Recovered Tablighi Jamaat Members, Once a COVID-19 Cluster, Want to Donate Plasma to Help Infected People

Last month, the members of Tablighi Jamaat had made waves for expediting the spread of the disease in South Asia, leading to not just a spike in the numbers of COVID-19 cases, but also Islamophobia and racism. On Tuesday, though, the Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi issued a letter in which he appealed to coronavirus survivors to donate blood plasma for COVID-19 treatment.

The news of the religious congregation breaking social distancing rules to hold a meeting in March had led to the Delhi Police crime branch lodging an FIR against some members, including Kandhalvi, while hundreds were immediately quarantined. However, the leader, who is still in quarantine with a few others, issued a letter to those who have recovered from the virus. “If there is a person suffering from COVID disease anywhere in the world, this should affect all humanity,” he wrote. “It is my humble request to all Muslims and especially da’wah workers who receive this message to come forward and show this act of kindness to humanity, and help the society and government by donating blood plasma to a sick person.''

He also added that most of the members who were quarantined did not have any infection and tested negative for COVID-19, while a majority of the members who tested positive for the disease have now recovered after undergoing treatment. “It is required that people who are cured of the disease should donate blood plasma to others who are still fighting the disease,” said the chief.

Plasma therapy is a treatment process that involves the use of plasma collected from fully recovered people on patients currently suffering from the disease. Those who have fully recovered from COVID-19 are said to have antibodies in their plasma that may help expedite recovery of those critically ill due to the virus.

Meanwhile, Jamaat attendees in Tamil Nadu who have recovered from COVID-19 have come forward to donate plasma. The main reason they said, apart from their wish to help critically ill patients, was to counter the “baseless accusations” hurled against them ever since a large number of those who attended the Islamic gathering tested positive.

Mohammed Abdul Ali, who is the erstwhile Nawab of Arcot and a Tablighi Jamaat member told The New Indian Express that the fact that many voluntarily came forward to donate plasma shows that they never intended to deliberately spread the virus as some people say. “Islam says that we have to be loyal to the Government in whichever country that we reside,” he said. “The entire religion cannot be blamed for the pandemic in this country; this is the work of certain mischief-mongers.”

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