Earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods...a trial and punishment from God, or just natural phenomena?

In conjunction with the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, a wide debate escalated on social media, between those who see that these natural disasters are afflictions or punishments from God Almighty, while others assert that they are just disasters that have several causes, including climate change and others.

In the midst of this debate about natural disasters, the history of these disasters shows that they struck Islamic and non-Islamic countries.

Professor of Philosophy of Ethics at the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Moataz Al-Khatib, confirms the existence of this controversy in Islamic discourse by speaking from two perspectives. These phenomena are linked to the concept of affliction, which is a sign of closeness to God or his love.

He describes the first perspective as minor because it approximates affliction as only a punishment, and this is a shorthand for the broad concept of affliction and for the misinterpretation of the texts of the Qur’an and the noble hadith.

Regarding the view of material science on the occurrence of disasters and the religious vision or the view of forensic science of these phenomena, Al-Khatib focuses in his response on the fact that the problems and climatic changes that affect nature are human-induced and therefore he is responsible for them, indicating that some phenomena can be predicted, for example, scientifically, the epicenter of earthquakes is determined. Geologists know the areas that are more prone to earthquakes, and through their studies, they reach scientific results.

Regarding the scientific reasons for the occurrence of earthquakes, Ahmed, a professor of geology at the Hashemite University in Jordan, adds that natural disasters are very confusing because they are divided into two parts, a predictable section and an absolutely unpredictable section, and no area is safe from the risk of natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, droughts and tsunamis. Earthquakes do not give any chance of predicting them, but volcanoes can be avoided by staying away from them.

Throughout the ages, scholars and interpreters in different religions linked natural disasters to people’s bad morals and that torment comes for this reason, while secularism began to liberate itself from this idea on the pretext that natural disasters are exposed to both the pious and those who are far from religiosity, as Manalaba confirms.

The importance of psychological support for earthquake victims

Regarding the fate of the earthquake victims and whether they can be considered martyrs, Amer Al-Hafi, a professor of beliefs at the Faculty of Jurisprudence Studies at Al al-Bayt University in Jordan, confirms in his intervention in the episode (3/8/2023) of the “Mawazine” program that cutting and judging people’s fates away from disasters and earthquakes is not It is due to man, and that dividing mercy and distributing torment is outside the scope of human competence, and divine mercy encompasses all creatures.

And he objects to the interpretation of natural phenomena away from the laws created by God, because nature is not against religion, and natural law is not a substitute for divine existence and belief in God, considering that natural sciences are part of the knowledge of religious truth that takes place through cosmic verses that scientists say are the book of God’s perspective. .

And on the established universal norms, he gives an example of some of the companions who came to the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said to him: “The sun eclipsed due to the death of Abraham.” He replied to them, saying: “The sun and the moon are among the signs of God that do not eclipse due to the death of anyone.”

Regarding the humanitarian role in relief work, the head of the Kuwait Center for Documentation of Humanitarian Action (Fanar), Khaled Al-Shatti, praises the Arab and Islamic peoples, who he says were able to provide a model for relief to the victims of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, without regard to gender or religion, while international relief organizations have always refrained from praising human rights. Human about providing aid to earthquake victims.

Regarding the controversy that arose about the priority of donations and whether they are given to Muslims and non-Muslims, Al-Khatib focuses on the importance of psychological support for the injured when disasters occur.

It also indicates the duty of charity when calamities occur.

For his part, Al-Hafi stresses the human need in general for a sense of human solidarity, and the need for children who survived the earthquake to be given attention and care, and the same for the physically handicapped.