Natural Disasters or Return of Deeds?
Dominating news headlines across the U.S. and the world have been numerous examples of the fury of nature, such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and more recently the floods in Spain. Hurricane Helene, a generational storm, slammed into the east coast and brought widespread destruction and loss of life from Florida and Georgia to North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. North Carolina was hit the hardest, accounting for more than half of the death toll- 250 in one calculation-, including 11 people from a single family.
In an area usually known for its gentle climate, Hurricane Helene provided a wakeup call to the truly devastating effects of nature. When natural phenomena like this occur, it is very common for people to simply view them as anomalies of nature while others see them as the wrath of God. Could these phenomena be more than occurrences in nature? Are they atonement for the sins of a nation?
Most foundational religious texts include some account of natural phenomena being connected to religious penitence. The Holy Quran speaks about it in many Suras (chapters) and there are many biblical passages concerning the same.
In Surah Ar-Rum: “Evil (sins and disobedience to Allah) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds), that He (Allah) may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting to Allah, and begging His Pardon).” (30:41)
In another Chapter, Surah Al-A’raf, Allah says: “Then We sent upon them the flood and locusts, and lice and frogs, and blood as distinct signs; but they behaved naughtily and they were a sinning people.” (7:133)
In the Bible Chapter Luke 21, it is stated: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming upon the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
In Amos 3:6 it says: “when a trumpet sounds in a city do not the people tremble? When a disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?”.
This theme pervades most of the other main religions of the world and similarly shapes individual perception. Taoist have no concept of a god but believe in the divinity of nature. As such the recompensation of human action is exhibited by natural events. In Native American traditions all created things have a soul and there is no duality between animism and animatism. The belief is that nature and man are one and to disrespect nature can incur its anger. Buddhist philosophy also includes dictates that center around human beings and other sentient organisms having a soul and that one can incur the wrath of nature by violating living creatures. Similarly, the idea of Karma shared by many Asian religions, also relates deeds and actions of a people to the grand scheme of nature.
Although most religions and cultures have a fundamental ideology about the interrelatedness of the fury of nature and attornment of sin, there are slight differences in the details. Biblically the purpose of the wrath of God is to punish evil people for their sins. As an example, The Flood during the time of Prophet Noah (may the blessings of God be upon him) brought destruction on the sinful world. Most other religions share iterations of this exact theme except for Islam.
For Muslims the devastation unleashed on a nation is ultimately directed at the misdeeds themselves and not necessarily the individuals that commit them. It should come as no surprise that these storms are coming at a turbulent time where the world over extreme levels of hate and animus are being propagated. It appears that no matter the religion or culture there is a representative idea that the destructive fury of nature upon a nation may be related to the actions and deeds of its people. As my southern Baptist grandfather would say “God don’t like ugly!”
In 2005, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, then called Northwest Frontier Province, in Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake that caused large scale damage and loss of life. The benevolent, esteemed Vice Chancellor of the Muslims of The Americas, His Eminence El Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gillani (RA), stated that when sin is committed on the earth’s back, the earth trembles in fear of the wrath of Allah. Furthermore, the greater the level and degree of sin, the greater the number and intensity of earthquakes. So on top of the universal tendency to connect deeds and nature, there appears to be a direct correlation to the amount of sin and the corresponding number and intensity of the natural event–often demonstrated as extremes in weather.
Hurricane Helene left fear, uncertainty and ruin in its wake. This Category 4 storm left some people questioning what could come next, to which nature quickly responded with another cataclysmic storm: the category 5 storm, Hurricane Milton.
The destructive effects of Hurricanes Helene, Milton and other similar events can likely be the comeuppance of the actions and deeds of the people. Instead of simply relegating these things to occurrences of nature, it is feasible that Mankind may benefit from adopting a position of love and compassion. Many of the examples of the fury of nature may be averted if we stop the hate, killing, genocide and other atrocities. In those areas of the world where evil entities are killing innocent men, women and children, they are setting themselves up for a devastation of biblical proportions. If the current spiraling trend continues, the world may see the prophecies of Amos come to pass.
By Dr. Jemille