Would Hurricanes Striking the USA Be Considered as Signs of the Divine Wrath?!

Published in September 12, 2017

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Introduction:

1- When natural disasters strike anywhere in the West, imams an clergymen of the Muhammadans explain these events as if they occur because of God's wrath being poured on the West people. Nothing could be further from the truth. The hurricanes striking Florida, in the USA, led the ignoramuses among the Muhammadans' clergymen to utter and spread the same myth in media and mosques. This lie indicates their ignorance and their being hopelessly detached from their own reality filled with man-made disasters.   

2- Natural disasters occur without human intervention; civilized human beings in democracies deal with them and lessen the losses and dire consequences as much as they can. In contrast, man-made disasters are caused by human beings who are ignorant and corrupt when controlled by clergymen of politics and those of the earthly religions. Ignoramuses who call themselves as clergymen within countries ruled by tyrants disregard man-made disasters occurring in their countries and feel happy and glad because of misfortunes and natural disasters occurring to those in the West who do not follow their religion. Let us tackle this topic below in more detail. 

Firstly: natural disasters:

1- The Earth is a globe with a variety of climates, weather conditions, different terrain and geographical features, as well as its share of natural disasters within all regions. Some regions have earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or volcanoes. There are so many areas with different types of deserts, mountains, plains, etc. People get used to the conditions of their homelands where they live, and if they were civilized enough, they lessen the losses  and dire consequences of natural disasters that strike their homelands; e.g. Japan and its frequent earthquakes. Advanced countries of the West have governmental bodies whose mission is to manage natural disasters to save souls of people and eliminate the losses as much as they can and to rebuild any destroyed sites and buildings, while being alert and ready for any coming natural disasters. When people are poor and backward and live in tyrannies within a disaster-struck areas (e.g., earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes), thousands of people die. For instance, Egypt has no floods, but when the little rain of every winter annually overwhelm streets of Cairo and Alexandria (the two biggest cities in Egypt), the Egyptian government and regime are surprised and disorder reign supreme in the streets because of the rain! The Egyptian regime literally "drown in an inch of water", as the proverb goes!      

2- Some people choose out of their own accord and free will to live in regions struck so often by natural disasters or that have difficult weather, while facing the challenge and succeed in this test. For instance, Switzerland has little resources and unbearably cold weather; yet, its citizens have made it one of the richest countries on Earth. The same can be said about japan with its mountainous lands and little resources as well as frequent earthquakes. People immigrate to areas where life would be difficult when such regions are rich with natural resources; e.g. settlers in the American continent in search for gold, Alaska to seek oil, and the Persian Gulf region that had few population for centuries because of dusty winds and very hot weather, but millions live now there because of oil extraction.       

3- Egypt is rich with its Nile River, but sometimes this river has caused misery to Egyptians; within the Middle-Ages, Egypt suffered a famine that was repeated once every some decades, resulting in the death of hundreds of Egyptians each time. Such famines were usually followed by plagues because of decomposed corpses that no one was able to bury. Natural disasters like famines, floods, and earthquakes used to occur in Iraq in the Middle-Ages. Ibn Al-Jawzy the historian in his book titled "Al-Muntazim" tackles the history of the Abbasid Era in Iraq, and he writes in detail about famines, floods, and earthquakes that occurred. We quote the following only from vol. no. 14 of "Al-Muntazim":

In 330 A.H.: a famine and exorbitant prices: a pound of flour cost 210 dinars, a pound of barley cost 120 dinars, and so many people died and were diseased, and many of the poor cooked and ate human corpses, as the dead were too many to be buried, and people stopped all types of amusement because of extreme poverty.

In 332 A.H.: collapse of security as hail and heavy rain continued within Baghdad: so many people died as a result of their houses roofs falling on their heads, and soaring prices made houses very expensive. Many public baths, mosques, and markets  closed down, and food items were sold at exorbitant prices and many could not afford them. So many armed thieves broke into houses to steal food and money; people had to guard their houses all the time, and hail and icicles prevented peasants from farming their lands/.    

In 337 A.H.: the flood of the River Tigris during Ramadan: it reached most houses in Baghdad and people left the city to avoid drowning.

In 346 A.H.: a plague, an earthquake, and scarce river-water: many residents of Baghdad suffered tumors in their throats and died; many people died suddenly on a daily basis, and those who sought cure by removing inflected blood from their bodies died or survived while suffered enormous pain, and months later, an earthquake occurred that destroyed many houses on the heads of their dwellers who died instantly, and river-water levels remained lower than expected for long weeks.

In 347 A.H.: an earthquake and locusts: in April, Baghdad and Qom, among other cities, were shaken by a strong earthquake that caused the death of thousands of people under the debris of their collapsed houses, and by the end of May, locusts attacked and destroyed all crops, fruits, and harvest. 

