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NATURAL DISASTERS OR DIVINE PUNISHMENT

Since time immemorial man has often been intrigued by the


question whether natural disasters have anything to do with God's
displeasure. There are two apparent schools of thought:

One school of thought holds that all major calamities and disasters
are the results of natural laws and they have nothing to do with the
good or evil conduct of man, nor have these disasters anything to
do with man's rejection of the prophets sent by God.

On the other hand, followers of various religions all over the world
have always believed that whenever calamities acquire an
extraordinary character, they cease to be a natural phenomenon and
instead, fall into the realm of the supernatural.

The followers of all religions generally agree in their own unique


way and methodology, that a decree by some wise being manifests
itself in such disasters. Though there are certainly differences in
the details, religious people are generally unanimous that natural
disasters are a Sign of Divine wrath.

As evident from contemporary intellectual discussions appeared in


media, this poses an intriguing puzzle. Contemporary man has
fathomed deep into previously unknown secrets of nature. He has
carried out painstaking research into the cause and effect of these
disasters - how, where and why do these calamities occur. He has
gradually begun to remove the cloaks of mystery and myth which
surround the secrets of the cosmos. Discovered after painstaking
research and experimentation, these facts reveal that natural
disasters occur as a result of natural causes. There is no divine
intervention in such natural incidents.
For both the disbelievers and the adherents of various religious
dogmas, this issue has now become more important than ever
before. It is even more relevant and worthy of serious
consideration by the followers of religions who should not merely
define their stand in this regard but should present fresh logical
evidence from their own findings in support of their point of view
so that they may satisfactorily respond to the higher standards of
human reason and intellect prevailing today.

The man who confronts us today is far more advanced in secular


knowledge than his predecessor of previous centuries. Neither
religious tautology nor shouting one's point of view from the roof
tops is ever likely to appeal to modern man.

THE QUR’ANIC VIEW


The Holy Qur’an claims that these divine punishments are not
merely related to evil deeds but also to the rejection of God's
chosen prophets. In fact, this Qur’anic claim goes as far as to state
that irrespective of the transgressions committed by man, no
punishments afflicts man until such time that God has sent His
Messenger or Prophet to such people and that the Messenger or
Prophet has warned and admonished the people and invited them
to that which is good for them well ahead of time.

The following questions are raised when we study the phenomenon


of natural disasters as divine punishments:

Why the Holy Qur’an clearly mentions various natural disasters as


Signs of the truth of the Prophets of God.

Why is the Holy Qur’an replete with instances of the destruction of


one people after another who had rejected God's chosen Prophet
sent by Him to them?
Is it right for any religion to claim that because of the outright
rejection of the founder of their religion, world calamities are a
sure sign of the punishment of God?

In other words, must we wag the finger of God at every disaster?

AHMADIYYA INTERPRETATION

Natural Causes:

Ahmadiyya Muslims do not for a moment dispute the fact that


disasters, misfortunes, and earthquakes etc., occur because of
natural causes and that their occurrence is in strict conformity with
the laws of nature.

According to Ahmadiyya Muslims, the God of religion is also the


God of Mother Nature and the cosmos. The very laws which we
define as the laws of nature operate under God's perfect attributes
within God's pre-determined parameters.

Although detailed and painstaking research has revealed to man


many hitherto undiscovered secrets, these researchers are the first
to openly admit that they have as yet merely scratched at the
surface and that much more yet remain to be learnt. No point can
be determined as the first base. Each cause seems to be an effect of
another cause. Like Chinese boxes, opening up one leads to yet
another box, and thus one effect leads to another cause. Insofar as
the reach of human intellect is concerned, this chain of cause and
effect is ad infinitum.
In view of these principles, the Ahmadiyya Community does not
consider natural laws to be independent of or divorced from
religious laws. Both are part and parcel of the laws of God.
Therefore, the admission that physical changes are caused by
nature, does not in any way contradict the acceptance that all laws
of nature operate under God's powers and control and within His
predetermined and pre-ordained laws and that God Almighty is the
Source of all that energy and force that is expended or utilized at
the time of each natural change or transformations.

Not every disaster is punishment:

Despite harboring the belief that misfortunes and calamities are an


act of God and at His Will, the Ahmadiyya Community does not
believe that each and every accident of nature, disaster, upheaval or
change for the worse is a reflection of divine punishment or
chastisement.

