The
human condition seems to be riddled with the mystery of unconscionable
suffering. For, disasters are striking the world and the people are being
caught up in the maelstrom everywhere - in the land, on the air or even at the
sea! Almost on a daily basis, innumerable events are taking place-
earthquakes, devastating floods, hurricanes, horrifying forest fires, building
collapses, accidents of colossal magnitude, terror bombings, deliberate
(racial, ethnic or genocidal) killings on a horrendous scale, fresh outbreak of
long-forgotten/contained epidemics, etc. How does one look at and begin to explain the occurrence of these incidents
that inflict much pain and loss on the humanity of our times? Are they mere natural disasters or do they belong to the
grave category of divine punishments when occurred after clear warnings and exhortations from the Divine Messenger of the times? In his Friday Sermon of 19 April 2013 the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir
Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius discussed profoundly and
provided illuminating insights on the subtle subject of ‘natural’ disasters in
the times of a Divine Messenger.
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
“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)
