Natural Disasters, the Islamic Response

Natural Disasters, the Islamic Response

Khutbah by Mufti Menk

Opening

"Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."

"All praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions."

We praise Allah upon all conditions. We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, his household, his companions. We ask Allah to bless them, to bless everyone of us, to grant us goodness and to grant us Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.

The Nature of Life's Tests

My brothers and sisters, you and I know that everywhere you go on earth, there will be positives, there will be negatives. People ask me sometimes, which is the best place you've ever been to? Now, this is besides Makkah and Madinah, obviously because those places have a Allah-given value that is unique.

So if we take those two out of the equation, I would like to say every single place has positive and negative. Some have more, some have less of one or the other. If you look at Cape Town for example, on many occasions I've said it's one of the best places on earth.

And the reality is it is, but you know the negatives and so do I. We don't need to advertise them. May Allah protect us all. Ameen.

The same would apply if you were to go to a holiday resort somewhere across the globe. Say Bali for example, absolutely stunning, beautiful place. People would say, I've never seen a place as beautiful as this.

But they have positives and negatives. The same would apply sometimes people who don't have knowledge or who are weak in their understanding and who need help, would look at a race, a specific race and say these people are bad. Or would look at a tribe and say these people are bad.

Not realizing that the rule is in all races, in all tribes, there are good and there are bad. In fact in every person there is a good side and a bad side. It depends which side you as an individual allows to actually be the dominating or dominant side.

May Allah make us from among those whose good outweighs the bad. And may Allah make us from among those who can eradicate that bad. For the sake of Allah. Ameen.

Allah's Package for Each Person

So my brothers and sisters, Allah has given every one of us a package. In this package you will have good days, you will have bad days, you will have days when you are healthy, days when you are not healthy, days when you make a bit of money, days when you don't, days when there's profit, days when there is a loss, days when things happen within your control and things happen out of your control.

All that is proof and evidence that this life is a test. If this life was not a test, we wouldn't have summer and winter. We wouldn't have the challenges that we face.

But because this life is indeed a test as we as Muslims believe, Allah says, we will test you with everything, all sorts. And for this reason, within ourselves, you have days when your health begins to fail. If your faith in the Almighty remains intact or becomes stronger upon a test and a challenge, you have now passed that particular test.

And as a whole, if you were to become closer to the Almighty as the days pass, because you understand the nature of the creation and primarily the fact that the Creator who has created the creation is who we owe our existence to, you have actually then succeeded.

So it's important for us to know, if you're making a profit in your business and it's flourishing, a day has to come when you suffer a loss. You might even go bankrupt, not because of anything. The Almighty wants to see, you're still worshipping me. Some people when they make a lot, they turn away from Allah. Some when they make a lot, it draws them closer to Allah.

Some when they lose, they become closer to Allah. And some when they lose, they distance themselves from Allah. All this is a test. May Allah make us from among those who pass the tests.

Indonesia - A Case Study

So one of the places I mentioned a little bit earlier is Bali. Bali happens to be in Indonesia. Indonesia is known as the largest Muslim population on earth in a single country. The most populous Muslim nation. Perhaps well beyond 220, 250 million, maybe even more, subhanAllah.

And it's a beautiful country. I was there not even a week ago, subhanAllah. Not even a week ago. And you know what? The tests that Allah has chosen for them are great, as beautiful as the place may be. The people are calm, the people are very soft natured, loving people. They have this beautiful connection to the deen, you can tell.

80-90% of the country being Muslimin, subhanAllah. You can tell by nature, they are so good. I was delivering a speech, speaking for a whole hour. There were people outside in the heat, in the tents, sitting for hours on end waiting for the event and the program. But they didn't even complain. With us, this beautiful masjid, we've got lovely fans, but we would complain, what's going on? Is the air condition working? subhanAllah.

We've been spoiled. May Allah grant us goodness. I see you're smiling, perhaps it's the same question you have, right? May Allah grant us ease.

Some people, if they were to be pricked by a thorn, it's like qiyamah has come, because they are so spoiled. And some, if they were to lose a hand, they would still say, alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. May Allah grant us goodness and ease.

