Spiritual Relevance of the Twenty-Fifth Flash of the Risālah-i Nūr in Ameliorating the Socio-Economic Effects of Corona Virus 2019 (Covid-19) in Nigeria

Abstract

The world is hit with a deathly disease that for a very long period it could not experience.  The disease is among the several viral epidemics such as severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) which emerged in 2002 and 2003. But the new virus, which is tentatively called Covid-19, seems to be very contagious and has quickly spread globally.   Over the past few months of its emergence, several cases, with hundreds of thousands of deaths were reported by various governments and agencies across the regions of the world. In Nigeria, as in other parts of the world, the virus has severe effects on the socio-economic life of the people regardless of their wealth and social status, and due to the high cost of health care and greater economic fragility of the country, many have surrendered to the virus or lost hope in sustaining their life after it.  However, understanding the frailty of human nature, Ustāz Badī’uz-Zamān, has predicted a similar situation in their existence and provides what he called ‘remedy’ in the twenty- Flash of his Risālah-i Nūr. This study, therefore, studies the content of the twenty-fifth flash and verifies the effectiveness of the remedies in curing of the disease. It also examines the spiritual relevance of the remedies in ameliorating the effects of the disease on the socio-economic life of Nigerians. The study also shows how the remedies can help in coping with the predicaments during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and other similar sicknesses. Hence, it extols the significance of the Risālah-i Nūr and the need for human sober reflection over its meaning and teachings on issues related to human’s spiritual and material existence.