DUSHANBE, 15.04.2020. (NIAT Khovar) – Tajik film Avicenna about the life and work of world-class philosopher, physician, and great thinker Abuali ibni Sino (Avicenna) who lived in the tenth century has risen in popularity in some countries, including Afghanistan, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic

Avicenna was released in 1964 during the Soviet Union and dubbed into Tajik. The film focuses on the life of this polymath and likewise pay attention to the prevention and elimination of cholera that was then rampant in Bukhara. In the film Avicenna recommends solutions and treatments that are largely similar to what present day doctors recommend on preventing coronavirus infection. Avicenna recommends closing mosques and other places of worship, because, according to him, this disease is transmitted through airborne droplets. At that time, Avicenna’s recommendations were received with hostility by religious figures, who consequently ordered all his scientific works on medicine to be burned.

According to BBC Persian, the enlightened youth of Afghanistan are recommending watching this film now, when yet again some religious figures are protesting against the closure of mosques and the abolition of religious rites.

One of the most criticized religious figures is the Imam of the Guzargoh Cathedral Mosque in Herat Mujibulrahmon Ansori, who is known for his radical religious views and judgments.

This religious figure distributed a recording in which he declares the coronavirus “a kind of blessing for Muslims and a punishment for unfaithful infidels.» This video has provoked thousands of comments condemning the imam’s extremist statements.

Many other religious figures in Afghanistan have also referred to coronavirus as a disease that “the Almighty has sent to punish humanity for its sins.”

The film Avicenna is being shared in social networks mainly with the aim of contrasting the natural phenomenon with the fanatical statements of some religious figures.

While some religious figures declare coronavirus a “warning from the Almighty for greed, passion for gain, and estrangement from God,” most educated individuals in Afghanistan are confident that such statements concerning the pandemic will only contribute to the loss of confidence in religious figures and religion in whole.

Avicenna was directed by the People’s Artist of the USSR, USSR State Prize laureate Komil Yormatov. The role of Avicenna was played by People’s Artist of Tajikistan Marat Aripov.