‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬
Editorial Issue 408
Thursday, 29 Safar 1445
The verses of fate and universal destiny,
that were sent by Allah, to this day hold
warnings and cautions to His creation, to
whom He first sent His messengers with
Sharia’h verses. These verses were meant to
achieve a purpose for which Allah created
them, which is to worship Him alone.
Every move, moment of stillness, tremor,
and quake that Allah Almighty makes in
His universe is intended to realize this
purpose, which is the most important of
all goals and upon which destruction or
salvation hinges.
Allah condemns those who turn away
from these verses and do not ponder nor
consider them. Allah Almighty said: “How
many signs in the heavens and the earth
do they pass by with indifference!” At-
Tabari explained: “How many signs in the
heavens and the earth belong to Allah…
They see them and pass by them, turning
away from them, neither considering
them nor thinking about what they
indicate regarding tawhid of their Lord”.
Although Allah Almighty established
evidence for His creation by sending
Messengers and revealing the Book to
them, out of mercy toward His worshipers,
He still sends them His cosmic signs as a
warning and a caution to flee to Him.
Allah Almighty has absolute control over
His creation, “The creation and the
command belong to Him (alone). Blessed
is Allah—Lord of all worlds!”. Allah
Almighty is praiseworthy in all His
actions, as Ibn al-Qayyim said: “His
actions are all wisdom, mercy, interest,
and justice, and they do not deviate from
that”.
The Muslim’s position regarding Allah’s
revealed signs, such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, and others, is the position of
the pondering, cautious, fearful, and
scared person who is careful about his
afterlife and hopes for the mercy of his
Lord. If fear settles in the heart of the
worshiper, there is no safety or security for
him except through fleeing to Allah
Almighty. If a person fears something, he
will flee from it, except the Lord, Glory be
to Him, fear of Him results in fleeing to
Him.
It was the habit of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, when
things like these, or even less, occurred, to
turn to his Lord, overcome with
apprehension and fear, as in Sahih Muslim
on the authority of ‘Aisha, may Allah be
pleased with her, who said: “When the
wind blew, the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬used to say: “O
Allah, I ask you for its goodness. And I
seek refuge in You from its evil..), and in
al-Bukhari’s narration: “And if he saw a
cloud or a wind, one could see it on his
face. She said: O Messenger of Allah,
when people see clouds, they rejoice in the
hope that it will rain, but when you see
them, your face shows hatred?! He said:
“O ‘Aisha, what guarantees me that there
will not be torment with it? Some people
were tormented by the wind, and some
people saw suffering, and they had said:
This is a cloud that will bring us rain”.
Consider the Prophet of Islam fearing for
his companions, may Allah be pleased
with them, the same punishment that had
fallen on ‘Aad, and they were those who
were diligent in faith and piety. So, what is
the matter with people today who feel that
they are safe from the plans of Allah
Almighty! And they deal with what is
happening as if they are isolated from it?!
Or that it pertains to one people over
another or one country over another?!
Allah Almighty says: “None would feel
secure from Allah’s planning except the
losers”.
There are many Hadiths about the causes
of these disasters and verses that were not
concealed from a Muslim, the most
important of which is abandoning what is
forbidden. Imam at-Tirmidhi has included
in his Sunan “Kitabu al-Fitan, a chapter
on what is mentioned regarding the
torment that is to come if one does not
change what is forbidden. Thus, what if
this evil is ahirk with Allah Almighty, in all
its forms, the most common of which
today are fighting His Shari’ah and His
nature, and replacing them with
blasphemous jahiliyah laws, leading to a
decay in humanity that would even be
astonishing to those who led during the
early jahiliyah era!
The ignorance and ingratitude of the
people of this time has led to the use of
terms and descriptions that deepen the
Flee
to
Allah!
distance and enhances the turning away
from Allah Almighty, and from His
Shari’ah and His verses of fate. Instead, it
reinforces atheism and materialism in
people’s souls, including calling what is
happening of “climate extremism,” linking
people’s understandings to purely physical
geographic and topographic changes! As if
the climate is changing on its own!
Without mentioning that everything that
happens is by Allah’s power, ability,
management, and command, they
preoccupy people with everything except
Allah Almighty.
People must occupy themselves in this
situation with returning and fleeing to
Allah Almighty, for He is the first and last
refuge for His worshipers. Imam al-
Qurtubi quoted the interpreters’ sayings
regarding the Almighty’s words: “So flee to
Allah”, and he said: “That is: flee from His
disobedience to His obedience; flee to
Allah in repentance from your sins; flee
from obedience to Satan to obedience to
the Most Merciful; flee from ignorance to
knowledge; from disbelief to gratitude;
and flee from yourselves to your Lord”.
And they said: “So flee, O people, from
Allah’s punishment to His mercy by
believing in Him, following His command,
and acting in obedience to Him”. And
they said: “Come to him”. This is what the
discerning worshiper must occupy himself
with in the face of these catastrophes that
may strike anywhere in the world.
Allah Almighty wants His creation in
these circumstances to supplicate, seek
refuge in Him, and seek help from Him.
Allah Almighty said: “Why did they not
supplicate when We made them suffer?”
The meaning of supplicate, as at-Tabari
explained: “They humbled themselves
before their Lord, and submitted to His
obedience, so He would turn away His
punishment from them, which is His
torment,” and in His saying: “and We
afflicted the nations with suffering and
adversity, that they might learn humility”.
At-Tabari commented with the best
possible words, saying: “He says: We did
that to them so that they would supplicate
to Me, worship Me sincerely, and devote
their desire to Me to the exclusion of
anyone else, through their submissiveness
to Me with obedience, and in trusting me
instead of anyone else”.
What we advise you to do is to look closely
at the scenes and impact of the earthquakes
and hurricanes that have begun to sweep
the world, so that the heart becomes soft
and humble and submits to Allah
Almighty, for there is a close connection
between the eye and the heart, and the
eyes of human beings today have been
preoccupied and fascinated by the
brilliance of the world, deception, and its
adornment of temptations. Therefore, part
of purifying and reforming the soul is
contemplating these scenes, triggering fear
of Allah and fleeing to Him.
In these circumstances, there is an
opportunity to teach the self, which has
hardened, to elevate to the state of
certainty which has vacated people’s
hearts! Certainty in the power, strength,
and greatness of Allah Almighty. Certainty
in His wisdom, mercy, and justice.
Certainty in His promise and threat. And
certainty in everything that the worshiper
must be certain of without doubt or
hesitation.
The advice we give today to the inhabitants
of the earth is to hasten to flee to their
Lord before His just judgments befalls
them and they become crowds under the
ground, where they are divided according
to judgment and destiny; a group led to
guidance and a group destined to go
astray.
This is a call to the inhabitants of the earth
to return to Allah, their Creator, Glory be
to Him. Calling their kuffar to belief, their
disobedient to repent, and their doubters
to stronger iman. Calling them to hasten
to flee to Allah Almighty, for today there is
no one safe from Allah’s command except
those to whom He shows mercy.