Shab-e-Barat observed with special prayers for ending Covid-19

LAHORE: The nervous believers across the country observed Shab-e-Barat, 15th of Sha’aban, also known as the night of blessings and glory on Wednesday night with heartfelt religious zeal and spirit, praying to Almighty Allah to ward off the threats of deadly coronavirus from all human beings and living beings.

The coronavirus fears forced the believers to pray at their homes instead of traditional congregations of large numbers of the faithful thronging the specially decorated mosques to offer Nawafil and Shabina the whole night, after the authorities had locked down the mosques and deployed policemen and Rangers personnel at their gates to prevent more than a few worshippers inside.

Shab-e-Barat is the night of blessings and accountability when Almighty Allah makes mass judgments regarding lives, deaths, bestowments and blessings for the next year. Besides, judgments for awarding blessings and Rizq to the believers are also made. To seek those huge blessings, the believers offer special prayers for themselves and for the larger good of the entire Ummah, soliciting unity, prosperity, security and restoration of peace in the country and prosperity, and above all, averting the dangers of death lurking in shape of coronavirus.

The City mosques were not allowed to be decorated and illuminated like it used to be done traditionally. Security measures were different than those taken in the past years, when extra personnel were deployed to protect the worshippers from terrorism.

Now the policemen were guarding the mosques to prevent the worshippers from getting inside to avert the spread of coronavirus. Only few lucky believers found the chance to get inside the few mosques which were allowed to remain open in the night after the Isha prayers.

There, the believers who used to offer special prayers for unity, prosperity and security of the country and entire Muslim Ummah, were now focusing to seek the blessings of Almighty to ward off the global catastrophe of corona virus.

There were a few selected mosques where special nawafil and Shabina were offered with restricted number of worshippers behind the closed doors. The ulema and prayer leaders through their special prayers relayed through TV channels or internet offered collected repentance before Almighty Allah for their sins, terming the corona virus a form of His wrath and punishment, and sought His blessings to fend off this punishment from the world. Similarly, the graveyards which used to be thronged by a large number of believers, including women and children, to pray for the departed souls of their near and dear ones were also deserted. Hardly few people ventured to visit the graveyards in the darkness, most of them prayed from outside and returned home.

Traditionally, the believers used to light candles and scent sticks on the graves and sought Allah’s blessings for the souls of their departed relatives. It was done in line with some traditions that say the souls of the dead wait for their relatives in their graves to pray for their forgiveness and raising of their grades in heaven.

Ulema and prayer leaders had appealed to the masses to remain inside their homes and follow the televised nawafil and Shabian via television channels or internet, and make diligent and whole hearted supplications before Almighty Allah to avert the deadly coronavirus from the mankind.

The famous City mosques which used to hold special Shabina prayers like Badshahi Masjid, Data Darbar Masjid, Masjid Gunbad Khizra, etc, were closed to worshippers.

Another feature of the Shab-e-Barat, the distribution of special sweet dishes like Halwa, Zarda, etc, also suffered as this activity was also reduced considerably. People distributed those dishes among the neighbours, relatives living close by, apart from the poor and destitute. The philanthropists who used to offer Langar (charity food in large quantities) among the masses curtailed this service since the Punjab government had already banned the distribution of food and ration by the individuals among the poor and destitute. Majority of believers also observed fast on the following day which is said to be the best complement of the night’s prayers.

Another feature of this august night which the believers expressed satisfaction that it was missing due to the coronavirus fears was the excessive display of fireworks and fire crackers by uncouth youths and children. The ulema and sober people used to demand complete prohibition of fireworks, calling it completely un-Islamic and violation of the sanctity of this august day, besides that it caused annoyance and nuisance to the worshippers and general public.