The Earthquakes and Disasters

The Earthquakes and Disasters

All praises due to Allah. We seek His guidance and His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the whispering of our desires. Whom Allah guides, no one can misguide. And whom He allows to be misled, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah alone having no partners. And that Muhammad ﷺ is His slave and His Messenger and His perfect worshipper.

We have all been watching this saddening event unfold in the lands of Turkey and Syria. The earthquake that struck — the thousands of people who passed away, the thousands of people who are now without shelter, the thousands of businesses and homes that were destroyed. And it has caused us incredible grief as the images keep flooding in of entire families buried under the rubble. And amazement and happiness at those who have come out of the rubble — after 60 hours or more — the takbirat of crowds as they pull men and women and children from underneath these homes that were destroyed or buildings that collapsed.

And it is incredibly difficult to process how in a moment a person's life can go from benign and normal to having everything that they've worked for their entire lives taken away, or everything that they love taken away from them. How do we process these emotions? How do we understand or come to grips with how fleeting goodness is and how quickly a person's life may be changed upside down?

How to Process These Events

1. Grief Is Normal

The grief is normal. And in fact the Prophet ﷺ says that the believers in their mutual love and assistance and emotions are like a single person. And that when one part of it — the hadith is in Sahih Muslim — when one part of it is hurt, then the rest of the body is hurt.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 84)

And the Prophet ﷺ was approached by a companion, as reported by Imam Ahmad. This man said, "I feel mercy to a sheep when I'm about to slaughter it." And the Prophet ﷺ said, "Your mercy for this sheep, your incredible emotion towards this sheep — this mercy that you have will cause Allah to have mercy on you." And so the grief and the sadness is part of the human condition. It's part of our makeup.

But if I can present a few things — when our children are asking us about this, or our family members, or even ourselves — some aspects that we should reflect on.

2. It Is a Test for All of Us

Firstly, when you see this mashhad and the test that Allah presented, we are reminded that it's not just a test for the people of Turkey or the people of Syria, but it is a test for us as well. Allah says:

And Allah says:

Do people think that they will be left alone saying that they will not be tested? And just as it is a test for them — with the loss of health and the loss of wealth and the loss of family and the loss of livelihood — it is a test for us. What are we going to do in support of our brothers and sisters there? Allah tests some with difficulty and He tests some with ease and security and safety. So remembering that this is not just a trial for them, but being cognizant that this is a trial for us as well.

3. A Reminder of the Day of Judgment

As we saw people fleeing from their homes in panic — men running out of their homes and women running out of their homes without hijab and children fleeing — we are reminded: when an earthquake comes at 7.5 in its magnitude, what then about a time when the entire earth will shake? When Allah says:

O mankind, fear your Lord. Verily the shaking of the Hour is an incredible event. When the mother who is nursing tosses the child that she is nursing, and you see the people as if in a drunken stupor — but they are not drunk. But the punishment of Allah is severe.

And Allah says:

When the entire earth shakes with the shaking of the Day of Judgment. And the earth itself brings forth all of its minerals and all of everything that's been embedded in the earth. And people will say, "What's going on?" On that day the earth itself will speak and will communicate, bring forth its news. It is a reminder for us of the transient nature of this life and the events of the Day of Judgment.

4. The Mercy of Allah and Our Belief in Destiny

Also, it is from the mercy of Allah. We believe that Allah — all of His actions are good. Whether they seem like they are difficult and sharr in this life, we believe الشَّرُّ لَيْسَ إِلَيْكَ like the Prophet ﷺ said. And we believe in destiny — خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ، حُلْوِهِ وَمُرِّهِ. The Prophet ﷺ said that you believe in destiny, the good of it and the bad — even though there is nothing that is bad that happens to the believer. Because the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 2999)

Everything that happens to the believer is good. If something good happens to them, they are grateful and that is better for them. And if the worst calamities happen to them, they are patient and that is better for them.

The Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith reported by Muslim, he said that of the martyrs is صَاحِبُ الْهَدْمِ — the person who dies due to a structure or construction falling upon them. That person is a martyr.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 1915)

And so we believe and we ask Allah that those people who passed away in this earthquake be counted with Allah as martyrs. And that Allah selected them for something that is better than this entire dunya and everything in it. That they be with Allah — those who are the martyrs — in paradise with the prophets and the righteous and the martyrs and the truthful.

What excellent companions are those. And so Allah's scales of good and bad in this life are not like the scales of good and bad with Allah. And Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه has an amazing statement. He says:

There is no good in any good that leads to the Hellfire. And there is no evil in any evil that leads to Paradise.

