The Natural
and Man-made Disasters and Our Response: The Message
of Eidul Fitr 1426
By Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Eid Mubarak to you all. May Allah
bless you and your families and may He give you
many happy and blessed Eids in your life. We thank
Allah for His many blessings. We thank Him for His
special gift of Ramadan. He gave us Ramadan to purify
us, to give us spiritual strength and moral discipline,
to make us generous, caring and kind people and
to unite our hearts in love, peace and harmony.
I hope we have received all these benefits from
this month and I hope and pray that we have made
ourselves worthy of His blessings and favors. The
spiritual energy that we have received in Ramadan,
Inshallah, will remain with us for a long time.
The spirit of Ramadan, we hope, shall continue to
guide us and keep us on the right path.
I congratulate you on behalf of the Islamic Society
of Orange County and I thank you for your support.
Alhamdulillah, through Allah’s blessings and
through your help, we were able to have a very large
number of people everyday for Tarawih and Iftar
as well as for the Qiyam al-layl program. Mashallah,
the attendance has been very good and encouraging.
Our youth played a very important role throughout
the month. May Allah bless all of you and your families.
We are very pleased to see you all in such a large
number here today. Let us keep united and let us
work together for the sake of Allah for the good
of our people and for the good of all human beings.
May Allah give us many opportunities in our life
to have these occasions in good health and strong
faith. Ameen.
A Difficult Year:
This has been a difficult year for the whole world.
It has been full of natural disasters and made-made
problems.
Natural Disasters:
• There was the Asian Tsunami that affected
millions of people. Almost 400,000 people died and
about 1 million became homeless. More than 200 million
dollars of Muslim aid went to the relief of the
victims.
• There was Hurricane Katrina here in the
Gulf coast of the United States. Almost 1000 people
died and 20,000 became homeless. Over 1 billion
dollars of aid came from the Muslim world alone.
• At the beginning of Ramadan we had the Asian
Earthquake that affected Pakistan, Azad Kashmir
and parts of India. It caused the death of about
40,000 people and 3 million homeless. About 200+
million Muslim aid went to the relief of the victims.
Man-made Disasters:
Beside these natural disasters we have on-going
man-made disasters.
• Afghanistan – 10,000 dead and 29 million
under occupation
• Iraq – more than 2000 US soldiers
dead and about 100,000 Iraqis dead. Thousands of
US soldiers and Iraqis wounded and more than 26
million under occupation.
• Palestine – tens of thousands dead
and millions in exile and under continued occupation.
• Horrible crimes of violence and terrorism
all over the world with thousands dead and millions
living in difficulties. Billions are being spent
on security instead of other constructive programs
and needs
Test for all of us:
Allah says in the Qur’an:
Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test
you by evil and by good by way of trial. To Us must
ye return. (Al-Anbiya’ 21:35)
Our test is:
• How much we care and are willing to do for
the survivors of natural and man-made catastrophes.
• How much we are willing to stand up for
justice for those who are suffering because of the
man-made disasters.
• How much we are willing to work for peace
and justice for all people and for the moral order
of this global village.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
So lose not heart, nor fall into despair. You shall
be above others if you remain true in Faith. (Al
‘Imran 3:139)
Our response towards trials must be to remain patient
and steadfast. Allah says:
Do people think that they will be left alone on
saying, “We believe,” and that they
will not be tested? (Al-‘Ankabut 29:2)
These trails are:
• test of our faith
• test of our desire to share
• test of our commitment to struggle for justice
and peace
• test of our willingness to change things
around for the good of all people
We should pray to Allah for safety and security,
but we should also remain steadfast during tests
and trials. It is reported that the Prophet –
peace be upon him - used to pray,
Ibn ‘Umar said, “The Prophet –
peace be upon him - would not leave these invocations
every morning and evening: ‘O Allah, I ask
you safety in this world and in the Hereafter. O
Allah, I ask you forgiveness and protection in my
religion, in my worldly affairs, my family and my
possessions. O Allah, hide my weakness and relieve
my worries. O Allah, protect me from the front side
of me and from the backside of me, from the right
side of me and from the left side of me, from above
me and I seek protection in the name of Your Greatness
that I may receive any harm from beneath me. (Abu
Da’ud 4412)
I pray to Allah to bless us all and to keep us on
the right path. I pray to Allah to bless this land
and all lands with His mercy and guidance. I pray
to Allah to remove the difficulties of all people
in every part of the world. Ameen.
(Khutbah of ISOC Prayer at Anaheim Convention Center
on November 3, 2005)
-DrSiddiqi@aol.com
