Being conscious of one’s own faults, not of others

Being conscious of one’s own faults, not of others

1992 6 June 13 Being conscious of one’s own faults, not of others (37) Although Rabi ‘ibn Khyathama never used to speak ill of anybody, he once remarked upon people’s extraordinary habit of fearing God with regard to other people’s sins, but not with regard to their own.

(Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat)

Man’s Helplessness

1992 6 June 13 Man’s Helplessness (255) Bangladesh is a conglomeration of a great number of islands. Often severe tempests and cyclones hit the area, leaving immeasurable damage to life and property in their wake. According to records to date, the severest known storms took place in 1876, which left 300,000 persons dead, with commensurate losses in terms of property.

Bangladesh was again hit by a storm in May, 1985. Cyclones of high velocity with the speed of 150 mph hit nearly 1000 littoral islands, which at the same time were lashed by four metre high tidal waves. Nearly 100,000 lost their lives in this typhoon. Scores of villages perished in the stormy waves. One press reporter describes the scene thus:

“Urir Char.... looks like it has been bombed relentlessly. Not a single structure, save the concrete forest office stands erect. In fact so fierce has been the force of the gale and tidal waves that not only the houses, but even the building materials have been washed away, leaving behind just mounds.”

One English newspaper, dated May 29, 1985, describes these destructive forces as “murderous cyclones which expose man’s helplessness before nature’s fury.”

Incidents such as these help man to keep the reality in mind. They are a declaration of God’s power and man’s helplessness. They tell us that tomorrow God will catch hold of us as He has done today. If in the present world man suffers from such helplessness, how strange will be his fate when he has to face the consequences of his sins in the eternal life?