When believers find the door closed: The global spiritual lockdown policy and religious reactions to it

Abstract

The prevalence of religious sociality in epidemic phenomena has been a constant in human history: a well-studied example is the 1865 cholera pandemic caused by the migratory movement of pilgrims coming from Mecca.1 This prevalence has been proven by recent studies conducted on the largest religious gathering in West Africa, the annual Grand Magal of Touba pilgrimage to Senegal, which has been taking place since 1928. This pilgrimage is the main source for the spread of malaria and other respiratory and gastrointestinal infections in the area occupied by the Murid brotherhood.2 The risk caused by religious practice was suddenly at its highest in the spring of 2020 given the major monotheistic religious festivals due to follow one after the other, involving a very busy calendar that could potentially concern some 4.3 billion human beings. Thus, we can say that coronavirus has made civil authorities aware of the major role they play in regulating religions, and religious leaders of the importance of working together with public authorities. Finally, religious life has found a new channel in the form of digital communication. Although the latter has long been used by thousands of religious actors, its systematic use during the pandemic will occupy sociological research for a long time to come.
Keywords: lockdown policy, religion, COVID-19, digital communication