Corona, the Elderly, and Priorities

Peace be upon you and mercy of Allah.

Dear people! Prosperity covers up some of the ugly face of civilizations. But when resources dwindle and fear spreads, the truth emerges. In the past few weeks, we have seen many examples of what happens to the elderly, the weak, and the disabled with the Corona pandemic in Western and Eastern communities far from divine revelation. Let us see, in contrast, the greatness of Islam in dealing with them to understand the difference. To understand the difference.

We will also answer the question on the minds of many: Okay, what if there is a rush on medical devices and facilities? Aren't they forced to deal with the elderly in this way? Aren't the youth actually more deserving?

Models from Other Communities

First, brothers, we have seen many news reports such as the one published by the BBC: "Coronavirus: Spanish army finds elderly care home residents dead in their beds." We will put the links to the news in the first comment, God willing. The elderly, their children do not ask about them nor know their condition, and the employees of the nursing homes have left them. They were infected with the pandemic, and God knows how much they suffered, how much they choked, how much they screamed, and were left to die alone.

We saw the doctor who spoke about artificial respiration devices being withdrawn from people who have exceeded the age of fifty or sixty years, and they are left to die sedated because there are not enough devices, and they want to use them for the younger ones. We saw the infected fathers wishing that their children would come to bid them farewell, and the children are not aware nor asking. Imagine being a father who struggles, suffers, chokes, and your life's memories flash before your eyes as you take care of your children, pamper them, play with them, spend on them, miss them during illness, take them to the hospital, give them medicine, and then in the last moments of your life, in the last hours, you suffer, and they do not bother to ask about you.

We saw in Britain news about teenagers spitting in the faces of the elderly hoping to infect them with Corona, so they die and rest from them. We saw how one writer expressed how joy prevails among a sector of the youth in the Netherlands, for example, that Corona will rid them of the elderly, making their chances of getting a house faster, and because the elderly have become unproductive. The writer says: I asked one of them: "But these people whose death you wish for are the ones who built this great country?" She said to me: "Yes, thank you to them, they did their job and should now leave, that's it, they are of no use."

Social Darwinism

In such circumstances, the slogans of alleged equality fall, and a form of social Darwinism emerges: let the fittest survive. Social Darwinism, as expressed by the governor or mayor of New York, is a form of social Darwinism and neglect of the elderly.

For example, in the state of Alabama, treatment guidelines have been issued for days stating: "People suffering from severe mental disability, advanced dementia, or severe brain injury, meaning they may be weak in qualifying for the use of respirators, meaning their chances of using these devices are weaker than others, should be given priority to others over them." These are people with cerebral palsy, children with paralysis, or paralysis resulting from oxygen deficiency at birth, or those with Down syndrome, or those with advanced dementia.

More and more these days, otherwise after the obsession with aborting fetuses, the idea of encouraging those with incurable diseases to choose euthanasia so that they do not continue treatment, which will cost the government, has emerged. We will put links to news in America and Canada in the comments about those with disabilities or elderly patients who receive a message from health authorities: "We cannot treat you, but if you wish, we can help you with euthanasia." Meaning, painless suicide, suicide in a dignified manner.

The same is true in the East, as in an article in the New York Times entitled: "South Korea's struggle with suicide," mentioning how suicide has become a rampant phenomenon and among its causes in the elderly is poverty and the collapse of the family system. The collapse of the family system in a strong economic country like South Korea, productive materially, but what is the benefit if this is the end of man?

Islam's View of the Elderly and the Weak

Look, on the other hand, dear people, at Islam's view of the elderly and the weak. In the authentic hadith, our Prophet peace be upon him said: "Seek out the weak for you are given provision and helped by your weak ones." "Seek out the weak for you are given provision and helped by your weak ones." "Seek out the weak" means ask for the weak, bring the weak to me. His request for them is intended to approach them, inquire about their condition, preserve their rights, and do good to them in words and deeds. He said: "For you are given provision" Allah provides for you, "and helped" Allah helps you against your enemy in battles and the like "by your weak ones" by the blessing of these people, i.e., because they are behind you, your care for them, your attention to them, and the blessing of their supplications, of course, while taking other causes of victory for the nation.

This hadith explains the virtue of the weak Muslims and warns against arrogance towards them and encourages patience and love for them. You will find this beautiful explanation on the website of Al-Durr Al-Sunni, beautiful explanations of the Prophet's hadiths.

In the authentic hadith, our Prophet peace be upon him said: "Blessing is with your elders." "Blessing is with your elders."

And in the authentic hadith that we all memorize, the hadith of the three who were trapped in a cave and sought refuge with Allah through their good deeds to relieve them, what did the first of them say, do you remember, people? The first of them said: "O Allah, I had two elderly parents, so I would go out and graze, then I would come and milk, then I would bring the milk and give it to my parents to drink, then I would water the children and my family and my wife." He watered his parents first, then the children and his wife and family. Then this man mentioned how he delayed one night and found his parents sleeping, so he hated to wake them up, let them sleep peacefully, I do not want to disturb them from their sleep, and his children were crying at his feet, so he remained thus until dawn, keeping his parents safe. Then he said: "O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your face, then relieve us a relief by which we see the sky." So Allah indeed relieved them a relief until the other two called and Allah relieved them, and they went out. He prioritized his elderly parents over his young children.

This speech, brothers, we may need to see it in the Muslim countries. Things may become tight after a while and resources may become scarce, and the devil may whisper to some of us to belittle the elderly, the sick, and the weak. Let us remember that we are provided for and helped by these people, and our righteousness towards them, our goodness to them, and their supplications for us. You go out to seek provision to spend on your father, your elderly parents who cannot go out to earn their livelihood, your going out is for the sake of Allah.

