THE EARTHQUAKES (FWD)

The Earthquakes
Shaykh Saalih al-Hamraani
Translation of a Khutbah (08/27/99)
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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)

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M.L. GHANDI