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<\/a><\/p>\nSalaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah<\/p>\n
After news of yet another devastating earthquake, this time in the eastern part of Turkey, we are left wondering how many more of these disasters are going to follow in quick succession.\u00a0 Just here in the United States, we have endured, in various parts of our country, floods, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, and tornadoes.\u00a0 In my own area, we experienced a rare moderate earthquake.\u00a0 Anyone living in a quake-prone area might poo-poo our shock and amazement at the relatively modest temblor, but it shook a lot of us up, literally and figuratively.\u00a0 When the usually solid ground moves under you, it changes your understanding of the world, makes you re-evaluate what \u201crock solid\u201d means.\u00a0 We rush to the Qur\u2019an and open to Chapter 99, \u201cAl Zalzalah\u201d, \u201cThe Earthquake\u201d.\u00a0 There it is, in uncompromising words for all to read:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the earth is shaken with its (final) earthquake.
\nAnd when the earth throws out its burdens,
\nAnd man will say: \u201cWhat is the matter with it?\u201d
\nThat Day it will declare its information (about all what happened over it of good or evil).
\nBecause your Lord has inspired it.
\nThat Day mankind will proceed in scattered groups that they may be shown their deeds.
\nSo whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it.
\nAnd whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it. \u201d<\/p>\n
This chapter tells us of \u201cThe Big One\u201d, the earthquake to end all earthquakes, the one that makes the country-splitting quakes portrayed on made-for-TV movies feel like no more than the mild rumble of a passing truck.\u00a0 We will wish for only an 8.0 or even a 9.0 quake.\u00a0 This one will be off the scale, render the scale meaningless, and will usher in the Day of Judgment.\u00a0 On that day, the very earth will testify.\u00a0 She will speak of our good deeds and our bad deeds.\u00a0 Nothing will be hidden, and nothing will be forgotten.\u00a0 Is that not enough to make us pause and reflect?<\/p>\n
We see this revealing of secrets on a small and very concrete scale as we witness the devastation in Turkey.\u00a0 As buildings have collapsed and have split asunder, their contents pour out into the streets, giving away the private lives of those who lived there.\u00a0 We see their furniture and their clothing, the contents of their kitchens.\u00a0 Will there be liquor bottles, porn collections, address books with the names of lovers, stashes of illicit drugs?\u00a0 Or will there be prayer rugs and tattered Qur\u2019ans, well worn even before the quake due to constant handling, tapes of Islamic lectures and beads of broken tasbihs?\u00a0 If your house came down today, what secrets would it reveal?\u00a0 If your soul were opened up today, what secrets would it reveal?<\/p>\n
I remind myself before I remind anyone else.\u00a0 This world is short.\u00a0 It is a test.\u00a0 It is pass \/ fail.\u00a0 When we hear of major disasters, or even a single death, it should serve to remind us of our mortality.\u00a0 It should be a kick in the pants to move us to repentence and action.\u00a0 So often, though, we watch the TV coverage or read the news story or follow the twitter feed, and then we go on about our lives as if we had all the time in the world to get right with God.\u00a0 We have this fantasy thinking that what happens over there<\/em> can\u2019t happen to us over here<\/em>.\u00a0 We tut tut when we hear that the neighbor\u2019s husband died suddenly of a heart attack, while shoveling potato chips with sour cream dip into our faces.\u00a0 We sagely pronounce the flood or the fire or the earthquake as Allah\u2019s judgment on those people and forget that we all share the same planet and the next storm might bear down on us.\u00a0 When that happens, will we shake our fist at the sky and blame Allah, or humbly accept the chastening and say \u201cThis is a recompense for the wrong I have done to myself\u201d?\u00a0 We need to start listening to the lesson before the final exam comes.\u00a0 We need to open the Book and study.\u00a0 We need to learn and then live what we learn.\u00a0 We need to support one another and reach out to like-minded people who understand that this life is only a temporary abode and a place of trial and tribulation.\u00a0 We need to wake up.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah After news of yet another devastating earthquake, this time in the eastern part of Turkey, we are left wondering how many more of these disasters are going to follow in quick succession.\u00a0 Just here in the United States, we have endured, in various parts of our country, floods, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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