It's A Big Mistake If You Underestimate Prayer To Face Corona

Photo illustration (Gerd Altmann / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Several days before Indonesia announced the COVID-19 case for the first time, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said that the power of prayer had kept Indonesia away from the virus, which originated from the city of Wuhan, China. This he often said on several occasions.

Apart from Terawan, there was also Vice President Ma'ruf Amin who said the prayers of the kiai and ulama had a role to prevent the virus from entering Indonesia. The response of public officials is then commented on by the community through social networks. One of them is via Twitter.

Most of them consider statements about prayer to prevent the COVID-19 virus to be nonsense. Maybe true. Prayer without effort is irony. However, this narrative later expanded. Not a few people actually insult prayer.

Guess see if your prayers work. https://t.co/Y34NMsnmGA

- LUSI (@LusiHQ) February 27, 2020

Why not be sure that their God will protect the holy cities from the coronavirus? How come the virus and God win the virus? "Saudi Arabia temporarily bans religious visits to the kingdom amid coronavirus fears" https://t.co/qn3mMNb699

- LUSI (@LusiHQ) February 27, 2020

This, too, is irony. Because, in truth, prayer is never worth zero. We contacted a number of religious experts and leaders to reveal the importance of prayer. That whatever your religion, pray. It's not that COVID-19 has been an emergency. But, isn't it better to try with additional prayers? After all, what is so hard to pray?

Said the religious leader

The Secretary of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) Lay Apostolic Commission, Paulus Christian Siswantoko, spoke up on this issue. According to him, basically, prayer plays an important role as a medium that can draw humans closer to their God.

Not just God. Prayer, according to Siswanto, can also give strength to those infected with COVID-19. In addition, prayer can provide calm and treat panic. In this condition, it sure matters, right?

"People will feel calmer and less panic so they can think clearly and take appropriate steps to keep themselves from contracting the coronavirus," he said, contacted by VOI via text message, Friday, March 6.

Sulianti Saroso Hospital isolation room (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

In the teachings of Islam, prayer is a medicine for millions of benefits. Quoted from Republika in an article entitled Liver Disease Therapy written by Ibn Qayyim Al Jauziyyah, prayer is considered very important to ward off reinforcements and trials and prevent and eliminate calamities.

Not only that, in the Book of Al Hakim, narrated a hadith from Aisyah RA, where the Prophet said:

Your vigilance is useless in the face of destiny. Prayer is what is useful for anticipating calamities that have come down and those that have not yet come down. In fact, prayer was faced with disaster when they descended and both of them fought until the Day of Judgment.

In the same book, a hadith from Ibn Umar is also narrated. Rasulullah said: Prayer is beneficial for calamities that have come down and those who have not. Therefore, O servants of Allah, you must pray.

Suggestions for health

The two views above are the theological side. How about the scientific side? Clinical psychologist Naomi Soetikno explains the important role of prayer. According to Naomi, when someone prays earnestly and passionately, that person will get a calm effect.

"Prayer gives a sense of calm. We are talking about a human praying, praying earnestly, yes, where he really lives all the words he prays so that from a cognitive perspective he concentrates on the words he prays for "Of course, when we pray fervently we concentrate well," Naomi told VOI, Friday, March 6.

Meanwhile, from the emotional aspect, prayer that is done sincerely and repeatedly will have a meditative effect. Thus, the emotions of the person praying will be more stable and controlled.

Naomi also explained, concentration and understanding of requests in prayer makes us surrender to God and believe he will give our best. So, whatever happens we will be more surrendered and ready for any incident, including bad things.

"Despite what is the worst she has faced, she believes that she has a responsibility to face it because her body is a gift from God, so praying sincerely in her heart and in her mind is indeed for her own good," said Naomi.