Asia Earthquake (tsunami)

[Dan]

Bismillah


As Salam alaikum


I saw video of people clinging to a building trying to not be swept away in the torrent as the waves and debris crashed about them. A couple of people lost their grip and quickly disappeared amongst the dark water. If I do not stop and reflect upon what this disaster truly means, then I have lost. There are so many lessons and signs from Allah in all of these events. Let us all at least walk away with one lesson that will guide us through our lives. Let us not let all of these lives be lost in vain. Remember them and pray for them. More importantly, remember ourselves and pray for ourselves because we won't have the comfort of clinging to one another when we are before Allah about to be swept into the fires of Hell. Let us remember also that during those times, Allah is the only one who can help us.


As Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


as salam alykom


Exactly Dan what u r saying is what makes it look as a punishment as well, a reminder an alret from Allah. The Ayha of Quran is very clear Dan very. Usually natural disasters are signs from Allah and an alret just revise Surat Hud with all the nations who were completely exterminated. I do like your positive prespective though but can help not to shake and fear. May Allah protect us all.

[Anyabwile]

I am of a similar view to dan but closer in opinion to Muslimah. To me it was a punishment from Allah. Obviously i wouldnt go around saying this to the families as this is not the way of Islam, we still donate still help but to me it was a punishment. As has been mentoned the people walking nakes on beaches, sex locations, prostitution, Muslims officially told they don't have to pray the five times no more in the area. The list of things that point to a punishment are immense in my eyes.


In my opinion you have to look at it like this, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) controls everything. We as Muslims know this, so he directly knew what was going to happen, knew how many would die, how the world would respond, even the date one day after CHRISTmas...it just all adds together. Obviously because it's impossible not to look at it from a world perspective it seems unthinkable a God could allow this to happen. But this world is not the real one, it's the transitory period, the testing zone, these are all tests. Maybe our lesson from this is to show how important it is to give Charity, those survivors who were affecteds lesson is how much did they worship Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) allow things to happen in their vicinity etc. And most importantly, <b>how much will they worship him now and learn from this. </b>The non belivers lesson is to look and see the signs of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) so you have no excuses when you are asked on the Last Day and so on, everyone can get a lesson from this, this could also be the wisdom behind it


I mean as i said in another post on this of course no one knows, each individual has their own veiw but the only one who knows for sure, is The Most High. But Qur'an verses and Hadith in my eyes point to the views i gave above. Not nice at all of course, but we only think this when we forget that this world is a very very short testing period for man. The "real" world, those who died will be in now as far as they know, which is the hereafter. Insha Allah.

[Deen]

...What could be of more destruction than such earthquakes, floods, storms, wars, diseases that inflict either mankind or even plants. In addition to the many other forms of punishments inflicted upon mankind from Allah to alert them to return back to the correct path. I invoke upon Allah to Improve Islam and protect us against all kinds of evil.

<b>...I invoke upon Allah to Improve Islam and protect us against all kinds of evil.</b>


Assalaam Alaikum,


I am sure this is a poor translation of the "fatwa" as Islam does not need improving at all!!


[الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الأِسْلاَمَ دِيناً]


(This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.)

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


as salam alykom


jazakum Allah khairan katheeran brother for drawing my attention to this error. Truly Muslims are mirror to each other.


Astaghferullah, that was that last part of the fatwa and the Sheikh I think meant to improve the conditions and status of Muslims. Although he literally said conditions of Islam. Deen if u r an arabic native u may check the link and tell me your opinion. Again Jazakum Allah khairan.


May Allah forgive me

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


as salam alykom


http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...sa_muslims_dc_3


U.S. National - Reuters


Evangelist's Tsunami Efforts Stir U.S. Muslim Group


Fri Jan 21, 8:15 AM ET U.S. National - Reuters


By Manuela Badawy


NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. Muslim group on Thursday accused evangelist Jerry Falwell of using money donated for tsunami relief to convert people in South Asia to Christianity and called on the Bush administration to denounce his actions.


In an e-mailed weekly newsletter called "Falwell Confidential," which was obtained by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the evangelist said: "Hundreds of thousands are in dire need of medical attention and personal counseling. And in this heavily Muslim part of the world, millions have never even heard of Jesus Christ."


The newsletter, which is distributed by Jerry Falwell Ministries, said donations would be used to distribute food and Gospel tracts in the region.


A Muslim who received the e-mail passed it on to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.


According to a statement on www.falwell.com and Liberty University's Web site, the school is preparing a team to travel to India, Sri Lanka and other countries in South Asia. Falwell founded Liberty University.


"Distribution of food and medical supplies, along with the dissemination of thousands of Gospel tracts in the language of the people will be the primary tasks of the team," the Web sites said. "Mission trips to the Asian region by many (Liberty University) students will follow in the months, and perhaps years, to come."


But Dr. Eddie Pate, professor and leader of Liberty's tsunami aid effort, said he did not plan to take "any materials or pass anything out." He said the team is going to South Asia to work with local Christian groups that are distributing food and medicine, and helping small businesses restart.


Falwell's office declined comment. The evangelist sparked controversy in 2002 when he called Muslims' prophet Muhammad a "terrorist" during a television interview.


"This is not the first time we hear about this kind of proselytism," Hooper said. "This has a negative impact, first, on interfaith relations, and second, on the trust and work of legitimate institutions working there."


Hooper said missionaries acting as relief groups could hurt rather than help these vulnerable societies.


"It would make work for legitimate institutions more difficult. It also harms America's image, which is already pretty tarnished in the rest of the world."


The White House had no immediate comment.


Earlier this week, reports that the missionary group WorldHelp planned to airlift 300 tsunami orphans from the Muslim province of Banda Aceh to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, to raise them in a Christian children's home, caused a stir among Muslims. The group has dropped its plans, according to media reports.


WorldHelp officials were not immediately available for comment.


The tsunami has killed about 226,000 across Asia.