In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
Most of us - Muslims - would try our
best to convince others
that we are believers in the One Sole Creator -
Allah! We say we
believe it is Allah Who has created everything - big or small - in the
entire universe. We say that Allah is the Nourisher and Sustainer of
everything. We say that nothing happens anywhere without Allah's
conscious Will.
But, do we really believe in what we say?
The sad fact of the matter is that we don't - at least, most of us
don't. By way of evidence, I reproduce below a frank criticism from a
Brother to my article, Allah's
Wrath?, published sometime back. My point by point
response to that Brother is given in blue font.
**************************
I have a few questions regarding your analysis that the earthquake is Allah's wrath on Muslims . A person like me who has very limited knowledge but believes that there's a just God is extremely confused for the last few months. I'll appreciate if u can please clarify the following points for me ...
1 - WHY the people of Kashmir ? What's that special sin that they've been doing and the other people of muslim umah have not done ? I think a justified God would've sent this wrath on Zarqavi and Bin Laden kind of people who're not only destroying human lives, they're destroying the very base on which this religion is based. But that's not the case ... is it ? Why isn't Israel hit with earthquakes ? Any idea ? Looks like Allah Almighty is not as mad with them as he's with Muslims.
Looks like you have not
read my article, Brother! If you had at all read it, it must
have been like we Muslims generally read the Qur'aan - without
understanding it. And had you understood the article, you would not
have raised the very questions I answered therein.
Well, since you have chosen to ignore my answers, let me be very blunt
with you. You profess a belief in a just God, but your questions betray
an utter lack of faith in such a God. Your questions, moreover, betray
your assumption that you yourself are a super-god. You think you know
the people of Kashmir, Zarqavi and Bin Laden better than what their,
and your, Creator God Himself knows about them! If the actions
of a Zarqawi or a Bin Laden only help destroy the peace-based
and justice-based Allah laden foundations of Islam, you,
with your atheistic leanings, are no less destructive, Brother! You are
trying to destroy the very basis of Islam, and that basis is a Just,
Intelligent Creator, controlling every
little thing going on anywhere in the entire universe. That Creator
tells us in the Qur'aan, "...your
Lord would never destroy
human settlements wrongfully, while those who lived therein were good
people."[11.117]. But you, the super-god, tell us that settlements of
the good people of Kashmir were wrongfully destroyed! You yourself thus
provide ample evidence of your utter lack of faith in the Qur'aan as
well. No use therefore telling a non-believer like you of the very good
'idea' that the Qur'aan provides as to why Israel is not, so far, hit
by earthquakes. Allah Almighty does not need to be mad as you yourself
are, Brother! HE does everything coolly and unobtrusively.
2 - I'd like to know why those 300 young girls were crushed to death and what sin would've caused that punishment ? Since you wrote that Allah Almighty never destroys anything without any reason, I'd like to know what you think those 5, 6 and 7 year old did to deserve this ... just your thoughts. I'm sure you have a much better idea since you sound so confident in your analysis.
Why ask me, Brother? I'm
like you - a mere creature, not God. But no, you do not think you're a
mere creature. In the self-assumed role of a super-god, you've already
faulted God for 'unjustly' crushing to death those
5, 6 and 7 year olds. How could you, a non-believer, understand the
Islamic concept of justice, life and death? How could you understand
that worldly life is but an eligibility test, of a comparatively short
duration, for an eternal life of ease and comfort in the hereafter. How
could you understand that failure to pass this test would lead to
everlasting punishment? How could you understand that the test could
start only after a child attains adulthood? How could you understand
that there is no question of children, who are not yet ready for the
test, being themselves punished? How could you understand that the
death of such innocent children, on the other hand, could be a source
of severe punishment/test for their close, surviving elder relatives?
How could you understand that death, per se, is not punishment; but God
has nevertheless caused deaths by natural calamities like earthquakes,
tsunamis, hurricanes, floods etc. to punish some adult people and to
serve such punishments as stern warnings to others? How could you
understand that God could promote innocent children dying in such
calamities to an eternal life of comfort and ease in Paradise, without
putting them to any test? How could you understand that HE could do and
undo anything?