Natural Disasters and Divine Wisdom

So my brothers and sisters, the reality that we have is, Allah has given them the islands of Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi. These places are absolutely stunning, beautiful. They have thousands of islands, perhaps 17,000 islands.

You know when you say 17,000, they must have missed a few. Perhaps they might have added, subtracted here and there. But more than that, Allah has given them so many islands.

Beauty, absolutely stunning. People go from across the globe to these places in order to appreciate the favor of Allah, in order to appreciate the greatness of Allah, if they are believers. And if they are not believers, they go there to enjoy.

They go there to enjoy. May Allah grant us goodness. It's not wrong for a mu'min and a believer to enjoy, but not while compromising your relationship with Allah.

We are allowed to go on holiday, but your five salah don't ever go on holiday. You should be going on a holiday, but your halal food never goes on a holiday. Doesn't mean I'm on holiday so it's okay today, you know.

May Allah strengthen us, my brothers and sisters. Very unfortunately, they also have their fair share. Some might say more than their fair share of problems, difficulties, hardship.

Some of them we would term natural disasters. When an earthquake strikes, remember it's from Allah. When an earthquake strikes, it's from Allah.

Unless somehow, somewhere behind the scenes there are people doing nuclear testing somewhere in the ocean nearby, messing around with the tectonic plates, that too Allah will deal with them. But we'd like to look at it as though perhaps if no one was tampering with it and it happened, it is indeed something we call a natural disaster. That's our terminology.

For Allah, it's very very different. As soon as something were to happen, and for your information in the last year, 2017, Indonesia suffered 20 earthquakes. 20 earthquakes in one year.

How many floods, tornadoes, in fact, I've got the figures here, 787 floods, subhanallah, in a year. 716 tornadoes, 614 landslides, 2 volcanic eruptions of a great magnitude. Now people look at it and say, yeah, there's a lot of sin happening there.

My brothers and sisters, let's look at the Islamic perspective. Is that what it is? When you and I suffer a motor vehicle accident or something happens or you get sick, does it really mean you've been a sinful person? The answer is a big no. No.

It does not mean that automatically. One disaster could mean different things for different people according to Allah.

Death and the Eternal Life

You know, you and I love life so much that if anyone were to die, we would become sad. And the sadness differs in degree because a believer also becomes sad. But sometimes that sadness leads to depression which is wrong. But for us, the ultimate end is death.

Unless we have solid belief. If you have solid belief, that's just the beginning of the eternal life. Subhanallah.

We've suffered enough, we've struggled enough. Your eyes closed. You must know that you're going to paradise.

Jannatul Firdaus.

"In it, there is whatever your soul desires, whatever is sweet to your eyes is yours. Forever and ever you shall remain."

That is Jannah. So if someone dies, actually for a believer, it's considered the beginning of the eternal life. But sometimes due to our weakness, we don't look at it that way.

Unless and until we're reminded. May Allah grant us a good memory. May He instill hope within us.

So, you have to die, I have to die, the others have died before us, and those who are to come will also die. Why will they die? They will die because that's the plan of Allah. So what does that depict? Well, it depicts the end of your test.

That's what it depicts. So, if your test has ended, how do you know if it was good or bad? Well, I can tell you, if you died in a condition that you were closer to Allah, and you were content and happy with Allah, then you have died in the correct condition. If you died in the condition that you were worshipping Allah, you were repenting to Allah, you were a person who looked after your relationship with Allah, you were becoming better as time passed, then you have died in the best condition, even if it was a car crash where your body was in 20 pieces.

May Allah grant us all a good death. Ameen. So, it's not got to do with whether there were 20 pieces of your body that made you die, or whether you died so smooth in your sleep, that depicts the happiness of Allah.

No! The successful life is determined by whether or not it led you towards Allah. Remember that. As time passed, you became more regular with your prayer, then you died in an earthquake.

The Mercy in Apparent Tragedy

Good news to you, that wasn't a punishment, that was the mercy of Allah. How many of us have seen the clips of those imams who were standing in the front of the masjid in Indonesia, and they were leading the salah when the earthquake struck. Are you trying to tell me that was punishment? I seek refuge with Allah.

