Scientific topics from sermons- lesson (382)- The Phenomenon of Earthquakes
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In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Conformity of the Prophet’s Hadith with the reality of earthquakes:
In his book of Prophetic Hadith, Al-Bukhari narrated on authority of Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, said:
(( The Hour (the Last Day) shall not come until knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Islamic scholars),, earthquakes will be very frequent, time will pass quickly, troubles will appear, turmoil, which is murder, will increased, and until wealth amongst you will increase and will become abundant. ))
Every now and then, we hear that an earthquake has taken place in a certain country or part of the world. Sometimes earthquakes are powerful enough to claim the lives of a great many people. The number and strength of such earthquakes verify the above Prophetic Hadith, which is not out of Prophet Muhammad’s invention but rather true Divine Revelation from his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty. In other words, such earthquakes are but exemplars of the Great Quake of the Day of Judgment, which Allah, All-Mighty, promises in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, in which Allah, All-Mighty, says,
﴾ O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (the Day of Judgement) is indeed a terrible thing! ﴿
Scientific interpretation of the word “Quake”:
The Earth has the highest density of any planet in the Solar System, for its density is five times greater than that of water. Scientists explain earthquakes as movements inside the Earth’s interior, which produce an immense pressure that causes the Earth’s crust to crack. Earthquakes about which we hear all over the world every now and then manifest such cracking in the Earth’s crust. The crust thickness is more than 90 km and is composed of basaltic rocks, which are the hardest of all kinds of rocks. Nevertheless, it cracks due to the enormous pressure that comes from the Earth’s interior. This reminds us of Allah’s Infinite Divine Power. He, All-Mighty, says,
﴾ Verily, Allah is the All-Provider the Owner of Power, the Most Strong. ﴿
The strongest earthquakes in recorded history:
Scientists of geology reported that an earthquake took place in China in 1556 claiming the lives of more than 830,000 people in just a few seconds. Another earthquake took place in India in 1737, killing at least 180,000 people. In 1923, an earthquake took place in Japan, killing 100,000 people. In 1976, an earthquake happened in China, claiming the lives of 100,000 people. And another earthquake took place in Italy, killing 35,000 people in just a few seconds. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
﴾ O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the Earthquake of the Hour (the Day of Judgement) is a terrible thing! ﴿
A distinguished seismologist confirmed that despite the great advance in science and technology, it is not possible for mankind to predict an earthquake, even 15 minutes before its occurrence. Nevertheless, animals can sense an earthquake 15 minutes before its occurrence. This is because animals are not religiously obliged like human beings and, therefore, earthquakes do not mean them.
Interpretation of Surat Az-Zalzalah:
Allah, All-Mighty, says,
﴾ When the Earth is shaken its (final) earthquake, ﴿
The word “is shaken” here means that it is made to shake so violently and strongly, that it is made to lose its balance and is made to quake its final, greatest and most horrible earthquake, after which there will be no more earthquakes because the Hour is come. The earthquakes that we witness in this present world are but exemplars of that Final Quake which will happen when the Hour is come.
﴾ …And when the Earth throws out its (heavy) burdens, ﴿
The word “burden” here means mankind, who are obliged to observe the precepts of religion and who have been created for Paradise, whose width is as great as the heavens and the earth, simply because they have accepted to shoulder the burden of Divine Trust and, therefore, Allah, All-Mighty, has subjected for them all that is in the heavens and the earth and made them His Vicegerents on the Earth. If their minds overcome their desires and caprices, they prosper and excel angels in holiness and purity, but if their desires and caprices dominate over their minds, they become lower than brute animals.
﴾ …And man will say: ‘What’s the matter with it?’,
[Az-Zalzalah; 3] ﴿
This is because man will be greatly bewildered and frightened.
﴾ On that Day, it (the Earth) will declare its information (about all that happened on it of good or evil deeds). ﴿
The Earth will speak, in one way or another, about all that mankind did on it of good or evil deeds.
﴾ (This is) because your Lord will have inspired it (to do so). ﴿
Allah, All-Mighty, will command the Earth and enable it to speak in one way or another.
﴾ That Day, mankind will proceed in scattered groups, ﴿
They will proceed individually and one by one. There will be no congregations, no groupings, no alliances, no coalitions, no hegemony, no arrogance, and no support for falsehood. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
﴾ …That they may be shown their deeds. ﴿
i.e. whatever such deeds might be.
﴾ So, whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (the smallest thing) shall see it; ﴿
﴾ …and whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it. ﴿
[Az-Zalzalah; 8]
They will be most accurately and justly recompensed for their deeds: good for good and evil for evil.
Abdullah Ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that a man came to the Prophet, may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, to learn something of the Quran, so when he heard the following Ayaat: " So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it.* And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it." He said: This is enough for me and he left, so the Prophet, may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, said: " That man has an in-depth understanding"
In another narration, that man said: I swear by Him who has sent you with the truth that I shall never recite more than that.” So the Prophet, may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, said: " That man has reached true success"
What are the things we waste?
Actually, there are 10 things we waste: our knowledge that we do not apply in our life, our actions that we commit without sincerity or without following the footsteps of our Prophet, may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him, our wealth that we do not spend on things that bring us benefit; that have no benefit in this life or in the Hereafter, our hearts which are empty from the love of Allah, and the feeling of longing to go to Him, and a feeling of peace and contentment by getting closer to Him, our bodies that we do not use in performing acts of worship, our love for Allah that is not proved by obeying Him and abiding by His Orders, out time that is not used properly, to compensate for that which has passed, by doing what is righteous to make up for past deeds, our intellect that is wasted on things that are not beneficial, our service that is wasted in service of someone who will not bring us closer to Allah, and our hope and fear of the one whose forehead is in Allah's Hand and who possess neither hurt nor benefit for themselves, and possess no power of causing death, nor of giving life, nor of raising the dead.
However, the greatest of these matters is the wasting of the heart, and the wasting of time. In other words, wasting the heart is done when it is filled with the love of the worldly life, by preferring this worldly life over the Hereafter, whereas wasting time is done by having incessant hope. So, all evil is in following one's illicit desires and having incessant hopes, while all goodness is found in following the right path and preparing oneself to meet Allah, and Allah is the One Who we seek for help.
It is really strange that some people only ask Allah the Almighty for worldly things and do not ask Him for curing their hearts from ignorance, heedlessness, illicit desires and suspicions, because when one's heart is spiritually dead, he does not feel bad about his acts of disobedience to Allah the Almighty.
