- On trials, testing and turning back: part 3
- On trials, testing and turning back: part 2
- On trials, testing and turning back: Part 1
A translation of part 2 of البلاء والرجوع
After I wrote the paper on testing, trials and turning back, I realised that certain questions needed to be addressed in more detail. In this paper, I am looking at three questions: Who does this trial apply to? Is it really true that all these environmental problems are caused by the bad deeds of humans? What specific types of corruption have led to this punishment?
The first question is who exactly is Allah addressing with “may they perhaps turn back,” and whether this trial applies fully to all people, despite their differences. The answer is that Allah was addressing two kinds of people: The first are those believers from revealed religions, whose faith has atrophied over the passage of long ages and whose once bright torch is now merely smouldering, giving scarcely any light, even though it is not yet extinguished.
And these believers, I am sorry to say, means us Muslims, and also other monotheists who still retain a certain amount of reverence and respect for their religion ( in particular those in Catholic majority countries like Spain, Italy and France). It is possible that they could turn back – even though this still seems farfetched – because of their continuing links with their old religion.
The second type of people have distanced themselves from organised religion to a great extent, and are largely irreligious or secular, and these can also be divided into two groups:
The majority former Protestant countries which have made great efforts to adopt a secular way of life for some time. The original motivations for this were largely noble, born from a humanism that was a rejection of religious wars (Locke admired the Ottomans for their religious tolerance), and a narrow dogmatism which seemed antithetical to the light of scientific truth. It did not reject ideals, morality or caring for the welfare of mankind and its successes and empires have led it to a continuing global hegemony, even if it is frayed around the edges. However, as it developed, it became clear from the bloody terror of the French revolution to Nazism and Communism that turning away from religion did not mean a turning away from intolerance and dogmatism, and that this brave new world could produce inequality and ugliness as well as progress and achievement; anxiety and emptiness as well as self-actualisation; selfishness as well as humanitarianism. The enquiring spirit that had opened up so many fields of study has begun to lose its impetus and direction in a mire of relativism. When everything is questioned, the direction is lost, as is the destination.
Here is a little story to illustrate this: Once there were a people who always took the same path through a marsh, as their ancestors had always done. One day, someone said, “Why do we follow this path? It is slippery and dangerous, and my feet are soaking wet, and my clothes are all muddy, and we need to look for a better path. I think we should go through the mountains, where the ground is higher and better drained and there is a more direct route.” Everybody followed happily, and soon a new path was established, which was drier, and safer. But after a while, bandits realised that they could lie in wait along the path, and sometimes people were frozen to death in bad weather, and people got dissatisfied with that path, and they fell to talking.
Somebody said, “You know how we were all following that path through the marsh and we never questioned it, and then somebody had the brilliant idea of going through the mountains – Well, I have thought of some other questions: Why do we even follow this path? How do we know there is something at the end of it? Why do we always go in this direction? What if there is a better place to go somewhere else? In fact, why do we have a path in the first place? Half of us don’t even enjoy going on it and some of us die. What is a path? Isn’t a path just something artificial created and maintained by us because we blindly followed one person? Aren’t we all capable of deciding where to go for ourselves instead of following someone who might have been trying to lead us in the wrong direction for his own selfish reasons, or just didn’t know what he was talking about?” At this point, all the people nodded in amazement at the sagacity of the speaker.
“You are absolutely right. We have been blind! What a wonderful world of dignity, freedom, exploration and self-expression you have opened up to us.” And they all split up in different directions, some going back along the path in the opposite direction, just to see where it led, some striking off to make their own paths, individually or in groups, talking excitedly and curious about what they would discover. Some of them didn’t think that was such a good idea. They continued going along the path, and others went back to find the old path because there must have been a reason why people used to use it. Others decided to make a new path in between the mountains and the marsh to combine the best of both. And one man remained behind, watching them go. He put his pack down on the ground and sat on it, and he threw his stick into the bushes. “If there is no such thing as a path, no direction, and no destination, why do we even go anywhere at all?” he said.
The others are the inheritors of the teachings of some of the earliest expression of religion for mankind, which they clung to until fairly recently when they abandoned their traditional ways and embraced some of the ugliest and worst aspects of modern secular materialism. This has resulted in a corrupted version of religion being widespread which no longer resembles their original religion – there are too many veils blocking its original light – and this is seen amongst the people of China and India and some other places.
Is it possible for people from this group who have turned their backs on religion to return? Yes, for the majority of ordinary people, if they start to recognise how rampant materialism and the removal of faith from the public arena is leading them into a very dark and uncertain future, and if Allah wills that they are guided.