In 367 A.H.: a river flood during Ramadan and then an earthquake: the flood of the River Tigris destroyed many houses and bridges and filled most streets of Baghdad as well as cemeteries, and people evacuated the city until the water receded eventually. An earthquake struck Baghdad months later and many houses collapsed as a result, and more than 200 persons died under the debris. 

In 376 A.H.: a plague, a flood, and an earthquake during soaring prices: so many people died of fever in one month, caused by unknown type of plague, and a month later, flood caused by heavy rain nearly destroyed Baghdad, while soaring, exorbitant prices continued in all markets (a pound of flour cost 95 dirhams), while a strong earthquake occurred in Mosul, and so many people died as a result of their roofs falling on their heads.    

4- Natural disasters occurred a lot during the Second Abbasid Era during which so many imams/fabricators of hadiths lived, who are still being sanctified and deified today by the Muhammadans within their man-made, earthly religions. During the Second Abbasid Era, the extremist Ibn Hanbal Sunnite doctrine imams and clergymen controlled streets of most major cities; it is very wrong to assume that the natural disasters occurring at the time were divine punishment or retribution. But we can say that the presence of unfit authority that were never ready to face disasters, and avoid their losses and dire consequences as much as they can, was the direct cause of aggravating and exacerbating the harm caused by natural disasters. This was also linked to the collapse of security when the authority was weak and power centers competed for more power to reach the throne. At that time in particular, Byzantines attacked and invaded the Levant and Iraq and massacred tens of thousands of people, while Sunnites and Shiites fought each other in Baghdad, and corruption was spread by the Qarmatians who were terrorists and highwaymen. Such corruption was not the cause for natural disasters, but it was the catalyst that helped increase the losses and dire consequences of natural disasters. This reminds us of the grave famine that struck Egypt during the reign of the Fatimid caliph Al-Mustansir – which is unparalleled famine in the millennia-old Egyptian history – which could have stopped after only two years maximum (instead of seven years), if it had not been for the weakness of Al-Mustansir and the struggle among his soldiers and generals that prevented farmers and peasants from farming the lands. This leads us to tackle another type of disasters: the man-caused disasters.           

Secondly: man-caused disasters:

 We mean by man-caused disasters the ones that occur because of corruption and corrupt persons, and these disasters are of course rightly deemed as punishment by God. We discuss the features of these man-caused disasters in the points below.

1- The man-caused disasters are part of God's smiting and destruction of the corrupt, affluent ones, and we have written a lot about this point; suffice it here to refer to Quranic verses about God's destroying of corrupt and corrupting people in the past eras: "Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with Aad? Erum of the pillars. The like of which was never created in the land. And Thamood - those who carved the rocks in the valley. And Pharaoh of the stakes. And spread much corruption therein. So your Lord poured down upon them a scourge of torment. Your Lord is on the lookout." (89:6-14). Let us focus here on the corruption of Moses' Pharaoh, the self-deified tyrant; God says the following about the features of the corruption of Moses' Pharaoh: "Pharaoh exalted himself in the land, and divided its people into factions. He persecuted a group of them, slaughtering their sons, while sparing their daughters. He was truly a corrupter." (28:4). Moses' Pharaoh adamantly refused the request of Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and denied the miracles performed before his eyes: "And they rejected them, although their souls were certain of them, out of wickedness and pride. So see how the outcome was for the corrupt ones." (27:14). Moses' Pharaoh intended to put Moses to death under the pretext that Moses was among the corrupters: "Then, when he came to them with the truth from Us, they said, "Kill the sons of those who have believed with him, and spare their daughters." But the scheming of the unbelievers can only go astray. Pharaoh said, "Let me kill Moses, and let him appeal to his Lord. I fear he may change your religion, or spread corruption in the land."" (40:25-26). Moses' Pharaoh was too arrogant and haughty to let the Israelites flee his tyranny, and he chased them with his soldiers and troops because he was a corrupt and evil aggressor, till he was drowned: "And We delivered the Israelites across the sea. Pharaoh and his troops pursued them, defiantly and aggressively. Until, when he was about to drown, he said, "I believe that there is no God except the One the Israelites believe in, and I am of those who submit." Now? When you have rebelled before, and been of the corrupt ones?..." (10:90-91). Thus, Moses' Pharaoh died by being drowned along with his regime, retinue members, family, people, soldiers, and troops, and we read in the Quran that all his possessions and palaces were destroyed, while the Israelites inherited the riches of this land for a while (i.e., before they were commanded to leave Egypt and move eastward, led by Moses): "And We made the oppressed people inherit the eastern and western parts of the land, which We had blessed. Thus the fair promise of your Lord to the Israelites was fulfilled, because of their endurance. And We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people had built, and what they had harvested." (7:137).     

2- This is an unalterable fact: corruption of human beings result in disasters, destruction, or torment caused by evil and corrupt deeds of people, as a lesson so that they take heed and repent and stop committing more sins: "Corruption has appeared on land and sea, because of what people's hands have earned, in order to make them taste some of what they have done, so that they might return." (30:41).