That was the biggest mercy of Allah. Didn't it refresh our own iman as people who looked at it from afar? What about the iman of those who were standing there? They interviewed that imam who actually survived. He said, it is permissible for me to have walked away.

Yes indeed. But I decided if I'm going to go, let me be in salah. Allahu Akbar.

Those are the powerful. There were others who were perished while they were in a school, studying the Quran, becoming hafidh. Do you say that's the punishment of Allah? Never, it's not.

It is wrong to declare that the earthquake was a punishment. Totally wrong. Or the volcanic eruption, or the landslide, or the tsunami, etc.

It's wrong to declare it was a punishment. Yes, for those who died while they were transgressing, it may have been a punishment from Allah. For those who died while they were worshiping the devil, it may have been a punishment from Allah.

For those who died distant from Allah, while they were enjoying merrymaking, doing as they please, forgetting that they even have a hereafter to go to, for them it may have been a punishment indeed. But those who might have died right next to them, while they were reading Quran, trust me, there is no better way than you can die, than being in the worship of Allah. We ask Allah for husnul khatima, for a good death.

Keep on asking Allah for a good death. But remember, while asking Allah for a good death, do not transgress. You should be ashamed whenever your human side makes you falter.

You should actually quickly go back and say, Ya Allah, I don't want to die in this condition. And this is why when the young man says, O Allah, and I think I told you this, it's actually a true story. Take me away in sujood.

And I told him, but you're not even reading salah. He says, that's because I don't want to die right now. Because if Allah accepted my dua, if Allah accepted my dua, and He's going to take me away in sujood, I'd rather just hold back my sujood for a while, so that I can live longer.

That is foolish thinking. Totally foolish. It doesn't work that way.

We say, O Allah, take me away in sujood. Make sure you are there in sujood often. Allah will grant you that.

If it's really a dua, Allah will give it to you. Now I want to tell you, people say, but why does Allah destroy? Ultimately Allah is going to take you away. You look at it as negative, He looks at it as positive.

I want to go to heaven. How many of us want to go to jannah? Please put up your hands. May Allah grant us jannah.

How many of you want to die? Put up your hands. Very few, you see. In order to get to jannah, you have to die.

So sometimes Allah knows He's going to give you jannah, so He wants to take you away. Whether He does it retail or wholesale, it's up to Him. Subhanallah.

Whether He does it bit by bit, one by one, or whether He takes everyone away. If He took us all away right now, Salatul Jumaa, best place, best time in His house, and we had to be wiped out, well, how would the others look at it? That depends on them, but how would we look at it? Well, if your heart was softened and Allah invited you to His house, and then took you away here, there must be something special about you. May Allah grant us a good death.

Tests for the Survivors

So my brothers and sisters, now that we've ascertained that it's not necessarily the punishment of Allah, but it is a test from Allah. It could be a punishment for some, but it is indeed a means of gaining closeness to Allah. Those who died, we've spoken about them, that it depends on the condition they died on.

What about those who remain? Right now, there are so many aid organizations from this part of the world, and from so many other parts of the world, helping and assisting, and I'm going to get to that. But, what I'd like you to know, extremely important is, there are people who've remained behind who are suffering. They are suffering, they are struggling.

Why? Their homes are destroyed, their property is gone, their wealth is gone, everything is gone, their family members are taken away, and here is a little child, the only survivor. Why did Allah do that? Allah knows. Number one, Allah has a quota of martyrs that He takes every so often.

He knows the number. He takes them in whatever way He wishes, and this is why martyrdom is not restricted to the battlefield, but rather in Islam, martyrdom is achieved when you die also in certain ways, such as through what we term natural disaster, for as long as you were in the obedience of Allah. Sometimes the plague, sometimes certain diseases, drowning, etc., etc.

There's a whole list of who is a martyr. Those who were killed, those who were murdered, without a sin, nothing. Those who were protecting their family members and died as a result.

They're also martyrs in the eyes of Allah. Allah says:

"- And that He may take martyrs from among you."