As for those who have deliberately and destructively encouraged people to follow their own selfish desires and to whom Allah has shown his anger, “They despair of the hereafter as they despair of their companions in the graves.” It doesn’t appear to me to be likely that they will realise what they have done and turn back or listen to this type of argument and return to their senses.
سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آيَاتِيَ الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَإِن يَرَوْا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَا وَإِن يَرَوْا سَبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ لَا يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلًا وَإِن يَرَوْا سَبِيلَ الْغَيِّ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ
I will turn away from my signs those who act arrogantly and wrongfully in the earth and even if they see every sign they won’t believe in them, and even if they see the right path, they won’t take it as a path, but if they see a misguided path, they take that as a path, and that is because they rejected our signs (and messages) and were heedless of them.
Quran Al Araf 146
On the contrary, I have witnessed their lieutenants in the western media not sparing any effort to lie about or pour scorn upon those who say something similar to what I say (although I am not saying that they and I will agree on every point). It indicates that they are actually regarding this type of argument as a serious threat, as if they genuinely fear it might spread amongst their followers and make them realise the way they have been deceiving them in recent decades.
For these people, who will not take heed, and will not change their ways and go back to Allah, this trial appears as nothing but a punishment. What form does this punishment take? The answer is that this is a just retribution for what they have been doing, although it is not yet an overwhelming punishment, as Allah is still giving them time and has not seized them with total destruction as happened to previous generations.
I would like to emphasise that death in itself should not be seen as a tragedy or a punishment for believers, or those whose life is free from shameful deeds. We should not look upon death, or any disaster which befalls us in the Dunya, as the greatest of tragedies. The following prayer, which is to be recited upon completion of the Qur’an (and at other times) illustrates that if we must suffer from museeb (affliction), then it is better for it to occur in the Dunya than in our religion.
لا تجعل مصيبتنا في ديننا و لا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا و لا مبلغ علمنا
Do not make our afflictions occur in our religion, and do not make the dunya our biggest worry, and the only thing we know about…
Death is only terrifying for those who do not believe in Allah, and who have bad deeds on their conscience, and no recourse to repentance, and who place all their hopes in this life, and think that death brings an end to all goodness.
Our Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that a believer who has patience in a contagion and dies will have the reward of a shaheed, and will be forgiven, and the full hadith is given explained later. Those who die when trying to help others ought to be envied because they are going to meet their Lord with good deeds, and sooner or later, we will all be returning to our Lord with our deeds. This is a reminder from the Qur’an to those who say,
لو أطاعونا ما قتلوا فادرءوا عن انفسكم الموت إن كنتم صادقين
‘If they had obeyed us they wouldn’t have been killed.’
Allah replies be saying “Then keep death away from yourselves always if you are telling the truth.”
(The Family of Imran, 168)
We know that our Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that we are not supposed to say “If only” but must know that whatever happens to us happens with the will of Allah,(9:51) and “Allah is with the patient” (2:153).
And Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that she asked the Messenger of Allah about plague and he informed her that it used to be a punishment which Allah sent upon whom he pleased, but that Allah then made it a mercy for believers. No servant of Allah would remain in a land afflicted with plague, patiently, knowing that nothing will happen to him except what Allah has written for him, except that he would receive the reward of a martyr.
Allah tells us in the Qur’an, in surah al Baqarah:
و لاتقولوا لمن يقتل في سبيل الله أمواتا بل أحياء و لكن لا تشعرون. ولنبلونكم بشيئ من الخوف والجوع و نقص من الأموال والأنفس والثمرات و بشر الصابرين. الذين إذا أصابتهم مصيبة قالوا إنا لله و إنا إليه راجعون أولئك عليهم صلوات من ربهم و رحمة و أولئك هم المهتدون
And do not say of those killed in the way of Allah that they are dead. Rather, they are alive, but you are not aware, and we are definitely testing you with something of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and yourselves and the fruits (of your labours), so give good news to the patient, those who if afflicted by an affliction say, “We belong to Allah and we return to him.” Upon them are blessings from their Lord and mercy and they are guided.
(2: 103-107)
Our Prophet told us that there is good in any situation for the believer, who is thankful when happy and patient when under trial. This is the blessing of belief at all times and in every situation, but the disbeliever is deprived of this sweetening of the pill.
Another punishment for those who arrogantly refuse to listen to the messages of Allah is the catastrophic damage to their economy, their businesses and their earnings, as well as the dawning realisation that they are not at all as powerful as had thought and that things can slip out of their control. Billions have been spent upon defences and barriers to protect countries and make them global superpowers – billions which are useless against this small invisible enemy. This shows the greatness of Allah and that his power surrounds everything.