Islam does not claim anywhere that all natural disasters and
calamities represent decrees of divine punishment. We most
certainly come across the claim in the Holy Qur’an that at times
God Almighty used physical and natural laws to unleash a havoc
on those world powers which were not only opposed to religious
and spiritual movements, but also had used all their material
strength and resources to annihilate the emerging and nascent
religions.

It is at these times that we see the law of God proverbially setting a


thief to catch a thief. In other words, for those who reject the
existence of an Omnipotent Being and hold themselves
unaccountable, for them their mutually-accepted material world is
itself appointed as a pit for their annihilation and destruction. In
religious parlance, this is termed as their divine punishment. When
this happens, there is no inconsistency between the punishment
from God and its having been caused by the laws of nature.

Take, for instance, the drowning of Pharaoh with all his hosts in
the waters of Egypt. Over countless years, the tides emptied their
waters into the sea twice a day. God knows how many animals and
pre- historic men or for that matter civilized people of ancient
Egypt were swept away by the currents in the rise and fall of tides
or how many unknowingly or unwittingly were drowned from a
navigational error or a gross misjudgment in the depth of the
waters of the Nile.

Yet, neither the Holy Qur’an, nor indeed any other religious
scriptures, assigns such fatalities to be divine punishment. The
cycle of the laws of nature continues to turn and repeat its course.
Neither can any resultant fatality be called a Sign of divine
punishment, nor does Islam make any such claim. In some cases,
however, natural phenomenon acquires a specific characteristic
known in religious terminology as divine chastisement.

Certain Characteristics of Disasters:

Another viewpoint is that physical reaction and changes resulting


from the operation of natural laws can only be categorized as
divine intervention when they display certain identified
characteristics and satisfy certain conditions. In the absence of
such characteristics or a failure to satisfy such conditions, changes,
effects or reactions cannot be called divine punishment. All such
natural disasters and misfortunes of the age, which in religious
parlance are termed as punishments or chastisements, must serve
some important purpose or objective which we shall examine later.
As opposed to this, although routine accidents of nature and even
calamities causing some wide scale effect or misfortune do not
manifestly serve the said objective relating to or connected with
religion.

In the view of the aforementioned principles, one thing emerges


very clearly. There should be no difference on this subject between
Islamic philosophy and the views of the atheist, per se. However,
the atheistic world places its sole reliance on the cause and effect
of the laws of nature. Islam, on the other hand, whilst agreeing
with natural phenomenon, has something to add to it. Islam admits
that there is no doubt that all disasters and misfortunes are caused
by natural laws. In pursuance of the noble aims and objective of
religions, sometimes these very natural means are employed. These
laws can also be used to serve as chastisement or a warning lesson
through the effect they have on nature. These effects are called
divine punishment.

Reward and Punishment:

The Islamic philosophy on punishment and reward becomes very


clear. The world at large knows that the deluge served as a
punishment for the people of Noah but is generally ignorant of the
fact presented in the Holy Qur’an that the rain could also be a
divine blessing for the people. The choice of whether this rain
serves as a source of blessing or punishment was left in the hands
of the people of Noah. Prophet Noah (as) states:

I said to them: seek forgiveness of your Lord; He is the Great


Forgiver. He will send down rain on you in abundance, and will help
you with wealth and children, and will bestow gardens on you, and
will cause rivers to flow for you. (71:11-13)

Each one of these two events saw the phenomenon of nature in


motion, but the waters from ancient Egypt which were unable to
drown a fledgling and weak infant, Prophet Moses (as), who was
to grow up as a great Messenger of God, swept with it his great
and mighty opponent. There is much to reflect on these incidents
for the unbiased mind.

Distinguishing Features of Divine Punishments


DISATEROUS EVENT FORETOLD

The foremost feature to distinguish a divine punishment from


natural disaster is that divine punishment is foretold before it is
afflicted. Indeed, not only is it foretold but the precise nature of the
punishment is described in great detail.

A very clear example of this can be found during the time of Noah,
peace be upon him. He had forewarned his people that they would
be destroyed because of their evil ways and their constant rejection
of his claims. He forewarned them in the same breath that the
means of their destruction would be water, a deluge whose like had
never been seen before and that neither man nor animal would be
safe from it.

