While most leaders of major religions have supported governments’ efforts to fight the pandemic by limiting gatherings, a minority of the faithful — in both religious and secular institutions — have not.
Some have insisted that in-person worship should continue because of the relief it can provide. Others have suggested that faith is an authority higher than science, and belief can turn back contagion.
Seeking solace in spirituality or relying on religious rituals for relief and protection, some believers across faiths have continued to shrug off Coronavirus risks as they worship.
Last month in Iraq, some defied a curfew to observe the anniversary of the death of revered Shiite Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. One of the visitors who have trekked to the imam’s gold-domed shrine complex, Ayoub al-Moussawi, said he has over the years braved threats to perform religious visits.
“We have always been subjected to all sort of things from bombs to explosive devices, but protection comes from God,” said al-Moussawi. “This time it’s the corona pandemic.”
He said he took precautions such as donning a mask in crowded areas and sanitizing his hands. There were fewer pilgrims this year and many marked the occasion remotely from their rooftops, he said.
Al-Moussawi is a supporter of the Iraqi Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who blamed the spread of the coronavirus in part on the legalization of same-sex marriage in a tweet to his 1 million followers.
Some Iraqis have criticized al-Sadr, a Shiite Muslim, arguing he hasn’t discouraged believers from visiting holy shrines.
Instead, al-Sadr urged visitors of one Shiite shrine to “hurry up in completing the visit and to follow order and medical and heath rules so as not to be a source of contagion for others.” Al-Sadr rejected claims that he had undercut efforts to fight the virus.