Although the voice of reason is confidently proclaiming that the powerful countries are able to ride out the storm due to their power and influence, people are aware know in their hearts that hubris is dangerous. JB Priestly encapsulated this very well in his post-second world war play, An Inspector Calls, when he has the pompous and prosperous industrialist Mr Birling pontificate on the achievements of his age, at a family dinner party in 1913:
“A friend of mine went over this new liner last week – the Titanic – she sails next week – forty-six thousand eight hundred tons – forty-six thousand eight hundred tons – New York in five days – and every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.”
There is also an additional lesson for Muslims facing loss of earnings and being stopped in their tracks. Suddenly their plans are de-railed and they are forced to sit at home while businesses fail and money is lost. This brings with it the realisation that they might never get to carry out their dreams for doing good. In the past they had assumed that they would have the time to rectify their affairs and to carry out plans to do good things for themselves and for others, things haven’t worked out like that and now their plans can no longer be carried out. This is an illustration of a saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him related by Anas Bin Malak, via Ibn Abbas, and this is that there are two blessings which many people don’t appreciate the value of: free time and health. (Sahih Bukhari 6412). If you find yourself in this position, then increase your istighfar and your repentance. If you ever get back to the situation you once were in, then hasten to do good without delay because you never know when this earthly examination will come to an end and your papers will be collected in and you do not want that moment to be a time of huge regret.
The Second Question: Is it really the case that all the environmental problems appearing now in the heavens and the earth are all because of people acting in an exploitative and greedy and oppressive manner?
This is the case and it is even worse than that, because humanity has oppressed the earth itself until the earth has got fed up with them because of all this corruption. Note for those interested in the Arabic language: Classical Arabic has traditionally used the word أرض (earth) to correspond to the idea of nature referring to the symbiotic living ecology of our planet, although modern Arabic uses a different word. For if the earth were inert, lifeless, incapable of feeling anything or of consciousness, this corruption would continue in it until it would become a lifeless waste, utterly abandoned and destroyed. Yet in fact, our earth is alive, and this is something nobody can deny, even an atheist from our age. It acts like a living thing by constantly controlling its environment by rebalancing it. Through readjustment it deals with changes happening to itself, defending itself from threats in order to restore its equilibrium and order.
Unfortunately, this has come at a point in history where most humans are losing touch with natural processes. Most people in the world now live in cities. This means that we have lost touch with the natural world and with how our food is grown to the point where we live largely artificial lives and are not even really aware of how much we depend on this planet or the reality of how the things we consume are made, by whom, and at what cost. It means that we can be living in a bit of a bubble. Back in the later 1980s, I read, as an economics student, an article which argued that global warming would not have that much impact upon the US economy, because only 0.5% of its Gross Domestic Product came from farming. This author of this published article had failed to remember the wisdom of the story of King Midas: you can’t eat Gross Domestic Product.
I would like to digress here and compare the world of a traditional Muslim from the Golden Age of Islam with the world of a modern Muslim. The Muslim from a thousand years ago, not only lived in a much more natural way, but could not have the impact upon the environment that modern Muslims can have. So it is natural that when we Moderns look back to them for guidance on how to behave, that what has come down to us is focused more upon the duties of the Muslim to Allah and to fellow humans, as at this point it was unimaginable that the earth and seas and sky could be corrupted in the way they have been. But we modern Muslims cannot continue to think only of our duties to Allah and other humans. We must think about the environment, about the earth, and the communities of animals that live on it. For this reason, I wanted to share with you an early environmentalist parable written in Baghdad during the Golden Age.
The case of the Animals versus Man in the Courts of the King of the Jinn, tells the tale of a court case where the animals make a strong case against traditional man, accusing him of cruelty and injustice, just like in the plot of Bee Story. Here is an extract to give you a flavour of it:
Humans have invaded and stolen our ancestral lands. They have captured us sheep, cows, horses, mules, and asses and enslaved us, subjecting us to the exhausting toil and drudgery of hauling, ploughing, drawing water, turning mills, and being ridden. They forced us to these tasks with beatings, bludgeonings, and every kind of duress, torture, and chastisement throughout our lives. When some of us fled to deserts, wastes, or mountain-tops, the humans pursued us, hunting us with every kind of trick and trap. Whoever falls into their hands is yoked, haltered, caged, and fettered. They slaughter and flay us, rip open our bellies, cut off our limbs and break our bones. They tear out our sinews, pluck our feathers or shear our hair or fleece, and set us on the fire to cook, or to roast on a spit. Some of them even put us to even harsher tortures, torments ultimately beyond description. Even so, the humans want even more from us. Now they claim this is their inviolable right to be our masters and we their slaves. They treat any of us who escapes as a fugitive, rebel, and shirker — all with no proof or reason – just through force.’
