God help us: Spirituality and religiosity amid corona pandemic in Pakistan

Abstract

This research discusses the response of the religious people to the corona pandemic in Pakistan. The study aims to answer why the Islamists refused to cooperate with the state authorities in its struggle against the pandemic? This study is based on the theory of existential security which states that natural calamities and disasters always increase religiosity in the people. This study is based on analysing all the existing primary and secondary sources in the form of books, research articles and government reports. The discussion in this paper is based on the qualitative analysis of all the existing sources. This study has argued that the Islamists refused to support the state policymakers because they firmly believed that the virus emerged because of Allah’s wrath. The study has also found that the response of the Tablighi Jamaat (henceforth TJ), other religious organisations, and clerics amid the coronavirus in the country was indeed a religious coping strategy. This strategy is commonly used by people whenever they face a life-threatening situation. The study suggests that Pakistan could not resist the Islamists because resisting them could cause severe problems in the country.