Environmental Crisis: Natural Calamity or Divine Punishment?

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Faith

Wednesday, 01 February 2012

Author / Source : EHTESHAMUL HOQ

The concept of environment is broad and is used in many different ways. The environment is the medium or the space in which man lives. In fact, human beings live in a multi-layered environment. Mother's womb is a man's first environment; home is an environment; school is an environment; the place where we live is an environment; the earth is an environment and the whole universe is also an environment. When there is internal and external consistency and concord among these layers, we live in a sustainable environment. When there is imbalance, environmental crisis ensues. Environmentalists arrived at a precise definition of the environment when they met in Stockholm in 1972 under the auspices of the United Nations: "The environment is the sum of the material and social resources available at a given time and place to satisfy the needs and aspirations of Man" and with the marching of time this precious gift of God is gradually getting destroyed. In order words, at present we are passing through an environmental crisis.

Here we need to know the meanings of “environment” and “crisis”.  Generally, crisis implies that a normal state has been disrupted in a dangerous direction and it  is perceived to be a threat to our existence.  The existence of an environmental crisis is no longer a speculation, for it can be observed in global warming, which is but only one aspect of it.  But the crisis  is so acute that it has finally caught the attention of everyone, whereas other aspects such as the extinction of many species, destruction of their habitat, deforestation, dissertification and depletion of resources have often been neglected. Industrial pollution has entered into the food chain and our bodies as well as the air we breathe and the water we drink, are severely contaminated by proliferation of all kinds of cancers and new varieties of diseases.

One important manifestation of environmental crises is disasters: Tsunamis, Katrina in USA, terrible earthquakes in Haiti, Kashmir, Japan, Indonesia and Pakistan, blanket snowfall and winter freeze in the UK, summer heat waves, death by heatstroke in Siberia, flooding of the Indus and Yangtze and catastrophic earthquakes in seismically sensitive areas, all these natural disasters happened one after another. Seeing the human suffering, death and destruction we are all shaken irrespective of our religion, colour, race, sex or caste. It is difficult to forget the scenes of death, pain, cries of people, men women and children.

Question is: why are these happening? Many would argue, these are caused by nature, overexploitation of nature, to be precise. They believe that these climatic disorders can be explained scientifically. At one level, perhaps these can be explained by human knowledge and logic. But  those who believe in God are concerned to know why God allowed these disasters to happen. Historically, there is a correlation between man’s deviant behaviours including repressions, injustice, torture, violation of human rights and occurrence of natural disasters, diseases and other unnatural behaviour of nature. Thus, it becomes natural to argue that the climatic disorders are some sort of divine punishment for human beings on the planet.

According to the Holy Qur'an, earth quake, tsunami, tidal wave, cyclone etc. are common form of punishment that comes from Allah as signs and as wraths to mankind.  Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, “Then We seized each of them on account of his sin. Then as to some of them We sent the storm of stoning, and as to some of them, a roaring blast overtook them and as to some of them We buried in the earth and as to some of them, We drowned. And it was not befitting to the Dignity of Allah that He would have oppressed them, yes they themselves oppressed their souls.” [Sura: Ankabut:40]

It is also great fortunate news that Allah Himself saves righteous people from those disasters as an essential task for Him “Then shall We save Our messengers and the believers, in like manner (as of old). It is incumbent upon Us to save believers.”  [Sura Yûnus :103].

One interpretation of chaotic behavior of nature is the test of Allah. Allah tests His prophets and righteous people by trials and tribulations in order to see if they remain steadfast in their faith. They have to demonstrate their faith in terms of patience or Sabr. Only after testing, Allah showers His Mercy to His prophets and righteous people both in this life and the hereafter. In fact, Allah tested every prophets and their followers but prophets and their followers eventually got rewards for their patience. Typical examples are Prophet Ayub (Job), our father of the nation Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi wassalam, peace be upon them) etc. “And (remember) Ayub, when He cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me, but Thou art the Most Merciful of those that are merciful." [Al-Anbiyâ: 83-84]. “So We listened to him: We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his people to him, and doubled their number,- “And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: Allah said: "I will make you a Leader to the Nations." He pleaded: "And also (Imams) from my offspring!" He answered: "But My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers." [2:124].