And then, after all this, some of the Muslims infatuated with the West and materialistic civilization say: "What has Islam given to humanity? The civilizations you criticize have given us airplanes, cars, the internet, inventions, medicines, etc., etc., etc." Apart from the point that our backwardness from the industrial production process is a result of our distance from our religion and that Islam encourages this production, apart from all this, you tell me what Islam has given? Look at what they have given? But I say to you, what is the use of these inventions and discoveries and comforts if man dies in this way after them, neglected by his children and the closest to him? What is the use of humanity, what is the use of its life and inventions if it does not possess the minimum requirements of humanity, mercy, compassion, and kindness to the elderly?

Questions About Priorities

Alright, someone might say: All this is nice and we agree on it, but what if there is a shortage and we have to prioritize? Let me tell you, first, we should think about why this shortage happens in great countries like America, Britain, or countries like France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Canada? Because these are countries that deify human desires, we used to say countries that deify man, but they do not deify man nor do they take care of all aspects of man, not even the material worldly aspects like healthcare. Instead, they deify desires and whims. Enormous spending on consumptive, lustful aspects like bars, cinema, movies, fashion, debauchery, songs, and the whims of global domination, injustice, enslaving people, and corruption on earth. These great countries compete in armament and innovate in forms of destruction, but they did not pay attention to the healthcare system to the same degree. Yes, there was a lot of spending on health and scientific research, spending on everything, not just health, on everything extravagantly, they enjoy their money and others' money. But when things got tough with the current pandemic, the imbalance became apparent, and it became clear that they prioritized one aspect over another.

Alright, you might say: What's done is done, what's the problem with dealing with the elderly? Why? Why should we be upset that they are taking breathing apparatuses from an old person to give to a young one? We say: The problem is first in the desire to get rid of them sometimes or in neglecting them as we have seen in some examples. And in other times, no, they are not the same, there are indeed those who do not have the desire to get rid of the elderly, the weak, and the sick. We do not claim that they want to get rid of them, they are not all the same. But the materialistic criteria are still ruling in prioritizing in many cases. Priorities of who gets treatment and who does not, priorities of who is taken off the artificial breathing apparatus and who is given it.

Sharia Standards in Prioritizing

Alright, let's assume that there is a competition among Muslims, we ask Allah the Great, the Lord of the Great Throne, to be merciful to us and to deal with us with His mercy, not what we deserve. We ask Allah to remove the pandemic from the lands of the Muslims. But if there is, dear brothers, a competition among Muslims, what are the criteria that make us prioritize the treatment of one over another?

Alright, we say, dear brothers: There are general rules and criteria, not that we prioritize the younger over the older, nor that we prioritize the productive over the consumer who needs care. The blood of Muslims is equal. Before I tell you this word, dear brothers, I asked a group of scholars: What are the criteria that make us prioritize one person over another if there is a shortage in medical equipment? They all agreed on this general rule: that the blood of Muslims is equal and souls are one in the eyes of Sharia, and they all agreed that it is not permissible to remove resuscitation devices like artificial respiration, etc., it is not permissible to remove them from a person to use them for another if that leads to the death of the first. If that leads to the death of the first, the devices should not be removed from him. It is never said that this one is old, or this one has special needs, so we take the devices from him and give them to the young, no, this is completely rejected. All souls are equal, and Sharia's view of them is equal, so no soul should be taken for the sake of another.

Then the scholars discussed the criteria, which include three main criteria: First: Priority, so whoever comes first to treatment is more entitled to it. Second: Need, so the one who needs treatment and its devices is given priority, as there may be someone whose life is not in danger if not treated or can sometimes be given the device and sometimes removed, while the other is expected to die if not treated immediately. Third: Hope of recovery or life, so the one whose recovery or life is hoped for is prioritized. Based on the sum of these factors, the priority for treatment is assessed.

All of this, dear brothers, is in the use of these devices initially, initially meaning that we now have a group of people who do not know how to use these devices for whom, we have a shortage of devices, giving priority based on these premises, on these criteria. But if the person is already on the device, it should not be removed for the benefit of another. And this is the greatness of Sharia, which honors the human soul and does not tie this honor to material production and does not cancel this honor when a person reaches the stage where he needs continuous and expensive care and does not produce anything material for this society.

The suffering of the elderly is a purification for them from their sins and an opportunity for the young to honor them and gain blessings from their blessings in this world and the hereafter, and gain blessings from their blessings in this world and the hereafter.

Advice to Scholars

Because our brothers, I really address a message to our scholars and jurists to discuss this topic and make it one of their top priorities, that in case of competition for specific medical facilities and resources, what are the criteria? And they should clarify them clearly, because disagreement on them at a later time may lead to conflict and fighting among Muslims and hatred among some of them. But if Sharia is ruling over us all, then that is more likely to lead to affection and tolerance, even if a person sees someone he loves falling into such problems.

Conclusion

Finally, dear brothers, we should present this great aspect of our religion to non-Muslims so that they see the difference between divine revelation and earthly methods. And to the brothers residing in Western countries, they should apply it in reality in dealing with the elderly and the weak, and we have seen examples of this, praise be to Allah. There are Muslim doctors in Western countries who have shown sincerity and dedication in trying to save others, and this is one of the best means of calling to Islam and one of the most important. And Allah knows best.

We ask Allah to be merciful to us and to the Muslims and to use us in His obedience. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.