Following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, many people are saying that such disasters are sent by Allah because of their sins and their Kufr; there is a faction among the people that explains this in a purely materialistic way. Hence, are natural phenomena related to people’s sins?

We must know that the good and the bad within the sphere of al-Qadaa’ wal-Qadar (fate and capability), i.e. within whatever happens involuntarily to man such that he cannot repel it, none has knowledge of it except Allah. He Ta’aala says,

“But it may well be that you hate a thing that is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing that is bad for you; and Allah knows, and you do not know.”

TMQ 2:216

We must also know the divine wisdom, regarding the cosmic events and whatever the system of existence entails, that we know it from the Shari’ah texts. This is because the wisdom (al-Hikmah) is the purpose of the Creator and His will, which neither falls on the senses nor can its perception be achieved without revelation – the mind cannot do so independently. Hence, it would not be correct to describe cosmic events such as the calamity of death and illness, or earthquakes and hurricanes, as good or bad; it is also not allowed to extract a “divine wisdom” from them; it is allowed to learn lessons to repel harm, and to strengthen the link with Allah.

By reviewing the Shari’ah texts related to the cosmic events, we find that (even though they form part of the system of existence and are known by eye witnessing) they generally fall into four categories:

Firstly: the category of Allah’s affliction invoked on His subjects to exhort them to demonstrate the extent of their forbearance and their acceptance of the Qadaa’ of Allah regarding them; thus, the reward would be for the forbearing and punishment for the resentful. Evidence for this is from the saying of Allah Ta’aala:

“And most certainly shall We try you by means of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of fruits. And give glad tidings to the forbearing.”

TMQ 2:215

Secondly: the category of divine warning to the subject against drifting away from worshipping and obeying Allah, for He Ta’ala does not approve of the Kufr, transgressions and disobedience of His subjects. Hence, these events come to draw people’s attention and warn them against persisting in going against the command of Allah and His Messenger, and to frighten them away from the greater punishment through the lesser punishment. The saying of Allah Ta’ala is evidence for this category:

“So let those who go against His command beware lest a trial afflict them, or a painful chastisement afflict them.”

TMQ 24:63

And His saying Ta’ala:

“And We do not send the signs except to frighten.”

TMQ 17:59

Thirdly: the category of divine punishment, after confirmation of al-Hujjah (the proof) through sending the messenger, Da’wah to the people and addressing them with “the address of warning”: that there is no deity/god except Allah, so worship/serve Him, with an explanation of the fate of those who obey and fate of those who are arrogant, and the actual occurrence of them turning away and denying. Evidence for this is the saying of Allah ta’aala,

“And We will make them taste the lower/lesser punishment before the greater punishment that they may return.”

TMQ 32:21

Also, His saying Ta’ala:

“And those who disbelieve will not cease to be struck by disaster for what they have done — or a disaster will happen close to their homes — until Allah’s promise comes (true).”

TMQ 13:31

It is imperative to draw attention to the fact that the one single cosmic event might be a tribulation for some folk, a warning to another folk and a punishment for others. This matter refers to its predetermination by Allah Ta’ala; this is because He is most knowledgeable of people’s secrets and their outer and inner states.

Based on the aforementioned, the earthquake of Turkey and Syria, which lasted one minute over 200,000 square kilometres and left in its wake thousands of victims in addition to the destruction of buildings and roads, falls under the aforementioned categories which were mentioned by the Shari’ah texts.

Hence, whoever was a righteous Muslim, what has befallen him is a test from Allah to increase his good rewards if he persevered and accepted the will of Allah. Whoever was a Muslim but oblivious to obedience to Allah or dissolute in his actions, this action should be a warning to him from Allah to refrain from committing sins and repent in absolute sincerity. Hence, the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم linked his mentioning of cosmic events to inviting the Muslims to worship Allah. He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “Verily the sun and the moon are the two signs among the signs of Allah by which He frightens his servants, and they do not eclipse on account of the death of any one of the people. So, when you see anything about them, observe prayer, supplicate Allah until it is cleared from you.” [agreed-upon hadith]

As for he who was a Kafir, disbelieving in Allah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, or who was a criminal and belligerent towards Allah and His Messenger, and an ally to the Kuffar against the Muslims, Allah punishes some of them in such events for their despicable Kufr and odious deeds, and delays the punishment of others until the Day of Judgement.

As for the claim that such “natural disasters” are merely natural phenomena that have no relation to Allah in terms of tribulation, warning or punishment, this is the saying of the atheists who deny the existence of Allah, and the saying of the deistic secularists who separate religion from life and allege that the Creator has no relation with the affairs of the universe, and that He is merely a reason contemplating Himself and far above the affairs of the universe, man and life and what they entail in terms of shortcomings and evil deeds which are not becoming of His perfection; and this is according to the logic of Aristotle and his deistic envisagement which fundamentally contradicts Islam and its credal concepts.

It is also imperative to mention that these cosmic events and natural phenomena are obedient to Allah; they worship and glorify Him, without us being able to perceive this. Allah has made them available under His command to facilitate the human deputation on earth; Allah may also make them available in other than this such as in tribulation, warning and punishment of His servants. Allah does whatever He wishes and is not asked about what He does.

As for the fourth category, which is linked to these cosmic or natural events, and which some people refer to as natural disasters, surely such calamities are part of the palpable and evident proof of the existence of the Creator and Sustainer, Who alone disposes of and conducts the affairs of His cosmic and natural creatures. This is because natural phenomena have been created by Allah and directed according to universal laws; He has made them for
humankind so that they may benefit from them in living on earth and worshipping Allah. He may also make them devastating to some parts of human life, as a warning to humans stipulating that Allah is behind these phenomena and that it is He who has made them available according to His will and His power. Winds, for instance, which Allah has created as inoculators for plants and clouds, and to gather and carry heavy clouds, He may turn them into hurricanes “destroying everything with the command of their Lord,” [TMQ]. As for earth, which Allah has created as a subservient abode so that human and animals could easily live on, He may make it tremble and cave in under their feet, “and then suddenly it will begin to rock violently.” [TMQ]

Despite the soundness of the aforementioned, this does not mean that we should not research the phenomena and events of the universe such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wind and rain, to protect ourselves against some of them and to benefit from others in order to achieve human prosperity, such as building early warning systems to anticipate earthquakes and hurricanes, or to generate power from wind and rivers, by building dams and power generators.