Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the wordpress-seo domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home/islam/public_html/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893
{"id":33767,"date":"2020-04-27T11:09:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T11:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.islam.com.kw\/the-pandemic-punishment-or-blessing\/"},"modified":"2021-05-13T12:32:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T12:32:44","slug":"the-pandemic-punishment-or-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islam.com.kw\/the-pandemic-punishment-or-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pandemic: Punishment or Blessing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By T. O. Shanavas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Pandemic\"The Pandemic: Punishment or Blessing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

All Muslims accept that God is al-Kareem (The Most Generous). Muslims learned in madrasa that the Omni-Benevolent God is the source of all generosity.<\/p>\n

But I never had an internally consistent satisfactory answer to my impasse over theodicy (the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil), as well as the existence of the free will within Qadr of Allah (God knows everything and has already decided everything that will happen).<\/p>\n

Muslim scholars have tried to circumvent the quandary as follows: Allah exists outside of time and space, beyond the cosmic veil in the Unseen. By contrast, we human beings can only conceive of realities within the framework of time and space.<\/p>\n

Divine providence, or predestination, is a reality that exists beyond time and space, which means we are simply incapable of conceiving it with our limited rational faculties. Then, how do we, Muslims, respond to someone or a Muslim college student using same logic to vindicate polytheism and denies Tawhid (The Unification of oneness of God)? Coronavirus and social isolation gave me time to reflect on the topic and the coronavirus experience gave me the answer.<\/p>\n

Allah created the earth and the universe. God offered Heavens and Mountains to take the responsibility of its care. But they refused, but later mankind accepted it. The dialogue between God and heavens, mountains and the plenum of gases enlightens us that as in the case of the animal kingdom these inanimate creatures also have self, consciousness, and subjectivity. The inanimate creations communicate with God in their own language that human does not understand.<\/p>\n

God directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, \u201cCome [into being], willingly or by compulsion.\u201d They said, \u201cWe have come willingly.<\/strong>\u201d (Qur\u2019an 41:11) The seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving\u201d (Qur\u2019an 17:34).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- He was indeed unjust and foolish;\u201d (Qur\u2019an 33:72). God instructed man also : \u201cAnd do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.\u201d (Qur\u2019an<\/a>, 2:60), and elsewhere: \u201cAnd do not desire corruption in the land. Indeed, God does not like corruptors.\u201d (Qur\u2019an 28:77)<\/p>\n

The world has changed since then. Arrogant man self-glorified himself as the invincible lord of the world and assumes that everything on the earth is his personal property that can be used, abused, or wasted. All knowing God notices man\u2019s dereliction of his duties by polluting the earth, the air, oceans, cutting down forests, and destroying the habitat of other communities of His creatures to satisfy man\u2019s greed. The consequences of human ravages on the earth many?<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 100,000 citizens die every year in America alone from air pollution. Then, add up all the life lost in the rest of world (https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/national-news\/articles\/2019-04-08\/100-000-americans-die-from-air-pollution-study-finds).<\/li>\n
  2. Climate change and pollution resulted from the self-indulgent human exploitation of the natural wealth apportioned for the entire divine creatures are responsible for a staggering extinctions 318 animal species to date that we know of (https:\/\/theecologist.org\/2019\/oct\/04\/rising-pollution-endangering-species).<\/li>\n
  3. Globally, 100,000 marine mammals die every year as a result of plastic pollution (https:\/\/sustainabledevelopment.un.org\/content\/documents\/Ocean_Factsheet_Pollution.pdf).<\/li>\n
  4. Bees are the foundation for many sources of food, fruits, nuts, coffee, vegetable, etc., Honeybees are already under siege. Colony Collapse Disorder kills an alarming number of bees each year linked to some pesticides. If bee goes into extinction, the fruits, vegetable and grains will disappear from markets (https:\/\/www.calacademy.org\/explore-science\/pollution-and-honeybees).<\/li>\n
  5. There are many more human inflicted mayhem on the ecosystem to list here. Muslims accept and speak frequently of the universe as a classroom and a testing ground for the adjudication of the sincerity of our faith in God. But few Muslims ever talk about God\u2019s amazing immaculate organization of the universe. I believe that an understanding of the flawless configuration of the universe is extremely important to make a spiritual sense out of the coronavirus pandemic, the human ravage on the environment, the mass migration of refugees, etc. under the watch of Omni-Benevolent God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    God created the universe as a testing ground for his creatures while saving the Jannah for the righteous: \u201dAnd We shall assuredly try you until We know those of you who struggle and are steadfast, and try your tidings\u201d (Qur\u2019an 47:31). Allah is flawless in His process of creation and its products so that whatever He created have the potentiality to do what He indented them to execute.<\/p>\n

    A perfect machine functions by itself without its inventor\u2019s constant intervention. Then only it is perfect and so says God: \u201cThou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of Allah, who disposes of all things in perfect order: for he is well acquainted with all that ye do.\u201d (Qur\u2019an 27:88).<\/p>\n

    At the inception of the creation, God built a self-regulating system that we call the universe. He created it with paradisaical precision so that it would do all its duties and function. As revealed in the Quran, the universe and its animate as well as inanimate components, whether it is micro or macro, are living beings that have assigned duties and responsibilities (Qur\u2019an 41:12}<\/p>\n

    \u201c\u2026He assigned to each heaven its duty and command..\u201d). God endowed the universe with a faculty to monitor its components. This incredible machine acts and reacts, gives and takes, rewards and retributes etc. It knows what God wants to happen in every micro and macro situation as well as in every nook and corner. It executes what God programmed to happen in every situation without God\u2019s constant attention. It is a perfect laboratory machine to evaluate and finally judge man, as Khalifa on the earth.<\/p>\n

    There is another marvelous wisdom behind the creation of this self-regulating universe. By the genesis of this incredible self-regulating universe, God took Himself off the equation to become \u201cthe best judge of all judges\u201d (\u201cIs not Allah the most just of judges?\u201d Qur\u2019an 95:8) so that no creatures including man can implicate Allah for their sin as predestination. Such an understanding of the universe as a flawless machine or computer perfectly merges with the Qur\u2019anic concept of Omniscient Omni-Benevolent Compassionate God in a world with mankind with free will.<\/p>\n

    This video demonstrates God\u2019s immaculate creation better.<\/p>\n