A long verse, but Allah explains that Allah has a certain number of shuhada He's going to take. He's going to make sure that there's a certain number, they're going to be granted martyrdom.

So if Allah took that number from Indonesia, subhanallah, they have achieved. May Allah grant us goodness. Those who've remained behind, it's a test for them.

If remaining behind and witnessing such great might of Allah has brought you closer to Allah, it was the mercy of Allah. How many were in the clubs and in the pubs, and Allah decided they're going to survive. When they survived, they began to frequent the masjid, and they changed their ways and habits.

What was that earthquake? It was a mercy for them. It changed their lives. That's what I was saying right at the beginning.

Some people when things are taken away from them, it brings them closer to Allah. Our sickness sometimes makes us closer to Allah. That sickness was a mercy.

But if your sickness makes you despondent and turn away, questioning Allah, that could have just been a punishment. May Allah not do that to us. When you get, my brothers and sisters, become closer to Allah.

When it is taken away from you, become closer to Allah. That is the test. So those who remain behind, it's a big test for them.

The Response of Faith

They will cry because they are human beings. They will be sad because they are human beings. But what will keep them afloat? Their iman is the only thing that will keep them afloat.

Their trust and conviction in Allah. That you know what? It's going to be better. We've heard that in the Quran.

Allah says, indeed with difficulty there will be ease. Believe that. All of us who are going through difficulty, and probably every single one of us has a different level of difficulty.

May Allah create ease for every one of us in our own unique circumstances. Ameen. Don't become hopeless.

Look at the wars that are happening across the globe. You are not happy about them, I'm not happy about them. No matter where they are. Whether they happen to be in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, wherever else they may be. Afghanistan, the list is endless actually. People come to me, Sheikh, but you didn't mention this name.

I say, wallahi, all those names were in my mind. But it was by way of example. And in actual fact, new names are being added.

And the war, a lot of the times human beings are guilty for creating it, for fueling it. And what happens? Mass death. That's what happens.

But Allah knows. One is guilty, one is innocent, sometimes both are guilty. May Allah protect us.

We wanted to stop, but let me tell you, if the tests bring you closer to Allah, then it's a sign of the mercy of Allah. No matter what the test is. And this is why the message I had for my brothers and sisters in Indonesia earlier this week was, that let these tests bring you closer to Allah.

We would never be able to imagine what they are going through. But guess what? It's a test for us as well. We are one body as muslimin.

When the finger is hurting, the whole body is restless. So what should you do? Number one:

"- Those whom when calamity strikes, they say, well, we all belong to Allah, and all of us are going to return to Allah."

That's a powerful dua.

What did that do for you? It brought you closer to Allah. It made you a better person. Your dress code improved.

Your relationship with those around you improved. Your relationship with Allah improved. What happened? It was because of the disaster of someone else.

Someone else at times. So, when we witness that calamity, the first thing, we call out to Allah. We check ourselves quickly, and we remedy our own sickness and illness, and then we quickly reach out to them in whatever way we can.

Historical Connection

There is a connection between Cape Town and Indonesia, dating all the way back to three centuries back, when Shaykh Abdullah Abdel Salam was brought here by the Dutch in political exile or banished in other words. Who was Shaykh Abdullah Abdel Salam? Was he not the one known as the Tuan Guru? May Allah grant him Jannatul Firdaus. The sacrifice he made, he was Indonesian.

Did you know that? He came from that part of the world. The same people today are struggling. They are our ancestors.

Do you realize that? What are you going to do for your forefathers? Will you reach out to your pocket and take out 20 rands and say, you know what? My folks are struggling. Let me do something. Or are we going to say, Allah will help them.

Allah helps, but Allah uses some whom He loves to help. That is why when Abu Bakr As-Siddiq who was the greatest to tread this earth after the prophets of Allah, when he was informed about the need of the Muslim ummah at the time, and they asked him, what have you brought along? He said, this is 100% of what I own. 100% everything.

So what have you left back at home for your family? He says, I left Allah and His Rasul. Allah will provide. I'm okay, I'm healthy, subhanAllah.

