A Warning of What is to Come

This is the attitude that the Prophets have taught man to have towards natural disasters. One should look at them as a sign of God—a warning—and take heed. But philosophers look at these events from another angle; they do not see them in their overall context; they look at them as tragic events in man’s life and give them the heading ‘Problem of Evil.’ The Calamities which afflict man in this world are a reminder of his helplessness. They make him mentally capable of discovering the true nature of things and becoming worthy of God’s blessings. In the next, everlasting world, man will be truly free and independent. He will be absolutely immune from all forms of pain and anguish. But this rank will not be awarded to men by right; it will be a reward for their actions. Whoever consciously submits to God is worthy to be blessed with freedom; whoever is content to be powerless proves that he is deserving to be invested with power in the perfect and everlasting world of God. When the whistle blows, passengers know that the train is about to move out of the station. They treat it as a signal—a warning—that if they do not take their seats immediately, the train will leave without them. When they look at it this way, they see the whistle as something useful and proper. If they were to look at it as noise pollution, however, then they would not see it in its true light. They would not be able to take heed of the warning that it gives them. They would just see it as an evil. So it is with the calamities that strike man in this world. They can be seen in their true context and treated as a warning or they can be looked at as just inexplicable manifestations of evil. TAKING NO NOTICE OF PRAISE AND FLATTERY Some people told Umar that they had never seen anyone more just, truthful and severe with hypocrites, than him. “Commander of the faithful,” they said, “You are the best person after the Prophet.” Auf Ibn Malik was also present at the time. When he heard this, he told these people that what they said was not true. “After the Prophet, we have seen better than Umar,” he said. They asked who that person was. Auf told them that it was Abu Bakr. Then Umar himself spoke up: “Auf is right and you people are wrong,” he said. “God knows, the fragrance of musk is nothing compared to the purity of Abu Bakr; and as for me, I am more misguided than the camels of my household.”