3- Yet, tyrants everywhere follow the footsteps of Moses' Pharaoh and man-made disasters and destruction befall them. When Qorayish tribesmen followed the footsteps of Moses' Pharaoh (see 3:11, 8:52, and 8:54), God warns them beforehand in the Quran against the coming torment, but they did not take heed, and the torment they suffered was the major Arab civil wars. "Say, "He is Able to send upon you a torment, from above you, or from under your feet. Or He can divide you into factions, and make you taste the violence of one another. Note how We explain the verses, so that they may understand." But your people rejected it, though it is the Truth. Say, "I am not responsible for you." For every happening is a finality, and you will surely know." (6:65-67). The Muhammadans have not taken heed of this warning and such history of bloodshed, and they are still (re)living the era of the Arab  civil wars, following the footsteps of their disbelieving forefathers until now.

Thirdly: man-caused disasters and the Quranic terms (calamity/ disaster/ bad thing):

1- Disasters and bad things occur to any person as a warning and punishment, and good things or bounties are granted also by God to any person; God has said the following to Muhammad: "Whatever good happens to you is from God, and whatever bad happens to you is from your own self..." (4:79); and the following verse is about the stance of hypocrites when they saw good and bad things occurring to Muhammad: "If something good happens to you, it upsets them; and if a calamity befalls you, they say, "We took our precautions in advance," and they depart, happy." (9:50).

2- Calamities befall persons who are disobedient and sinning as a form of punishment, as we conclude from 4:79. When any persons (a group of people or the whole society) commit bad things, they are punished by God as a warning and reminder so that they repent: "When We give people a taste of mercy, they rejoice in it. But when calamity befalls them, as a consequence of what their hands have perpetrated, they begin to despair. " (30:36); "...Whenever We let man taste mercy from Us, he rejoices in it; but when disaster befalls them, as a consequence of what their hands have perpetrated, humans turn to disbelievers." (42:48). We notice the expression (as a consequence of what their hands have perpetrated) repeated here because of disobedience of people; the same applies to some hypocrites within Yathreb, as we infer from this verse about them: "How about when a disaster strikes them because what their hands have put forward, and then they come to you swearing by God: "We only intended goodwill and reconciliation"?" (4:62); and this verse is about the Qorayish tribe: "Otherwise, if a calamity befell them as a result of what their hands have perpetrated, they would say, "Our Lord, if only You had sent us a messenger, we would have followed Your revelations, and been among the believers."" (28:47).

3- God does NOT punish human beings in this life because of each of their sins and their every of their disobedient stances; rather, God pardons many of their sins, as we read in these verses: "Whatever calamity befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned; and yet He pardons much." (42:30); "If God were to hold the humankind for their injustices, He would not leave upon it a single creature..." (16:61); "If God were to punish the people for what they have earned, He would not leave a single living creature on its surface..." (35:45). Of course, these verses apply to all human beings, including prophets and messengers of God.

4- Of course, all calamities and disasters occurring to human beings, as well as bounties granted to them, are part of preordained fate decreed by God before we were born: "Say, "Nothing will happen to us except what God has ordained for us..." (9:51). Thus, the stance of true believers is not to feel saddened by misfortunes/losses and also not to feel arrogant and take pride of what bounties they possess: "No calamity occurs on earth, or in your souls, but it is in a Book, even before We make it happen. That is easy for God.That you may not sorrow over what eludes you, nor exult over what He has given you. God does not love the proud ones." (57:22-23).   

Lastly:

1- Natural disasters occur inevitably; some people choose to live in areas struck so often by natural disasters. If their society is democratic, they manage to avoid most of the dire consequences and save lives of people there with the least amount of losses; in contrast, within societies where tyranny and clergymen dominate, natural disasters result in losses and destruction of biblical proportions.   

2- Even without natural disasters, tyrants who rule in the Arab world turn bounties granted to their countries into the source of curses and destruction; e.g., Saddam Hussein turned oil into the source of destruction that has smitten Iraq, and partially Kuwait and Iran, and he left his country, Iraq, empty and in utter destruction. Likewise, Kaddafi spent oil revenues in plotting and scheming and he confiscated countless $ billions, and eventually, he left his country, Libya, empty and in utter destruction. The bounty of oil has been turned into a curse bringing destruction now in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. All these crimes and atrocities are committed by those powerful ones who own the oil-revenues and riches, as they play with fire that will inevitably burn them, and their corrupt clergymen instead of warning them by preaching the Quranic verses, they shamelessly rejoice (within media) in the misfortunes of hurricane victims in the USA and Cuba!

3- We say the following to Wahabi Sunnites and their likes: Do not rejoice or express schadenfreude about hurricanes occurring in the USA, as these verses apply to you: "Have you not seen those who exchanged the blessing of God with disbelief, and landed their people into the house of perdition? Hell - they will roast in it. What a miserable settlement. And they set up rivals to God, in order to lead away from His path. Say, "Enjoy yourselves; your destination is the Fire."" (14:28-30).