Tribulations that are God’s punishments

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The Qura’n and the self created hardshipsLink between sins and tribulations in Islamic traditions

Some tribulations are punishments from God but only for those people who deserve them. It is either for those who sins are so many that they need to be punished in this world and the hereafter and of those whose sins are so large that the punishment of the world will erase them, actually the punishment for the second group of people is a grace of God.

The difference between this and the previous discussion is that the previous one said that the tribulations were the result of man’s own doings and here it is being said that tribulations are punishments of God.

It is clear to the monotheist and those who believe in the justice of God that there are some people who are punished in this world as well as the hereafter but those who do not understand this idea consider it to be a very painful hardship. The annals of history are replete with the names that misused their power and authority to oppress people and then died in it themselves. Many books are needed to explain this.

We see such things in our daily lives so we do not deny the brief connection between the deed and punishment. Qura’n has spoken generally about it and also named certain individuals who were punished in this world. The sample des c r i p tions are as hereunder:

Verse 112 of Surah Nahl says:

And God gives the example of a township that dwelt secure and well content; its provision coming to it in abundance from every place but it (the people) denied the favors of God; so God made them face a great famine and fear because of that which they used to do.”

Whether the incident took place among the Bani Israel or Bani Saba or on the people of Makkah it has been mentioned here as a fixed norm and the connection between sins and punishment is easily discerned.

If people go to other cities and find famine, chaos, and hardships they may feel surprised. They may ask each other, “Isn’t this bad fate and helplessness against the justice of God?” But if they become aware of the wickedness of the city’s people and their evil character they will regard these things as justice and some may say that they are punished less than they deserve.

Qura’n mentions another nation that became the subject of punishment because of their sins in verse 40 of Surah Ankabut that says: So we seized each for his sin; on some of them we sent a stone laden violent gale; and some were seized by the blast; some were swallowed by the earth and some We drowned. It was not God who wronged them but they wronged themselves.”

So if the people of Aad were destroyed by the stone laden gale and their houses were razed; if the people of Thamud were killed by the great shriek, the earth moved and Korus was swallowed and the Pharaoh and His Minister Haman were drowned then these are not punishments against God’s justice but should be taken as justice itself because they all deserved what they got.

In some commentaries the explanation of verse 90 of Surah Yunus has been supplemented with an event which will prove the best in this discussion. “One day the angel Gabriel came to the court of the Pharaoh in the guise of a human being and said, “O King! I had a slave whom I had placed over all others and gave him the keys to my wealth; he became my enemy and the enemy of anyone who loved me and he befriended by enemies. Please issue a decree and prescribe the punishment.”

The Pharaoh said, “Had he been my slave I would have drowned him in the river.”

Gabriel said, “O King! Please write your decision for me.” The pen and papyrus were brought and he wrote:

“My order for any slave who rebels against his master is that he be drowned in the river”

Time went by and Gabriel appeared when the Pharaoh and his army were drowning in the river and presented the Pharaoh’s decree to him and said, “This is the order that had been issued by you.”(1)

The point to note here is that if someone who was unaware of their doings were present at the times and saw them being drowned and the hurricane destroying their houses and the fire that burnt everything in seconds, he would have been stunned and would have doubted the presence of justice in this universe. But if the knowledge of their doings had or if he was told what they did then he would never have doubted. This is philosophy behind some of these tribulations that is different from others.

Surah Saba mentions a very strange tale about a people in Yemen. They were very advanced and this was due to the barrier that been created with the mountains. The water from the river and the sea was stored in abundance and the earth was watered in the best possible manner. The result was that there were gardens, orchards, and farms and the earth of the land was rich in product.

There was peace everywhere there was no sign of tribulations, scourges, famine, drought, and chaos. There was no sign of harmful animals and insects there.

Excess of bounties made them oblivious and the rebellion increased and they began to misuse the bounties in many ways. The Qura’n then speaks in verses 16 and 17 about it:

 But they turned away, so we sent a torrent irresistible on them and in place of their two gardens we gave them two gardens of bitter fruits and tamarisks and a few lote trees. So we recompensed them for what they disbelieved; but do we recompense any save the ungrateful?”(2)

The strange thing is that according to some traditions the otters became the cause of the destruction of these great barriers and they made holes in the dam. The result was that it was destroyed. The destruction started with a drizzle and the hole made by these otters completed destroyed it. A great civilization was destroyed and they had constructed the path of destruction themselves. There are umpteen cases like this where there is a visible link between the hardships and human deeds and we can compile a voluminous book if we gather such tales.

In short we can say that logical sequences, Qura’nic verses, traditions and history are things we cannot deny for some tribulations and hardships have come as a punishment for a tyrant or the unjust people but the ignorant cannot discern the connection between the causes and the result.

It is certain that God was not unjust in those times but they were unjust to themselves. So in verses 100-101 of Surah HUD the Qura’n says:

These are some of the t ales that we relate to you, of them some are standing and some have been mown down (101) We did not wrong them but they wronged themselves.

And the god other than God did not help them against the command of God when it came, they did not add but perdition”

 


 

1. Tafsir Ruhul Bayan vol.4 page 77
2. The explanation of these verses can be read in Tafsir Namuna Vol.18 page 55

 

The Qura’n and the self created hardshipsLink between sins and tribulations in Islamic traditions
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