The Earthquakes
Shaykh Saalih al-Hamraani
Translation of a Khutbah (08/27/99)
Have fear and consciousness of
Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala and ponder over events that happen
around you. Learn lessons from them and remember, for the
intelligent one is he who remembers and takes admonition.
The topic of this khutbah is the
destructive earthquake that hit part of Turkey. The earthquake
which caused thousands of people to die, caused loss of wealth
and properties, and forced people to seek refuge outside of
their dwellings, now being without their home and their wealth,
and without food and drink. The earthquake which turned
security into fear, richness into poverty, caused joined
families to depart, and turned life into death. Without doubt,
in it is a lesson for those who take lessons and a reminder for
those who remember, so that they may return to their Lord and
their Creator.
The Truthful, the Chosen one (as-Saadiq
al-Mustafa), sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, has informed us that
a multitude of earthquakes is a sign of the proximity of the
Hour. He informed us that they would be many at the end of the
time.
Ahmad relates in a hadeeth narrated by
Abu Hurairah, radhiallahu `anhu, that the Prophet, sallallahu `alayhi
wa sallam said, "The Hour will not happen until knowledge is
taken out, time passes quickly, earthquakes increase in number,
tribulations (fitan) appear, and al-Harj increases in number."
It was said, "What is al-Harj, O Rasoolullah?" He said, "Al
Qatl, al Qatl (Killing)".
A lot of what is mentioned in this
hadeeth has already materialized.
Happenings of earthquakes and the
like from other destructive and disastrous events are the
greatest evidence of the astonishing power of Allah subhanahu
wa ta`ala. Earthquakes are from among the soldiers of Allah,
subhanahu wa ta`ala, subjected to His order. He, subhanahu wa
ta`ala, causes fear in the hearts of those whom He wills,
teaches lessons whom He wills and punishes whom He wills.
"And none can know the Forces of your
Lord, except He." (74:31)
"For to Allah belong the Forces of the
heavens and the earth." (48:7)
If the Ummah leaves Allah's
Sharee`ah, ignores the Deen of Allah ta`ala and follows its
enemies, Allah will subjugate it to His armies, which no one
knows except He. From among these armies are the earthquakes.
"Such is the Seizure of your Lord when
He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His
Seizure is painful and severe."
(11:102)
"When We decide to destroy a town, We
(first) send a definite order (to obey Allah and be righteous)
to those among them who are given the good things of this life.
Then, they transgress therein, and thus the word (of torment)
is justified against (them). Then we destroy it with complete
destruction." (17:16)
Allah, subhanahu wa ta`ala, with
this earthquake makes clear to His servants a plain reality,
that the kingdom of the heavens and the earth is in His Hands,
subhanahu wa ta`ala, and that He is the Irresistible and
Dominant over His servants.
Some people may be astonished by
what the West has from the materialistic power, from various
weapons, aircraft carriers, bombs, satellites etc., and they
forget that Allah, subhanahu wa ta`ala, allowed that piece of
land to move and shake, being able to shake the force of the
West and the East. Everything is in His Hands, He has power
over all things, and no one in the Heavens and the Earth can
weaken Him, subhanahu wa ta`ala. Appearance of the earthquakes
therefore points us to a different reality that may be absent
in the minds of some people, those who are busy with this world
and who are servants of materialism.
This earthquake also reminds us of
the Day of Judgment. The Day when all of the Earth will shake,
and not only one part of it. Allahu subhanahu wa ta`ala says,
"O mankind! Fear your Lord and be
dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour is a
terrible thing. The Day you shall see it, every nursing mother
will forget her nursling, and every pregnant one shall drop her
load, and you shall see mankind as in a drunken state. Yet they
will not be drunken, but the Torment of Allah will be severe."
(22:1-2)
Look what is left after the
earthquake from destroyed buildings and houses, deaths of
thousands, and families seeking refuge outside of their homes.
What state is that in which everyone is running away, caring
about nothing? So what do you think of the Day of Judgment?
"That Day shall a man flee from his
own brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his
wife and his children."
