Question 6: Is it appropriate in terms of mercy for the innocent people to die in earth quakes?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Many people are harmed in earthquakes. They lose their wealth and lives. Is it not oppression?

- No. Allah does not oppress His slaves in any way. The slave deserves it himself. Misfortunes, i.e. disasters come due to some evils, disobedience and denials. As a matter of fact, it happened like that related to the tribes in the past.

However, there are innocent people and children who obey Allah’s orders among those who are harmed.

A misfortune does not affect those who are guilty only. It affects all of them. However, those who are innocent will receive the thawab of martyrdom if they are believers. Their wealth will be regarded as charity. Children will go directly to Paradise since they have not reached the age of responsibility yet.

-Why do misfortunes affect everybody? Is it not possible for them to affect criminals only?

-As the world is the world of testing, it does not force the mind and will of man as a requirement of the test. If such misfortunes affected only those who were guilty and did not affect, for example, those who performed prayers and worshipped, some people would worship not for Allah, but for protection from misfortunes. However, it is not in accordance with the secret of testing.

- Let us tolerate such early deaths since humans will go to Paradise. What about the death of insects and flies every fall?

Death in the fall is mercy for them too. How much would those animals suffer in that severe cold in the winter if they were not dead?

If animals and plants did not die, new animals and plants would not be given the right to life. For example, if fruity trees always remained with their fruits and leaves, there would be no room for new ones.

- Would it not be better?

- Then, there would be monotony around us; no different life scenes and seasons would exist. For example, every seed has the ability to grow and mature. The same thing is valid for eggs. If the current plants and animals did not die, there would be no room for new ones; they would be deprived of this blessing of life, though short. For example, with the development of a watermelon seed, the production of watermelon in a season is a great pleasure for that seed.

-I understood it better now. Room is made for new ones as plants and animals die in a certain period of time. They are also enabled to enjoy this blessing of life, though briefly.

Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states that beings do not go to non-existence and that they move from the realm of power to the realm of knowledge as follows:

“Things do not go to non-existence, they rather pass from the realm of power to the realm of knowledge; they go from the Manifest World to the World of the Unseen; they turn from the world of change and transience to the worlds of light and eternity.

In reality, the beauty and perfection in things pertain to the divine names and are their impresses and manifestations. Since the names are eternal and their manifestations, perpetual, certainly their impresses will be renewed, refreshed, and made beautiful. Things do not vanish into non-existence; their relative determinations change; their realities, essences, and identities, from which spring their beauty and loveliness, effulgence and perfection, are enduring.” (24. Mektup, Üçüncü Remiz).

-Due to the pleasure that the creatures of Allah take from life, Allah also takes a holy pleasure appropriate for His divine essence. The pleasure that the creatures take from life pleases their Creator.

Nursi expresses it as follows:

“Of a certainty, there is an infinite holy eagerness arising from that sacred compassion and pure love; and from that holy eagerness arises an infinite sacred joy. And arising from that sacred joy, is, if the term is permissible, an infinite holy pleasure. It is these that necessitate a boundless activity.

And that boundless activity in turn necessitates boundless change and transformation, alteration and destruction. And the boundless change and transformation necessitate death and extinction, decline and separation” (24. Mektup, İkinci Remiz).

Thus, the emergence of the talents of the beings give them great pleasure and joy. With their joy, Allah also take pleasure appropriate for His essence.

The emergence of the potentials in the seeds and eggs that are created every year and the joy of those beings make change, differentiation and death necessary and regular. For, room is made for new ones with death.

Questions on Islam