Focus on the world map. Imagine an imaginary vertical line running from the Arctic ocean onto west Russia through Kazakistan cutting Turkmenistan into two halves and then running through the border of Iran-AF and disappearing into the Indian Ocean. I call it the line of converts.

It’s a very important line and as it explains a very important phenomenon. The phenomenon of the “zeal of the fresh convert”.

On the west side of the line are countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq etc.

On the east side are India, Pak, Bangladesh and the whole SE Asia.

In Islamic world, Arabs are the pure breed, everyone else is a convert. So the ones on the west side in this scenario are the pure breeds, the ones on the east are converts.

Converts have an obligation of repeatedly proving themselves to the “pure” leading to the zeal part.

Muslims on the east side of the line are over zealous in almost everything. They’d do anything to prove their “purity” to the “pure ones” on the west side of the line. Coronavirus pandemic has just made this imaginary line a lot more visible.

Muslims of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. repeatedly defied lockdown orders and continued with their religious congregations thereby putting the lives of their co-religionists in danger. As they did it, the Arab world remained an island of calm.

The most important mosques in the Arab land i.e. Makka and Medina remain closed in the holy month of Ramzan, however mosques in Pakistan are open, Indonesia saw huge gatherings at its mosques and even in India, there were reports of gatherings in some parts of India.

The line may be imaginary, but the phenomenon is real and dangerous. The zeal of the converts in times or Coronavirus will put the lives of everyone on the east side of the line in danger. This is not a request or an appeal because I know it’s worthless. It’s just a reality check