Reflections on the Tsunami

Wa’l `Asr Innal Insana lafi Khusr…1By the testimony of time, surely humankind is in a state of loss… The exegetes mention that the testimony of time, mentioned in this verse,refers to the testimony of each era’s extraordinary events, events that indicatethe incomparable power of God.2 In our time we have seen many suchevents. The recent tsunami, which devastated regions in and around theIndian Ocean, is only the latest. Only God could have ushered the awesomepower unleashed by the earthquake that moved the island of Sumatra 100feet, yet left it intact. Only God could have ushered the awesome power tosend a wave of water, whose depth reached from the surface of the water tothe ocean floor, hundreds of miles across the sea at speeds exceeding fivehundred miles an hour. Only God could devise an “early warning system”which told myriad species of animals to flee to the safety of high ground.Only God.Yet many, even some professing faith in Islam, having seen such anawesome display of God’s power, question His wisdom. Why must ourfaith be constantly tested? Why did so many unsuspecting people have toperish? Why were children swept from their mothers’ arms? Why suchwidespread and apparently wanton destruction? Why, once again, areMuslims the majority of those suffering from such calamities? Why? ...