transparent. Trust is the social capital\nthat is very much depleted. The ethical value and social capital in the sharing\nof public interest should be utmost in the people. The concept of scarcity in economics\ndoes not fit in our religious perspective because Allah has unlimited resources\nand put everything in its proper places and measure, hence, it is up to humans as\nvicegerents to manage it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nuniversal economic discourse among various religious-based economics worships\nclassical and neo-classical economics that put a high regard on the liberty of\neconomic agents such as market freedom. The Government and regulation play a\nminimal role to facilitate that liberty (market interest prevails over\ngovernment). Islam recognises market freedom but only if such freedom is\nwithin Islamic tenets, and regulation has an important role to play in removing\nmarket distortion (and makes corrections). Market distortion includes monopoly,\ndiscrimination, cheating, legal device, hoarding, boycott, and payment\ndiscrepancies within the business community and economic ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next,\nmonetary policy should move away from debt financing and restructuring fiscal\nand income policy to make life decent. The debt situation in the global arena\nshows how badly the GDP will decline. We are expecting bankruptcy in many\ncorporations, banking, and financial institutions. Trade and debt financing\npolicy needs to be revisited with the insight on the Islamic stimulus package such\nas risk-sharing Sukuk<\/em> offering by the\nmonetary authorities or the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nworld of tomorrow will depend on the policy choices we make today that can\nreform a new norm and at the same time enhance the digital economic ecosystem.\nThe shariah-based norm should be observed with at least three new principles\ni.e. harmonisation of revelation-rationality, putting public interest above self-interest\nand, the establishment of hisbah<\/em> economic\necosystem to safeguard people and the world at large for future sustainable\ngrowth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on life in unprecedented ways. Never before has any issue wreaked havoc at such a grand scale not just globally, economically, socially, personally and even religiously. Indeed, COVID-19 has marked a tragic cost of human lives, and economic distress as the world has been put in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}