Did you know that you can only get COVID-19 if you don’t believe in Allah? Checkmate atheists (and Christians, Hindus, and other dogs).
The breathtaking ignorance is being advanced by some Somali imams who must be unfamiliar with the fact that there’ve been 6,700 coronavirus deaths in Iran, more than a thousand in Indonesia, and so on.
Some imams in Somalia are saying Muslims are immune to COVID-19, going against senior Muslim scholars who have insisted the coronavirus pandemic is a severe threat to all people around the globe. A medical worker in the country told Al Arabiya English the rumor is putting Somalis at risk and working against efforts to try to educate the population of 15 millionabout the threat of the outbreak.
The medical source added that people are very religious in Somalia, and
“…we believe what our imams tell us more than any doctor or any government.”
Well, there’s your problem.
Al Arabiya also interviewed Peter Jay Hotez, a U.S. vaccine specialist, who observed
“Unifying scientific and religious thinking represents one of humankind’s great challenges.”
Agreed.
Currently, Somalia’s population doesn’t really follow social-distancing guidelines, and few Somalis wear masks.
There are now almost 900 COVID-19 cases in Somalia, but testing is extremely limited and the real number of infections is likely many times higher.