Our Responsibility to Help

What about us? We are okay, we are healthy. You know what? Many of us are drowning simply because we have an addiction to luxuries, not necessities. A lot of us who are struggling financially, Wallahi, I swear

by Allah in this masjid, it's not because of your basic necessity, it's because of your greed for that which is beyond your basic necessity.

Allah has taken a guarantee that He will provide you your basic necessity. You are upset because you want more than that. Why? We look at John, and we look at this one, and we look at Peter and Paul, and then we look at Muhammad, and we look at Abdullah, and we look at the others, and we compare our lives.

And when we compare our lives, we start scratching our heads. One side wife is nudging husband, next side husband is nudging wife. You might want to know why I balanced it.

May Allah help us all. What are we looking for? I'm depressed because I cannot eat out every week. Come on.

Some people don't even have the food to eat in every week, let alone eat out. Your depression is connected to something way beyond what Allah promised He's gonna give you. Subhanallah.

So what I'm saying, learn to be happy with what Allah has bestowed upon you. Adjust your lives in a way that a portion of your wealth can be given to those who are in dire desperate need from your own relatives. May Allah grant us that.

Today, we're going to be collecting by the will of Allah for Indonesia, Palu, in Sulawesi, Lombok, Bali, etc. Those who are struggling and suffering. And I plead with you to reach deep into your pockets in order to give generously.

Allah will recompense it in ways that you have never imagined. He will draw you closer to Him. And the best wealth to give is that when you're fearing poverty.

You don't know. Look, I've got my last so many thousand. But never mind, one thousand I'm going to give away.

Allahu Akbar. Why? They need it more than I do. Look at the sahaba radiallahu anhum.

They reached out to each other. In what way? They gave what was the last sip to the other one. Because that is what made them true believers in the Creator.

"- Allah promises that He will continue to help His worshipper for as long as that worshipper continues to help another." Hadith

You want the help of Allah? How are you helping someone else? Well, I'm not because I need the help of Allah. What? Excuses, excuses.

Don't make those excuses. Reach out to those even if it means with your greatness of character. Develop your conduct.

Reach out to those you live with. Greet the people. That itself is a great sadaqah.

To smile is a sadaqah. Tell me you can't afford that. The best smiles are in Cape Town.

When the elderly smile at you without those teeth. May Allah grant us goodness and ease. It's a genuine smile.

The Day of Judgment

So my brothers and sisters, remember this:

(Sahih Muslim)

"Whoever relieves a believer's distress of the worldly life, Allah will relieve his distress on the Day of Resurrection."

You really want help on the day of judgment when the sun is so close, people will be drowning in their sweat. Imagine, and I try to picture this.

I'm sweating right now, but mashallah it's quite cool in the masjid. I shouldn't be complaining. We've already complained once.

But as we sweat, we feel so uneasy. Imagine if you had to sweat and you were dripping. People will say, this man is dripping, give him some tissue.

Imagine if that became a tap where the water got to your ankles. I can't even imagine that. I don't know what that would be.

Can anyone imagine that? Has anyone ever sweated in a way that it even got to their toes? None of us. On the day of qiyamah, the issue will be so, so difficult that people will be sweating and their sweat will reach their knees. Allahu Akbar.

Not only knees, beyond. People will be drowning in their sweat. You want help on that day? Allah says, help someone today on earth, and I will help you on that day.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. You want help on the day of judgment, qiyamah? Help people in the dunya, no matter who they are. Forget about what color they are, what race they are, what tribe they are, et cetera, et cetera.

You reach out to people. Allah promises you, on the day of qiyamah, I will reach out to you. You'll be looked up, you'll be picked out, and you'll be assisted, VIP.

Why? Because in the world you used to assist others. That's the hadith I just read now of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). I call on you, my brothers, my sisters, to help one another.

Help those in need. Even if you are in a certain type of need, it doesn't mean that you cannot. I've witnessed beggars.

I've witnessed beggars who have been given a few coins. They take out from those coins and give someone else some of those coins. You know what? In the eyes of Allah, they've given more in