How does Allah perfectly save prophets, messengers and true righteous (Mumins) from those type of disasters, we can see many examples in the Glorious Qur’an. Some of them are given below:

•    Allah  destroyed entire community of prophet         Lut (peace be upon him) but He saved Lut (Lot)         and his family(except his wife). “Surely We sent         upon them a stonestorm, except Lut's
followers; We saved them a little before             daybreak.” [54:34].
•    “And when Our messengers came to Lut he         was grieved on account of them, and he felt         powerless (to protect) them; and they(angles)         said: Fear not, nor grieve; surely we will save         you and your followers, except your wife; she         shall be of those who remain behind.” [29:33]
•    Almighty Allah destroyed all people of prophet         Nuh (peace be upon him) but saved His             prophet and only few but all righteous people         with Nuh(Noah).  Nuh’s own son could not get         spared from the Wrath of Allah SWT. Prophet         Nuh saw his beloved son was drowning in
front of him but he could not manage to             do anything, besides, even Allah SWT
rebuked prophet Nuh vehemently for Nuh’s         appeal in favor of his son, “They(wicked people         of Nuh) said: O Nuh! indeed you have disputed         with us and lengthened dispute with us,             therefore bring to us what you threaten us
with, if you are of the truthful ones.” [Sura Hûd,         11:32] 
•    “And it was revealed to Nuh: That none of             your people will believe except those who
have already believed, therefore do not grieve
at what they do. Build the ship under Our eyes         and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me         on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they will
be drowned.” [The Noble Qur'an 11:36-37]. “And         it(ship) moved on with them(Nuh and righteous         people) amid water waves like mountains;
and Nuh called out to his son, and he was aloof:         O my son! embark with us and be not with the         unbelievers. He said: I will betake myself for
refuge to a mountain that shall protect me             from the water. Nuh said: There is no protector         today from Allah's punishment but He Who has         mercy; and a wave intervened between them,         so he was of the drowned.” [Qur'an 11:42-43].
•    “Nuh cried out to his Lord and said: My Lord!         surely my son is of my family, and Thy
promise is surely true, and Thou art the most         just of the judges. Allah said: O Nuh! surely he         is not of your family; surely he is (the doer of)         other than good deeds, therefore ask not of Me
that of which you have no knowledge; surely         I admonish you lest you(Nuh) may be of the         ignorant.” “And Nuh, when he cried aforetime,         so We answered him, and delivered him and his         followers from the great calamity.”
[Qur'an 21:76].
•    Allah SWT drowned Firon (Pharaoh), his army         and followers but saved prophets Musa(Moses)         and Harun(Aaron )[peace be upon them]  and         their followers. “And when We parted the sea         for you, so We saved you and drowned the             followers of Firon and you watched by.” [2:50].
•    “Like the striving of the people of Firon and         those before them; they rejected Our
communications, so Allah destroyed them             on account of their faults; and Allah is severe in         requiting (evil).” [The Noble Qur'an 3:11]. “Then
we raised after them Musa with Our             communications to Firon and his chiefs, but         they disbelieved in them; consider then what         was the end of the mischief makers.” [7:103].
•    “In the manner of the people of Firwaun and         those before them; they rejected the
communications of their Lord, therefore We         destroyed them on account of their faults             and We drowned Fiwaun people, and they were         all unjust.” [The Noble Qur'an 8:54] . “But
Firwaun disobeyed the apostle, so We laid on         him a violent hold.” [73:16].
•    Allah similarly destroyed people of prophets         Hud, Salih and Suayb (peace be upon them)  but         saved His prophets and all righteous people         with them. This is the eternal law of Allah.“And         when Our decree came to pass, We saved Hud         and those who believed with him with mercy
from Us, and We delivered them from a hard         chastisement.” [11:58]
•    “So when Our decree came to pass, We saved         Salih and those who believed with him by             mercy from Us, and (We saved them) from the         disgrace of that day; surely your Lord is the
Strong, the Mighty.” [11:66]
•    “And when Our decree came to pass We saved         Shu'aib, and those who believed with him by         mercy from Us, and the rumbling overtook             those who were unjust so they became
motionless bodies in their abodes.” [11:94].

So many places in the Holy Qur'an it is very clearly declared that Allah has power over all things [ Qur'an 2:20, 2:106, 2:109, 2:148, 2:284, 3:29, 3:165, 3:189, 5:17 etc.]; therefore, those earth quakes, tsunami, tidal waves, cyclones etc. can never be happened without His permission and Will. Not only that, punishments like these come from Allah as signs and admonishments for mankind so that we can get lesson and be careful in our duty to Allah.

•    “And the people of Nuh, when they rejected         the apostles, We drowned them, and made         them a sign for men, and We have prepared a         painful punishment for the unjust.” [25:37].
•    “We will this day deliver you with your body         that you (Firon) may be a sign to those after         you, and most surely the majority of the people         are heedless to Our communications.”  [10:92].

Now the question may rise “Why do sufferings happen in this life? There are two answers.