3 - Why is it that Allah's wrath in shape of earthquake's is always pin pointed to the places that lie above the tactonic plates? I know being a conservative muslim, its part of the religion not to believe in science but there has to be some reason that earthquake has not hit Las Vegas yet ... or Australia where even prostitution is legal ... or is it that people of Kashmir were more corrupt and morally bankrupt than people of Las Vegas ? Or maybe there're more crimes and injustices done in the mountains of Kashmir than in cities with millions of population. Maybe they were raping more women and children than in South Africa where every third minute a woman or child is raped. Any idea why Allah's wrath never did this kind of destruction on Russians who were butchering muslim faster than DDT kills flies ? An earthquake would've been very handy in that area.
4 - Japan is also frequently hit with earthquakes but I assume Allah Almighty is not that mad with Japanese people as He has given them technology to counter those earthquakes. Is it OK to asume that Japanese have found a solution to overcome Allah's Wrath ?
Allah's wrath could come
in
many other ways, besides earthquakes, Brother! It's your skewed,
unbelieving mind that makes you think that Islam is against science. In
science, one tries to seek the truth. Islam encourages seeking of the
truth. And history is witness to the fact that in the initial pure
Islamic culture, all branches of science flourished. The then backward
West had to learn science from Muslim scientists. But you are
pre-occupied in acting the super-god! Your mind is pre-occupied with
the casinos in Las Vegas and the prostitution in Australia, and you
think God committed a horrible mistake in destroying life and property
of the poor, innocent Kashmiris, instead of those of the really guilty
at those other places, South Africa, Russia et al. You, a speck of life
in a minute corner of this earth, have very limited real knowledge,
Brother! Your knowledge is limited to what the media feeds you with.
And yet, you have the temerity to assume that you know better than the
Creator of you and of all the people in Kashmir, Australia, South
Africa, Las Vegas, Russia et al!! How could your conceited mind
understand what's going inside the minds of all those people? You are
incapable of knowing even your own mind better than what your Creator
knows about it. So stop judging people, whom you really do not know,
and stop acting as a super-god to condemn God's actions. How could your
non-believing mind understand that, maybe, the people, committing the
various crimes in Las Vegas, Australia, South Africa and Russia, are
beyond reform and just waiting for their punishment by Fire in the
Hell. And how could you understand that, maybe, the people of Kashmir
being the custodians of the Last Divine Message to all people on earth,
had to be given an exemplary punishment for straying away from that
very divine Message. How could you understand that in the eyes of the
Creator this straying away might be a more dangerous crime for which
the perpetrators had to be punished on earth itself, than the mundane
crimes committed by the other people? How could you understand with
your non-believing tiny mind that Allah Almighty can never be that mad
with Japanese or with any other people? How could you understand that
no people, with all their limited technological knowledge, could
overcome Allah's Wrath? The trouble with you, Brother, is that you say
(sarcastically, of course) Allah can display His Wrath by means of
earthquakes only. Sometimes, He uses one people to punish another. Have
you forgotten Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Brother?
5 - I'm sure poor and under-previliged deserve the most punishment. They were the ones who got crushed in earth quakes, they were the ones who got blown away by Katrina and they were the ones who got drowned in tsunami. I'm sure they're more sinful than the ones who could affoard to get out of those areas. Any idea how much money is needed to avoid Allah wrath since it looks like that you can avoid most of the wrath-catagory disasters if you have enough money in your pocket to get out of that area ?
No, Brother! Looks like,
you're very poor in general knowledge. That's why you don't know that
the rich, holidaying on the shores of Phuket in naked or semi-naked
states, had no time, despite their pots and pots of money, to get away
when the tsunami struck them. It is your biased mind - biased against
the religion of Islam - that makes you sure that only the poor and
under-privileged get punished in such disasters.
6 - What's so special happened now and especially in the mountains of Kashmir and Balakot that Allah Almighty said enough is enough and now they need to be punished .... ? Any idea ? Did any one renounce Quran or Allah Almighty from that region ? Did the govt ban Islam from that region ? What happened that deserved this kind of punishment ? And what about France ? They banned Islamic traditions totally and I think its the right choice for the next wrath session. The fact that its not on top of a tactonic plate should not matter ...
