Corona Disease and Religiosity: Explained on the Basis of the Statements of Religiously Minded Muslim Patients from the Turkish Province of Erzurum

Authors : Mizrap Polat, Adem Urhan

Pages : 16-24

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Publication Date : 2024-03-26

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The main question of this paper can be formulated as follows: What faith-related feelings and thoughts did Corona disease evoke in the affected people who claimed to be believers? In this qualitative study, the 14 people infected with Corona virus served as a working group (sample). All these individuals who described themselves as believers were from the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum. The inhabitants of this province are considered more religious than the inhabitants of the provinces on the Maramara, Ege and Mediterranean coasts of Turkey. Twelve individuals from the subjects are male and 2 are female; they are 20-60 years old. We took semi-determined individual interview by telephone as data collection tool in this scientific research. The last 3-year period has been a turning point in which the corona pandemic has had a comprehensive impact on individual and community life. Under pandemic conditions, the digitalization of life has gained momentum and this situation has established itself as a new dimension of social life. The values of solidarity, compassion, family, friendship and security gained new intensity and importance in pandemic time. Health security moved to the highest place in the hierarchy of values. In particular, social isolation and fear of getting sick and dying hit the elderly and chronically ill even harder. In this emergency situation, people affected by the illness thought about life and faith in a new consciousness and tried to perceive and understand suffering, life and death again in the light of their faith. Moreover, one observes a kind of reflexive introspection and self-examination among the believers who experienced and survived this illness. Without exception, all interview partners indicated that they exhausted resilience from their faith and acts of worship.
Keywords : Dindarlık, Corona Pandemisi, Dini Başa Çıkma, Sosyal Dayanışma