(80:34-36)
"One the day (when the first blowing
of the Trumpet is blown), the earth and the mountains will
shake violently." (79:6)
Allah ta`ala warns His servants
with this earthquake to learn a lesson and be admonished, and
to be ready and prepare themselves for the Day of sorting out,
the day of the great earthquake, that will shake all of the
earth.
Allah ta`ala has placed in this
universe Sunan, fixed and manifest laws, neither do they change
nor are they replaceable. He does not have any kinship with
anyone, He is the sole Creator and Ruler, and He will question
and hold accountable everyone, including prophets and
messengers. "Then surely, We shall
question those to whom it (the Book) was sent and We shall
question the Messengers."
(7:6)
From among the established Sunan of
Allah is that He does not send punishment except due to sin and
He does not remove it except after repentance. Allah ta`ala
says, "Whatever misfortune
befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned."
(42:30)
Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:
"Evil and mischief have appeared
on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned,
that Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have
done, in order that they may return (by repenting to Allah)."
[30:41]
Every disaster and every calamity
that befalls the servants is due to their sins and wrongdoing.
So know, servants of Allah, what wrongdoing does to its doers.
What has taken Adam and Eve from
the Jannah except wrongdoing, and what Has drowned all of the
people on the earth at the time of Nooh, to the point that
water reached the peak of mountains, except wrongdoing?
Who is it who sent the furious
violent wind upon the people of `Aad, so that they were seen
lying overthrown and destroyed, as if they were hollow trunks
of palm-trees? Who is it who sent the awful cry upon the people
of Thamud until it cut their hearts inside their bodies, and
they all fell dead without exception? Who lifted the villages
of the people of Loot till the angels heard barking of their
dogs, then turned them upside down, and then rained upon them a
rain of stones?
That is the immediate punishment
for wrongdoing: drowning, fire, earthquakes, destruction,
famine, raging wind... "And
the torment of the hereafter is far more severe and more
lasting." (20:127)
Do we not take admonition and
lesson? Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says,
"Did We not destroy the ancients? So
shall We make the later generations to follow them. Thus do We
deal with the Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers, sinners.).
Woe that Day to the deniers (of the Day of Resurrection)!"
[77:16-19]
The earthquake of Turkey is just a
warning from Allah, subhanahu wa ta`ala - not only to the
people of that country alone, but rather to the Muslims in
general, in all lands - that they may return to their Lord and
their Deen. Otherwise a punishment will come upon them. Allah
ta`ala says, "So We seized
each of them for his sins." (29:40)
Many of the Muslims today have
gathered many sins. We see those who delay and neglect prayers,
eat haram, deal with riba, do not fulfill their trusts, order
the evil and forbid the good. Those who indulge in mixing,
display of awra, listening to music and songs, and those who
have abandoned the Qur'an. All these exist in our society. Let
us fear Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala and preserve what we have
from the blessings, for wrongdoing removes blessings, rather it
changes it to a curse. And let us be warned of an evil end, for
Allah gives us a chance but is not neglectful. What has
happened to the previous nations and some of the current ones
will happen to us if we obey the Shaytan and go far from the
path of the Most Merciful. These are the sunan of Allah that
will never change.
"Or do you feel secure that He, Who is
over the Heaven, will not cause the earth to sink with you,
then behold it shakes (as in an earthquake)? Or do you feel
secure that He, Who is over the heaven, will not send against
you a violent whirlwind? Then you shall know how (terrible) was
My Warning." (67:16-17)
Let us pause and ask ourselves what
has been the tangible impact on us since we have heard and seen
this earthquake, and what it has left from the mighty and scary
destruction that makes the hearts bleed. The happy one is one
who learns from the calamity of others, and the sad one is by
whom these calamities pass while he takes no lesson from them.
Just recently the sun eclipsed,
then followed the floods, then the strong wind, and then this
earthquake happened. The people are still as they were before,
you see no change. You do not see people going back to the path
of Allah and you do not see any crowds in mosques. It is
unfortunate that the explanation offered for these events is
that they are normal natural disasters, and that they do not
link it to what happens to people due to their wrongdoing.
Theirs is clearly an incorrect interpretation.
"And We sent not the signs except to
warn, and to make them afraid (of destruction)."
(17:59)