Brother! Do you realise
that by making these sarcastic remarks, you are yourself renouncing
Qur'aan and Allah Almighty? Thank Allah, that His Wrath has not yet
descended on you. But it may, soon - if you do not mend your thoughts.
Maybe, you're one among those guilty in Las Vegas, Australia, South
Africa, whatever, whom Allah doesn't think it necessary to be punished
on earth: hell fire is enough for them. Or, maybe, He still sees some
spark of hope in you and has kindly given you time to mend and revert.
But those in the mountains of Kashmir and Balakot - their time was up!
Looks like, they did renounce Qur'aan and Allah Almighty in their minds
and in their deeds - like you did - although outwardly professing to be
adherents of Islam. But Allah didn't see any ray of hope left in them.
And He wanted to make an example of them for others, like you, to take
right lessons from. So, Brother, do not make haste in formulating your
opinions on the basis of exterior looks of things. You do not know the
interiors; Allah knows! Ditto for France! It's not for you, a tiny
creature, to decide the next venue for Allah's Wrath. Thank God, the
decision is not in the hands of a mad creature like you; it's in the
safe hands of Allah Almighty! And are you worried about France not
being on top of a tactonic plate, Brother?! No matter, indeed! Allah's
Wrath can come in any shape, size and intensity.
7 - Your analysis of muslims being the custodians of Quran is very nice. It feels a logical way to punish someone who atleast believes in God compared to the other person who outrights denies His existence. Its like punishing the person who did 75% of the home work instead of punishing the one who did 0%. Maybe this logic can convince you but its totally beyond my perception. You mean to say that muslims who believe in Allah Almighty, Quran, Muhammad (PBUH) but do not offer five prayers deserve to be crushed by concrete blocks compared to the ones who outright don't believe in any of the things above ?
8 - Does this fact bother you that the people in the areas hit by the earthquake are far more conservative, far more Islamic, far more practical muslims and far more strict followers of Islamic laws than the people in rest of the country ... or even rest of the Islamic nations. Any idea why these more religious people were selected to teach others how Allah Almighty will punish ? Can we take a message from it that they were tooooo much Islamic and they need to loosen up and that's why they were punished ?
A person says he believes
in God; but thinks God has no absolute control over His creation. Is
that what you call a belief in God, Brother? A person says he believes
in the Qur'aan, but doesn't care to abide by the do's and dont's
therein. Do you call that a belief in the Qur'aan, Brother? And you
have a very topsy-turvy view of the Islamic concept of 'crime and
punishment', Brother! You need to go to school again to learn all about
Islam, Brother! As it is, you know nothing. That is why you can't
understand why some persons, who outright reject God's existence, do
not get punished on this earth. You can't understand that in God's
unfailing judgement, Hell Fire, in the Hereafter, is enough punishment
for such people. You can't understand that God is a far far better
judge
than you in such matters. You can't understand that God does not need
to punish an arheist in this world itself unless that atheist becomes a
potential breaker of God's plan for life on earth. You, with your very
limited perspective, can't understand why, in the eyes of God, persons
with apparent Islamic garb, deserve punishments on earth itself. You
can't understand, Brother! Go to school and learn Islam all over again
if you really want to be saved.
********************
My response to the Brother's criticism above does appear to
be an angry retort. But, in fact, I wasn't angry with that Brother. I
was angry with myself. Because, my mind, fed and nourished with the
normal modern secular education, too, secretly entertained sometimes
the
very same thoughts expressed by the Brother! And I believe, most of us,
similarly bred on modern secular education, find it difficult to
believe that earthquakes, hurricanes, floods etc. could be consciously
caused to punish, test or warn some people.
Are we then prepared to get over this handicap brought about by our
secular unbringing and to genuinely believe that Allah can do and undo
anything? Or, do we continue to dismiss those as just natural phenomena
which have nothing to do with people being punished, tested or warned
therewith by Allah? In our sincere answers to those two questions lies
the acid test of our belief in Allah.
Mohammad Shafi
***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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