5. The Signs of Allah Are Meant to Invoke Fear

Also, of the things that we remember — of the reasons why Allah sends these ayat — Allah says:

Allah says that We only send of the signs to invoke fear. Sometimes we get complacent. And the day-to-day, the mundane, makes us forget the real reason why we're here. We get lost in jobs and school and kids and every day starts to look like the next. And so Allah's signs awaken us. And He says, and We only send of the signs to invoke fear.

I remember in this masjid — and the signs are things like earthquakes and things like eclipses, whether solar or lunar. The Prophet ﷺ, when an eclipse would happen, he would race to the masjid; his face would change if the wind changed in Medina. And even though we understand the natural causes of earthquakes, and we understand the natural causes of eclipses, and we understand the natural causes of the changing of the wind, and we know these things — even though we understand their natural occurrences, we should also not be ignorant of the divine command. Allah uses these events for whatever His wishes are.

And I remember in this masjid, we prayed the eclipse prayer one year. It was at the beginning of the month — if I remember correctly, it was August. And I remember we prayed the prayer here at around noon time. And it was a very nonchalant event. People had the eclipse sunglasses outside and what have you. And reminders were given in this masjid about: yes, we understand the natural occurrence of the event, but make sure that you invoke in your heart the fear of Allah. Because these events could come with something. And it wasn't but a number of weeks — the month was not over — before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. And these are all signs for people of reflection. That we remember that as Allah gives, Allah can take away.

Allah says:

Blessed is He in Whose hands is the dominion of everything, and He is able to do all things.

6. Appreciating Allah's Blessings

And of the lessons from these experiences is that a person learns to appreciate things that they may never have appreciated before — appreciating something like the ground being solid underneath your feet. Allah says:

He is the one who made this earth subservient underneath your feet. One of the things that is taken away from the people of the Hellfire is the blessing of having solid ground underneath your feet. One of the greatest fears that people have is the fear of falling — falling from a high place.

And so of the Mufassireen they said that when referring to the people of the Hellfire, Allah says:

In Surah Al-Balad — that they will have a Hellfire that is sealed. They said: on the Day of Judgment, every Shaytan is called and every jabbar — وَكُلُّ مَنْ كَانَ النَّاسُ يَخَافُونَ شَرَّهُ — and everyone that the people used to fear their evil. So they are entered into the Hellfire and they are sealed in the Hellfire. And — wal-'iyadhu billah — by Allah, their feet will never be planted on solid ground ever again. It will always be shifting underneath their feet. That feeling of always being unbalanced. That fear of always falling. By Allah, they will never look upon the open sky above them. By Allah, they will never taste a cold drink. Wal-'iyadhu billah. But these are all signs and we learn to appreciate the blessings that Allah gives us.

7. Returning Back to Allah — Tawbah and Charity

And finally, we are reminded of the importance of returning back to Allah. These events should invoke in us tawbah to Allah. These events should invoke in us increased sadaqah for Allah. These events should invoke in us increased tadarru' to Allah. One time Qatada experienced an earthquake in Al-Kufa. And he said, it has come to us. He says:

Allah tests people with whatever He wishes from His signs, so it may be that they will be admonished, or remember Allah, or return back to Him.

And so we ask Allah to make us of those who understand the signs. We ask Allah to make things easier for our brothers and sisters all over the world.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, and prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions, many salutations.

For those who have just joined, we're talking about some of the ways to process these earthquakes that have happened — the earthquake that has happened in Turkey and Syria. And there are many ways. And Allah's knowledge is greater than ours and His wisdom is greater than ours. And what we recline on and what we believe in is that Allah's mercy is always enveloping us. And what we know and what we believe is that Allah's goodness continues to proceed before the test and after the test. But what we are required to do is to pass the test. We are required to show Allah the worship that He is due. And we are required to show Allah from us the goodness that He commands from us. That we respond, that we connect with our brothers and sisters.

One of the greatest lessons is that a person learns that life is not promised. There were people who were expecting Ramadan around the corner. There were people who were expecting to live that day. And we should realize that if there is a problem that we have with our family members, that we should reconcile with them. If there is money that is owed to somebody, that we should pay them. If there are sins that we have committed and have been prolonged in, that we should repent to Allah for those sins. That we don't take advantage of the life that we've been given when we continue to see that life is not promised.

We ask Allah to make us of those who hear the speech and follow the best of it. We ask Allah to have mercy on our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria and to replace them with homes better than their homes, and houses better than their houses, and families better than their families, and businesses better than their businesses. And we ask Allah to heal their sick and to have mercy on their dead and to accept them as martyrs.

Du'a