One, for the believers there will be a test of patience and submission to the Will of God. "Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss of goods, lives, and the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Who say, when afflicted with a calamity: ‘To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.’" [Al-Baqarah, 2:155]. All hardships in life --- over which we have no control --- thus become an opportunity for gaining rewards in the hereafter by exercising patience. Islam, as we know very well, means submission to Allah. It means submission to the Command of Allah in areas within our control. It means submission to the Will of Allah in areas beyond our control.

Another for the sinners, these appear as a punishment. "And indeed We will make them taste of the lighter chastisement before the greater chastisement in order that they may repent and return." [As-Sajdah, 32:21]. But even this punishment will turn out to be a mercy for those who heed the wake-up call and mend their ways; it will spare them the much greater punishment in the hereafter.

Allah SWT would not change us automatically if we wouldn’t try earnestly to mend our self and do the right things according to His commands as He says very clearly in the Glorious Qur'an, “Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition” [13:11]
How do we, then, know whether a particular suffering is a punishment or a blessing for us? The answer given by scholars is: by examining our own feelings. If the suffering brings us close to Allah; if we find ourselves turning to Him in prayers and repentance; if we feel the pain yet do not complain about the ‘injustice’ of nature to us; if we submit and patiently persevere, then the suffering is indeed a blessing in disguise that will bring tremendous rewards in the hereafter. On the other hand, if as a result of the hardship we turn away from Allah; if we complain and ask ‘why me?’; if our focus is only on apparent causes and remedies and not on the Creator who Creates and Controls the causes themselves, then these are the signs that, God forbid, the suffering is a punishment and a greater punishment awaits us in the hereafter!

The earthquake in Turkey has no doubt entailed massive human suffering. But the greater tragedy will be if we fail to learn from the ‘disaster of the century,’ and remain stubborn about our crooked ways of disobedience to Allah and defiance of His Shariah. The earthquake that will take place on the Day of Judgment will be much stronger; on that day the whole earth will be shaken. And there will be no end to the sufferings it will cause to those who refuse to learn from the much smaller earthquake now.

Now main question is, what are the faults of majority of Muslims?: It may be a quite lengthy list but I would like to put here two basic points:

1.    Commands of Allah are very clear and obvious         in the Holy Qur'an even though Muslim             Ummah are divided into different sects, groups,         countries and   they are some cases at so odds         with each other that they are fighting and
killing each other. Allah warns Muslims very         distinctly about these types of wicked
behaviours,
•    “And hold fast, all together, by the rope which         Allah (stretches out         for you), and be not
divided among         yourselves...” [3:103].
•    “And be not like         those who became         divided and
disagreed after clear         arguments had         come to them, and
these it is that         shall have a dreadful         chastisement.” [3:105].
•    “As for those who divide their religion and             break up into sects, thou hast no part in them         in the least: their affair is with Allah. He will         in the end tell them the truth of all that they         did." [6:159].
2.    The rules and orders of Allah are very clear
in the Holy Quran and those who would not         intend to apply those rules in their every             aspects of life, they are in fact no longer
Muslims, and they are actually unbelievers         according to Noble Quran,
•    “If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what         Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than)         unbelievers.” [5: 44].
•    “If any fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah         hath revealed, they are (no better than) wrong-        doers.” [5: 45]
•    “ If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what         Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than)         those who rebel.” [5: 47]
Therefore, according to those above Noble verses, it is obvious that very little percentage of people in Muslims Ummah is real Muslims. Most of the people in Muslims Ummah are never ready to accept the Qur’anic rules and commands in their daily life. That is why most of the Muslims countries is not governed by the commands of Allah (commands of the Qur’an). So those most of the people can not be better than unbelievers, wrong-doers and rebel as the Holy Qur’an confirms.

Many so called Islamic regimes and Muslim countries give us to understand that they are followers or enforcers of Islamic Shariah. But it looks like they are following specific versions of Shariah. Moreover, these versions of Islam create more dissension than consensus among the Muslim Ummah. How do we bring concordance among the Muslims in such circumstances? Because each considers respective path as the true paths. Here the tactic should be to look for a level of analysis where it is possible to bring similarities of view points than dissimilarities. The questions of humanitarianism and human sufferings in disasters are issues where we can find common cause among diverse groups of Muslims.

So,  let us think again and again what are our faults? We are reminded that  the severity of faults  are so much so  that from time to time,  Allah destroys some parts of Muslim regions and reminds and cautious us to be complete Muslims “O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah with the care which is due to Him,  and do not die unless you are true Muslims.” [Quran 3:102]  Today,  when  disasters befall on one part of the Muslim Ummah, we do not seem to be moved, but who knows,  tomorrow it may befall on to us as well. 

(Ehteshamul Hoq  is Senior Lecturer, Bangladesh Islamic University (BIU) & a Lawyer. His email:: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )