Gaza Friday Sermon amid Coronavirus Pandemic: Islamic Rituals Such as Fasting, Ablution, Prayer Strengthen Our Immune Systems, Have Positive, Healing Energy

Gazan Islamic scholar Dr. Taher Al-Lulu said in a Friday, April 3, 2020, sermon that aired from Gaza on the Lebanon-based Palestine Today TV that people should strengthen their immune systems and research “positive energy” and “healing energy” in light of the coronavirus pandemic. He said that these concepts exist in Islamic rituals such as ablution, prayer, and fasting, and he added that a Japanese scientist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on fasting has said that people who fast regularly, as some Muslims have the custom of doing, have stronger immune systems.

Dr. Taher Al-Lulu: "There is some paralysis and loss of control with regard to this pandemic, which is spreading in more than 190 countries and which has [infected] one million people and claimed about 500,000 lives. If this indicates anything, it indicates that Allah wants these people to return to the Creator of Man and of the universe. The Prophet Muhammad taught us how to return to Allah. We must be among those who possess positive energy, which is found in our worship [rituals] and in our religion. Positive energy, my brothers... I want my sons and daughters and those who work on computers - or even those who have little knowledge about computers - to look up the term 'positive energy' or 'healing energy,' to see how our religious rituals are the best protection against this microbe. The scientists and those who have studies this issue are saying that the best thing to do is to strengthen the immune system that Allah has created in human beings. This is found in our worship rituals and in our religion, where we see that positive energy can be found in prayer and fasting. A Japanese scientist who won a Nobel Prize for [his work] on the subject of fasting [said that] whoever fasts 6 to 18 hours three days a week... he said this person's body produces proteins that eat every foreign bacteria or virus. Google it on the computer. You will see that the fasting that the Muslims are commanded to perform is both a form of worship, a cure [for diseases], and a way to strengthen our immune system. Prayer also has positive energy. Ritual ablution protects our immune systems, especially if done with cold water."