Argument of the humans: Animals are rebellious slaves because religion tells us that Allah subjected them to us.
‘All animals are our slaves. We are their masters. Some have rebelled and escaped. Others obey grudgingly and scorn our service.’
The King replied, ‘What proof or evidence have you to back up your claims? Without them, this court will throw your argument out.’
‘Your Majesty,’ said one of the humans, ’to start with, we have good evidence taken from the Holy Qur’an itself. In the Holy Qur’an, does it not say that Allah has subjected animals to us for various benefits?’
Counterargument of the Animals: Subjugation is not the same thing as slavery and abuse
The Mule stepped forward to answer this claim. ‘Firstly, there is nothing in those verses that says we should be treated like slaves! It says in the Qur’an that Allah gave the earth to living beings – animals and plants. He created humans and allowed each dwell in the earth in succession. Allah did not tell them to lay waste to the earth, or to abuse and mistreat animals, but to care for the earth and the animals and enjoy their benefits. God grant pardon to you and to me.’
The Mule continued. ‘Moreover, these verses point only to the kindness and blessings God gave mankind. God did say that He subjected animals to humans — just as He said that He has subjected the sun and moon, the wind and clouds. Does that mean that humans can claim that the sun and the moon must be their slaves? Hardly! God made all His creatures in heaven and earth. He subjected animals to man only to help humans and keep them from harm, not, as they deludedly suppose and slanderously claim, to make them our masters and us their slaves.
At the end of the book, the humans realise that they are going to lose the court case. The conclusion, with the differing arguments of the people from the town and the people from the country, has a very strong message for all of us urban modern Muslims today.
Said the delegate of the birds, ‘They boast that God has given them religions, and this makes them superior to us, but they need religion to make them good, and then they just use religion as an excuse to fight each other. They need teachers and trainers, and preachers, just because they’re so argumentative and heedless. The most religious humans run away to live peacefully with animals. For every decent human being, there are many more corrupt and dishonest people.
God’s command and prohibition, promise and threat are addressed solely to the human race, not to us. For they are creatures of mischief. Conflict, deceit, and disobedience are ingrained in you. They are more fit for slavery than we and we are more worthy of freedom!
The assembled humans were chagrined and hung their heads in shame, crushed by the accusations directed at them. They became very worried that they would lose the court case, and discussed what they could do about it.
‘And if the judge decides to sell them and make us take compensation? Then what do we do?’ The city folk said, ‘Sell them and take the money. We’ll make a profit.’
But the country people said, ‘If we do that, by God, we will starve to death! Great God! Don’t even think about it!’ ‘How so?’ the town folk asked. ‘Why,’ they said, ‘if we did this, we’d be left with no milk to drink or meat to eat, no woollen clothes or blankets, no furnishings of hair or fleece, no shoes or sandals, no water skins, rugs, bedding, or covers. We’d be naked, barefoot, miserable, and sick. Death would be better for us than such a life. And the people of the cities would suffer the same fate!
Don’t sell them or free them, don’t even consider it, and don’t accept any judgement except to better their lives, lighten their load, and show them some kindness, sympathy, and pity. For they are flesh and blood like us. They feel and suffer. Just because God subjected them to us, does not mean that we are better than them. We will be tested by our treatment of them.
For the full version of this story, see the link below.
Two books which talk about the teachings of Islam on the environment and animal rights are Animal Welfare in Islam by Al Hafiz Bashir Ahmad Al Masri and produced by the Islamic Foundation, and Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust, edited by Richard C Foltz.
The appearance of this virus is an indication that the earth is fed up with us and what we have done to it and to its ecosystem and our wars and our noise and pollution. Evidence for this comes in the unprecedented decline in air pollution and water pollution all over the world which have never been seen before by the current inhabitants of the earth.
And what I say, (about the earth being alive and responding to what happens to it) does not conflict with what I said earlier about Allah’s willing of this punishment upon the humans, rather these ideas are closely connected. The earth and all that is upon it, as creations of Allah, are not capable of acting without the permission of Allah and the abilities he gave them.
فما بكت عليهم السماء و لا الأرض و ما كانوا منظرين
And the sky did not weep over them and nor did the earth, and nor were they reprieved.
(Dukhaan, 29)
In the Qur’an in surah 25, ayat 63, Allah says that the servants of the Merciful are those who walk on the earth humbly (or gently or easily). If we want Allah to show his attribute of Mercy towards us, then we need to treat this earth well. It is said in the hadith that the earth and sky weep over believers who have passed away, and even the ants and the fish pray for the one who teaches goodness – so we must strive to be people like the latter, and fear the complaints of the earth and its creatures in the Court of Allah.
