A Muslim cleric in Serbia says the hotel that collapsed in China with coronavirus patients inside was proof that no one can escape Allah when he has decided it is your time to die.
A video of the speech was shared on Facebook by the Hadzi Mehova Mosque in the city of Novi Pazar in the southern Serbian district of Raska, and the footage was widely circulated with over 162,000 views and 3,300 shares.
The video was accompanied with the title: “Coronavirus [COVID-19], Muslims have a cure.” On it, Professor Sead Ef. Islamovic, who serves at the mosque, told believers not to panic about COVID-19 as nothing will happen to them if Allah does not wish it.
He said: “When it comes to coronavirus, Muslims have a cure. Nothing will hurt us except what Allah has ordained to happen to us.
“No need to panic. Whoever Allah decides and sends the disease to, he will leave this world.”
Islamovic then went on to suggest that the collapse of a quarantined hotel in China earlier this month, where 71 people were trapped and 29 died, was Allah’s bidding, commenting: “There is one interesting even you must have seen. They picked them up in China to be treated at that [hotel] which then collapsed, killing them all.
“Did it help that they were treated? No. So it was destiny, they had to die from something. They could not avoid that moment, the exact moment of judgement.
“They were not destined to die from the virus. They fell ill from the virus, but they were meant to die under the rubble.”
Netizens had a lot to say about the cleric’s claims, with ‘Gordana Perisic’ commenting: “God is love. People are the ones who do evil things to each other. I think God repented on the day He created man!”
‘Jessy Bolan Ewme’ wrote: “Why don’t you mention the verses where we say we must take care of ourselves and Allah Almighty will take care of us as well?”
‘Marijana’ remarked: “Believing in destiny is illogical and blasphemous, this cannot be God’s work. The imam would be better off giving his fellow citizens the right advice on how to keep themselves safe from the virus and not comment on China.”
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Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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