COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Exploration of Religious Leaders' and Community Members' Perspectives

The present study aims to explore the views of religious leaders and community members regarding social protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to gather their perspectives through both telephonic and face-to-face in-depth interviews, employing purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings indicated that the Islamic perspective on illness, pandemics, and COVID-19 differs from the everyday practices of common Muslims. Islam emphasizes the importance of taking precautionary measures in all situations and supports isolation, quarantine, and government-imposed lockdowns. It instructs followers to comply with such measures to prevent the spread of pandemics like COVID-19. On the other hand, the majority of community members believed that if death is destined due to COVID-19, it cannot be avoided, even by following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for COVID-19.