MADE CONDITIONAL

The second hallmark of a punishment from on high is that it is


made conditional upon some act as a result of which some earthly
or heavenly visitation should directly manifest itself.

We have the example of this during the prophethood of Salih who


was sent unto the tribe of Thamud. As long as the people of Salih
refrained from preventing the she-camel from taking water and
tormenting her, God's wish of restraining the forces of nature from
manifesting themselves was fully complied with, but when the she-
camel was withdrawn from water and hamstrung, the forces of
nature were permitted to unleash themselves and show their might.

BELIEVERS ARE SAVED

The third sign, which distinguishes divine punishments from


natural disasters, is that the chastisement is not allowed to destroy
believers along with the unbelievers. Believers are invariably
saved and the unbelievers exterminated. This is a distinction for
which we can find no natural explanation. Why is it that a run of
the mill disaster should wipe out a large majority of the people and
yet make an exception for a chosen few, passing them by without
afflicting any loss on them? It does not end there. Perhaps even
more surprising is that part of a nation comprising the most
powerful and materially superior host and which is the fittest for
survival should be utterly destroyed and a community of poor and
aged weaklings commanding no physical resources for survival
should be saved from that calamity.

EVIL IDEOLOGIES ANNIHILATED

The fourth distinctive feature is that after the punishment from on


high, the philosophy and way of life, which had hitherto been
powerful and superior, is either annihilated or completely erased
from the face of the Earth. On the other hand, the new ideology
and way of life presented before the divine punishment, had been
in a weak and dormant state, so much so, that it seemed as if
nothing could breath any life into it. Yet it emerges victorious and
rapidly ascends to the pinnacle of its glory. Sometimes, the
philosophy, which confronted it, disintegrates into dust and the
nascent philosophy reigns supreme. At other times the triumphant
philosophy stands like a general over the defeated enemy, which
lies so disgraced and powerless that it has no choice but to
surrender.

TWO KINDS OF CATACLYSMS—NATURAL AND MAN-MADE

The cataclysms we observe in our material world are of two kinds:


one which are completely beyond our control and once they start
shaking our infrastructure and ultimately demolish it, we cannot
stop them; the other being self-inflicted and initiated by our own
hands can be minimized or prevented altogether. The Holy Qur’an
mentions this fact that there are certain disorders appear in the Seas
as well as on Earth caused by our own human hands:

‫سبَتْ َأيْدِي النّاسِ ِليُذِيقَهُم‬


َ َ‫حرِ بِمَا ك‬
ْ َ‫) َظهَ َر اْلفَسَادُ فِي اْلبَرّ وَاْلب‬30:42(
َ‫ض الّذِي عَمِلُوا َلعَ ّلهُمْ يَ ْر ِجعُون‬
َ ْ‫َبع‬
The glaring examples of such catastrophes created by human
intervention with nature, neglecting or willfully avoiding natural
laws, are global warming, pollution, creation of ozone hole and
certain epidemics like AIDS about which the Holy Prophet (s.a.)
forewarned in the following words:

"It never happens that permissiveness overwhelms a people to the


extent that they display their acts of sex shamelessly and they are not
uniquely punished by God. Among them, invariably, pestilence is
made to spread and such other diseases, the like of which have never
been witnessed by their forefathers." (Ibn-e-Majah, Kitab-ul-Fitan)

The Holy Qur’an wanes people not to invite their own death with
their actions and deeds:
ْ‫سنُ َوا‬
ِ ْ‫ َوأَنفِقُواْ فِي َسبِيلِ اللّ هِ َولَ تُ ْلقُواْ بَِأيْدِيكُ مْ إِلَى الّتهْ ُل َكةِ َوَأح‬2:196
َ‫سنِي‬
ِ ْ‫ب الْمُح‬
ّ ِ‫ِإنّ ال ّلهَ يُح‬
It is now upon us to ponder which cataclysms fall under the
category of natural disasters and which are those caused by our
own misdeeds and deviation from natural and religious laws.

Warning from the Divine Warner

 Truly do I say that the turn of this land, too is approaching


fast. The times of Noah shall reappear before your eyes, and
your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook
the cities of Lot. But God is slow in His wrath. Repent that
you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead,
not alive." (Haqiqatul Wahy, pp.256-57).

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