Read
the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:
وَ لَوۡ اَنَّ
اَہۡلَ الۡقُرٰۤی اٰمَنُوۡا وَ
اتَّقَوۡا لَفَتَحۡنَا عَلَیۡہِمۡ بَرَکٰتٍ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ وَ
لٰکِنۡ کَذَّبُوۡا فَاَخَذۡنٰہُمۡ
بِمَا
کَانُوۡا یَکۡسِبُوۡنَ
کَانُوۡا یَکۡسِبُوۡنَ
“And if people of the
towns had believed and feared Allah, then certainly, We would have opened for
them the blessings of the heaven and the earth, but they disbelieved. So We seized
them for what they used to earn.” (Al-Araf 7: 97)
Coming
on the subject of my previous sermon (05 April 2013) on divine punishment and
natural disasters, one may ask: “Why God allow suffering?” According
to the verses of the Quran, each cause has its effect, action and reaction. We
reap what we sow! Sincere repentance and undoing wrongs, be it to our own
selves, our brethrens and nature, we assure for ourselves the pleasure of God. Nature
revolves as we make of it. We preserve it by our noble acts, and we stay true
to the Creator of it all, therefore we contribute to our own physical, moral and spiritual
well-being by acting upon the commands of God. These commands enable us to keep
balance of our own selves, and that of our environment. This brings
us to the second distinctive feature of a divine punishment.
The second distinctive
feature of a divine punishment is that disaster which is impendent on a nation
or person’s head unless it/he changes his own condition, reforms himself, and
in the case of a nation, it sticks to the divine message which its prophet has
brought from Allah. In our times, we are in a worldwide nation,
and the prophet comes for the world, as a sign of the universality of the
message bestowed upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The prophet in question
warns of impending calamity, but then if mankind, or a specific people to whom
the Messengers addresses listens and abides to the divine commandments, then
the calamity is annulled. In other cases, due to the earnest prayers of His
messenger, Allah postpones a punishment for another time, but then when the
calamity strikes, then it shall be too late for these people.
Sometimes
Allah tests His Messenger’s people so that their obeisance or disobedience may
become manifest, and also so that their dirt become dirtier. An example is Thamud, the
nation of the Prophet of Allah, Hazrat Salih (as). Allah tested them with the she-camel.
The she-camel was a way to dig out their rebellious nature out in the open, and
therefore, after this no one could blame Allah for having destroyed such a
people, for they openly manifested their hatred against both Allah and His
Prophet.
The
punishment which they received was in form of a mighty earthquake (7: 79), which is also described as a
mighty blast (54: 32). That
terrifying blast, whether one calls it a volcanic eruption or an earthquake,
finished them in no time. Allah used the forces of nature to destroy them, and
this is no coincidence. They decided to rebel against the command of Allah and
sent their so-called fearless man, the most evil-hearted to do the dirty work
on their behalf. The disabling of the she-camel was therefore sacrilegious and they
refused outright to take turns with a she-camel which they thought was only a
so-called divinely-sent she-camel and refused to give her from their drinking
water and they tormented her. Moreover, the she-camel was hamstrung. Therefore,
Allah did not come down on earth to personally chastise them, but He manifested
Himself through the forces of nature which surrounds man to finish him. When
the people of Hazrat Salih (as) therefore became clearly a despised people,
Allah used a mighty earthquake, from a mighty blast or unbearable sound-wave to
finish them off. They in fact wrought that punishment from what their hands
have sent forth, by tormenting and hamstringing the sign of Allah on earth,
such a sign which Allah sent specifically for them to test them.
The third
distinguishing sign separating divine punishments from natural disasters is
that Allah does not allow the believers to incur the
same fate as the disbelievers when His punishment strikes. The
believers are ultimately saved and made to progress towards their goal along
with the chosen messenger of Allah. They leave behind a cursed people and go
elsewhere to spread the divine message. This applies for such prophecies or
warnings which the prophet in question
has already foretold that while the unbelievers shall be annihilated, but
the believers shall be safe and sound from these catastrophes.
An
example of this divine succour and help is found in the story of Prophet Lut
(as).
“The people of Lot
denied the warning. Indeed, We sent upon them a storm of stones (which
destroyed them), except Lut’s household: them We delivered by early Dawn, as
favour from us. Thus do We reward he who is grateful. And (Lut) did warn them
of Our Punishment, but they disputed about the Warning.” (Al-Qamar 54: 34-37)
By
Lut’s household, it does not mean only some of Lut’s own blood relations, but
also all the people who believed in him. Sodom and Gomorrah was ultimately
destroyed by being pelted with stones. This can also be a representation of a
tornado which has carried in its wake stones to finish them off. In other
places of the Quran, we find that from the household in the literal sense of
the word, the wife of Lot disbelieved in her own husband and was thus among
those who was left behind to die the death of the accursed ones.
It must be
reminded that when a divine punishment strikes, it may be that some believers
do suffer from them and this is clear from the Holy Quran.
The path to Allah is paved with thorns. Only the forbearing and those of pure
hearts, who despite the calamities think good of Allah and His Prophet; those are
they who are fully rewarded for their patience in the dire situations they
face. Like these Hadiths tells us:
Narrated
Ibn ‘Umar: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “If Allah sends punishment upon a nation then it befalls upon the whole population indiscriminately and then they
will be resurrected (and judged) according to their deeds.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Narrated ‘Aisha (the wife of the Prophet): The
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “No
calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of
it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn.” (Bukhari)
Therefore,
Allah does as He pleases. If He promised by way of divine revelation to His
Messenger, that warn such and such people, even his own people as a whole (and Islamic Messengers of Allah in a universal aspect) and
tell the believers that nothing shall befall them, and they shall be rescued,
then it shall be so. An example of it is the promise which Allah made to the
Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) that no harm shall befall those
who shall be within his home.
“I shall
safeguard from the plague all who dwell in this house.”
Now, his home can literally means his household, and the
people who come to seek shelter in it, and also all the sincere believers in
the Messiah (as). They were saved. This is the way which Allah makes His
Messengers understand the proper meaning of revelations. Sometimes revelations
come in parable which is subject to interpretation by the prophets, and this is
a Knowledge vouchsafed to them so that they may accomplish their missions in
the best way.
The fourth sign which distinguishes a divine punishment from a natural
calamity is that in the wake of the divine punishment, the philosophy or way of
life of the rebellious people is annihilated or cause to disappear and Allah
established a “New World”, a new way of life whereby the people live according to the
divine instructions for a certain period of time, because as it is also a
cycle, the future generations, later in time shall deteriorate also and divine
punishment shall seize them.
We find mention of this in the Holy Quran:
“It
was said, “O Noah, disembark in security from Us and blessings upon you and
upon nations (descending) from those with you. But other nations (of them) We will grant enjoyment; then there
will touch them from Us a painful
punishment.” (Hud 11: 49)
That is why, we have first of all a golden era, where a
Messenger of Allah is present among mankind and his mission is defined in that
era as a golden mission, a golden era, then comes the time after him (his
death) when his first true and sincere successors strive to spread his message
to the ends of the world (for example, after the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad
(pbuh) there was the four righteous caliphs, and after the demise of the
Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), there was his first pious successors,
among whom there was his Promised Son with messianic qualities who came to
continue the work of both his biological and spiritual father), then comes a
bronze age where things starts to deteriorate and the promised people ceased to
be what Allah expects of them, and they fall headlong into sin by introducing
innovations into the religion of Allah, and this state persists and even become
worst in the iron age where everything is spoiled, irreligion is spread
everywhere. Then comes again a golden age with the presence of another chef
Messenger of Allah (who is a true follower of the deceased chef Messenger of
Allah) and the cycle continues till Judgement Day.
We find also mentioned in the Holy Quran how Allah annihilated
some nations and cause the earth, sand and even water to cover or submerge
them. Today, through archaeological researches, these nations are being
retraced, but all this is food for thought for the people, as a sign for them not to follow the footsteps of these
rebellious people lest they fall prey to the same fate as them. Even the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh)
used to avoid passing through the land of the accursed people, and if he and
his companions had no option than to pass through these routes, then the Holy
Prophet (pbuh) used to cover himself up and have teary eyes, and commanded his
followers to do the same, because these were the places upon which Allah sent
His punishments.
Moreover ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar narrated that the Messenger of
Allah (pbuh) said, “Do not enter (the
places) of these people where Allah’s punishment had fallen unless you do so weeping. If you do
not weep, do not enter (the places of these people) because
Allah’s curse and punishment which fell upon them may fall upon you.” (Bukhari)
So we note that whenever Allah wants to exterminate a rebellious people,
He sends beforehand His Warner to warn them and test them to uncover what is in
their hearts. Even believers who say that they believe with their lips have to
go through the test so that their interior may become manifest. If there is a
diamond in the breast, then it shall shine on the face, but if there is a
malady in the heart, then that malady shall become manifest. The past people underwent such trials, so: Oh
those who seek to strive to have faith and believe sincerely in the Divine
Manifestation of this age; do not think that the same tests shall not fall upon
you. Allah will try you like He tried the people of yore. Indeed, now the
punishments shall be more intense and the good rewards shall be sweeter just
because of the universality of Islam, of its pure nature. This is the true way
of life which Allah has safeguarded for His chosen servants, those who strive
to offer themselves everyday for Allah, those who make the will of Allah become
their will, and have no objections to the ways of Allah. They let themselves be
guided, be used to Allah, just like an instrument for the accomplishment of the
victory of Islam in the final days…