Question 3: What types of corruption in particular has hastened this punishment?
We can see in this earth that everything is interconnected and any one change in the system can have major consequences that are not always foreseen. For an example of this found in the natural world, watch this short video on the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park.
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Some of the hadith mention some fundamental laws which operate in this universe, as a warning to us to avoid certain harmful behaviours in order to avoid having to deal with their inevitable consequences.
Several hadith refer to this. One says, “The Messenger of Allah turned faced us and said, Oh Muhaijirun, (meaning the people who had migrated with him when he was forced to leave his homeland) five things -if you are tested with them – I ask Allah to make it so that you will not live long enough to see them: open depravity will not be practiced by any people, and announced openly and spread, except that new plagues and disease will spread amongst them that their ancestors had never seen before. And people will not tamper with measures and weights except that they will experience hardship and oppression, and they will not stop paying zakat except that the rain will be stopped from falling, and if it were not for other creatures the rain would never fall. And you will not break your covenant with Allah and his messenger (and treaties or promises generally) except that Allah will send an external enemy to them who will take some of what they have. And their rulers will not stop ruling by the revelations of Allah and pick and choose from what Allah has sent down except that Allah will send down violence between themselves.
It is known that during a recession, the instinct of people is to stop spending and to save because it is a time of uncertainty, but this instinct is as counterproductive as the feverish man who piles clothes on thinking he is cold, only making his temperature worse. Saving only increases the depression as businesses lose customers. Governments know this and try to counteract recessions by increasing spending and lowering taxes. In the end, helping others always helps us, and this is the second “invisible hand” of the economy which Adam Smith did not think to write about when he wrote that people, pursuing their own benefit, benefit others. The King James translation of the Bible says, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth,” meaning that we should work for the benefit of others. Nowadays this elegant but archaic language is in danger of being misread to mean that each person should take from others! In this way, our understanding of language seems to mirror our actions in the world.
All this reminds me of the story of Turkish folk hero Nasruddin Hoja when, walking along a river bank, he sees a man he knows, a man renowned for miserliness, in difficulties in the water. “Give me your hand”, said Nasruddin, but the man seemed incapable of doing so, even though he was clearly on the point of drowning, struggling and gasping for breath. Nasruddin realised the problem. “Take my hand,” he said, and the man instantly grasped it and was pulled to safety.
The Qur’an tells us that our Prophet, peace be upon him, was sent but to be a mercy to all the worlds. It also tells us in many places that he listened to everybody, consulted everybody, and cared deeply for everybody:
لعلك باخع نفسك على آثآرهم إن لم يؤمن بهاذ الحديث أسفا
Perhaps you are wearing yourself out with grief over what they have left behind, because they are not believing in this speech (surah Kahf, 6).
He, peace be upon him, wanted only the best for people. Let us take his hand, the firm handhold (urwat-ul wuthqaa), the Qur’an, and let us do it in a spirit of humility, need and dependence.
Let us seek refuge with Allah from being like the one of whom the Qur’an says:
إِنَّا أَنذَرْنَاكُمْ عَذَابًا قَرِيبًا يَوْمَ يَنظُرُ الْمَرْءُ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ وَيَقُولُ الْكَافِرُ يَا لَيْتَنِي كُنتُ تُرَابًا (40)
We have warned you of a punishment close by on a day when man will look at what his hands have done and the disbeliever will say, if only I were dust
Says Al-Busairi, Egyptian poet, of the generosity of the Prophet Muhammad,
و لن يفوت منه الغنى يدا تربت
His wealth will not ignore a dusty hand.
do not disdain reconnecting to the earth and getting your hands dirty doing practical and beneficial things.
I will finish by asking Allah, in the words of Al-Busairi, to have mercy on us, his slaves, in this fearful time.
والطف بعبدك في الدارين إن له صبرا متى تدعه الاهوال ينهزم
واذن بسحب صلاة منك دائما على النبي بِمُنْهَلٍّ ومنسجم
ما رنَّحت عذباتِ البانِ ريحُ صبا واطرب العيس حادي العيس بالنغم
Deal kindly with Your slave in both the worlds, for when terrors call to him, his patience is weak,
From You let a cloud of constant blessings rain upon the Prophet, forever coming down.
For as long as the east wind stirs the willow-branches, and camel-drivers rejoice their grey steeds with song.
Long may the wind stir the willow-branches, and camels listen to the songs of their drivers!
