RIYADH — It is extremely important to comply with the directives and measures being taken by the competent authorities to counter the novel coronavirus pandemic and mitigate its impacts, the Secretariat General of the Council of Senior Scholars has stressed Saturday. In a statement it issued today, the Council of Senior Scholars said: "Compliance with these directives is a religious duty in line with the Shariah. Whoever violates them is committing a sin. Allah Almighty said in the Qur'anic verse: "O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad — peace be upon him) and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority..." [Surah An-Nisa, 59] The Council further said that by complying with the directives, the public and private interests will be achieved, hence warding off evil at the public and private levels. It stressed that the more the person abides by the directives and instructions, the more lives will be protected from harm, the more wealth will be safeguarded from being wasted. The principles of the Shariah are based on seeking the interests and enhancing them, and preventing the evils and mitigating them. The Council of Senior Scholars added: "The gravity of the sin committed by violating these directives increases because the violator is not only harming himself, but others as well. "The religious scholars are of the consensus opinion that the sin that harms others, as well, is more serious than the one that harms the perpetrator only."
