Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

A straw that broke the camel’s back

Abdulaziz-Al-Jahdhami
Abdulaziz-Al-Jahdhami
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Over a year now since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the world, spreading fear and panic among human beings. In fact, it has messed up all spheres of life, leaving people in severe stress, discomfort and suffering. Came out of nowhere, scattering everywhere around the globe and harshly affecting people of all ages and segments. This coronavirus has been unmercifully attacking people, with many have lost the battle in one way or the other.


The year-long fight was a very tough one indeed. Those who hit by the virus had no choice, but either to struggle to survive or be suffocated to death. Though, the choice is not theirs as the firmness and duration of the fight vary from one case to the other. Some victims have been fighting the virus for days while others were battling for weeks and months. However, the battle has unfortunately not come to an end yet! What a hard experience that people have come across!


Healthcare services have been struggling to cope with the increasing number of infections and deaths. Doctors, nurses and other frontline warriors have been sleepless for days, sacrificing their life, time, effort and family for the sake of saving Covid-19 victims. All have been sparing no effort to save lives of elderly as well as youngsters. Keep in mind that they have been playing the role of soldiers, who are fully armed to combat the virus.


The rapidly spreading virus threatened every human being of the over 7.8 billion people on earth. One can imagine how frightening the situation was! Other than the health sacrifices and challenges, the pandemic has disrupted people’s social and economic life across the globe. It is attributed that this pandemic is the greatest global crisis of this century for its depth and scale are extremely enormous on humanity. People were locked down at home and urged to stay socially distant with travel and movement banned most of the time.


What was even worse is that visits, handshaking and direct contact with one another were strictly not allowed. Staying at home, wearing a mask and washing and sanitising hands were must-to-do precautionary measures for all when they get out. So many complications have come into people’s lifestyle.


Likewise, due to the direct impact of the pandemic, the financial and economic crisis could exceed lead to greater decline, which was seen worldwide during 2008-2009. Each crisis alone could cause a dramatic shock that permanently changes the international system and balance in the world. Economics of most countries around the world if not all have been undergoing a slump throughout 2020 and some are still suffering. Luckily, some countries have started recovering this year and businesses are reviving again after the lockdown procedures implemented every now and then over the past year.


In view of that, hundreds of thousands of employees around the globe have lost their jobs. Business people and entrepreneurs have lost their sources of income and some have even gone bankrupt. Governments have changed many of their laws and regulations so they could cope with the economic impact and sustain their budgets and manage financial commitments. In other words, the pandemic was the straw that broke the back of world’s economy.


As 2021 is just taking off, let us hope for a better and brighter year ahead. We shall remember that challenges are rewarding experiences. As Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “None (among the believers) remains patient in a land in which plague has broken out and considers that nothing will befall him except what Allah has ordained for him, but that Allah will grant him a reward similar to that of a martyr.” Life breaks us, but the Almighty Allah forces us and we get stronger.


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