Messiah of this age, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani had a revelation:
“A Warner came into the world and the world did not accept him; but God will accept him and will establish his truth through powerful assaults.” [Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, vol. 3, p. 518]
According to the Muslim understanding, all the prophets before the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had only local mission, in keeping with the facility of communications in those times. The message of Prophet Muhammad had global significance and his message was to be fully demonstrated according to the traditions in latter days at the time of second coming of Messiah. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the Messiah of the latter days promised by the Prophet Muhammad. The mission of Promised Messiah, may peace be on him, is to demonstrate the elegance and beauty of Islam to the whole world. He has come with a universal message to establish the Universal Brotherhood of mankind in all the continents of the planet earth.
Ahmad’s mission is universal and God’s help and succor and plan to demonstrate Islam’s elegance in the latter days has a global scope. Allah has said in the Holy Quran:
“He (Allah) it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religions, even if those who associate partners with God hate it.” (Al Quran 61:10 & 9:33)
God’s plan is not punishment for punishment’s sake but to lead mankind to greater truth as is apparent from numerous verses quoted in the knol from the holy scripture.
In order to distinguish between ‘natural disaster’ or ‘Divine punishment’ read a comment below with the title ‘Natural Disasters or Divine Punishment?’
To set the stage for further discussion, let us review a short verse from the Holy Quran:
Never did We send a Prophet to any town but We seized the people thereof with adversity and suffering, that they might become humble. (Al Quran 7:95)
In the first four months of 2010 alone the world has seen four major earthquakes. As I review this in 2011 the first four months this year are not any different, with calamities in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and Japan. Allah intends reformation and wants to make mankind receptive to His message, which in the final analysis will offer them greater prosperity. This Knol aims at giving a global and a long term perspective to the human condition rather than the myopic view created by 5-7 day news cycle in the Western news media.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has a nuance position about these calamities. We are always at the forefront of showing compassion to the victims and providing humanitarian aid to them. ‘The scope of this knol is not fear – gloom and doom – but hope and God’s mercy, how He guides mankind to the truth through these powerful signs.
Never did We (Allah) send a Prophet to any town but We seized the people thereof with adversity and suffering, that they might become humble. (Al Quran 7:95)
Then mankind shall be sorely distressed and wonder what is going to happen. Many shall escape and many shall perish. The days are near, in fact. I can see them close at hand, when the world shall witness a terrible sight: not only earthquakes but also many fearsome calamities shall overtake man, some from the skies and some from the earth. This will happen because mankind have stopped worshipping their true God and have become lost in the affairs of the world with all their heart and their effort and intent. If I had not come, these afflictions would perhaps have been delayed a little. But with my coming the secret purposes of an affronted God which were hidden so far, became manifest. Says God: ‘We never punish unless We send a Messenger.’ Those who repent shall find security and those who fear before calamity overtakes them shall be shown mercy. Do you think you will be immune from these calamities? Or can you save yourselves through artifice or design? Indeed not. That day all human schemes shall fail. Think not that earthquakes visited America and other continents but that your own country shall remain secure. Indeed, you may experience a greater hardship. O Europe, you are not safe and O Asia, you too, are not immune. And O dwellers of Islands, no false gods shall come to your rescue. I see cities fall and settlements laid waste. The One and the Only God kept silent for long. Heinous deeds were done before His eyes and He said nothing. But now He shall reveal His face in majesty and awe. Let him who has ears hear that the time is not far. I have done my best to bring all under the protection of God, but it was destined that what was written should come to pass. Truly do I say that the turn of this land, too is approaching fast. The times of Noah shall reappear before your eyes, and your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook the cities of Lot. But God is slow in His wrath. Repent that you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead, not alive.” [1][2]
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has a nuance position about these calamities. We are always at the forefront of showing compassion to the victims and providing humanitarian aid to them. ‘The scope of this knol is not fear – gloom and doom – but hope and God’s mercy, how He guides mankind to the truth through these powerful signs.
The town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, March 12, 2011, a day after it was flattened by massive tsunami following Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9
If Allah had imposed upon people the evil consequences of their conduct as quickly as they desire the acquisition of worldly goods, the end of their term of life would already have been reached. But We leave those who believe not in meeting Us to wander distractedly their transgression. When trouble befalls a person he calls on Us all the time, lying on his side, sitting and standing; but when We relieve him or remove his trouble, he goes his way unconcernedly as if he had never called on Us for the removal of his trouble. Thus it is that the doings of the transgressors are made to look fair to them. We destroyed generation after generation before you when they did wrong. Their Messengers came to them with clear Signs, but they would not believe. Thus do We requite the guilty people. Then, after them We made you their successors in the earth, that We might see how you would behave.” (Al Quran 10:12-15)
Why was there no other people, save the people of Jonah or Yunus, which believed, so that their belief should have profited them? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the present life, and We gave them provision for a while. (Al Quran 10:99)
Allah has decreed: ‘Most surely I will prevail, I and My Messengers.’ Indeed, Allah is Powerful, Mighty. (Al Quran 58:22)
HADHRAT MIRZA MASROOR AHMAD
Explaining this, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that it is the way of God that when all limits are exceeded in accusing truthful people of God of falsehood and they are persecuted, all kinds of calamities occur in the world. All Books of God state this as does the Holy Qur’an. Just as at the time when Moses (on whom be peace) was accused of falsehood all kinds of calamities befell Egypt. Although the far-afield people of Egypt had not even heard of Moses (on whom be peace) and therefore had not sinned. While the Pharaoh was saved, the unaware were killed. Again, in the time of Jesus (on whom be peace) those who wanted to kill him through crucifixion remained unharmed. However, forty years later thousand of Jews were killed and there was an outbreak of plague. The Qur’an proves that this was due to Jesus (on whom be peace). Similarly in the times of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) a seven year famine took place and most of the poor died whereas the great big evil-doers were saved for a long period. In short it is the way of God that when someone comes from Him and is accused of falsehood, all kinds of calamities come to pass. However, people who have nothing to do with the accusation of falsehood are caught up in the calamities. Gradually the false Imams are seized and the time of the wickedest comes in the end. The natural calamities that follow accusation of falsehood on God’s appointed people are general and not specific.
Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said a few days ago a huge earthquake struck Chile. Two months ago an earthquake had struck Haiti. The Chilean earthquake was 64–times stronger than the Haitian quake. Hudhur said these are signs in support of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Hundreds of thousands of homes have been damaged. It is being said that the Chilean earthquake is the seventh most dreadful earthquake since records began. The earthquake has taken off 1.26 milliseconds from Earth day, which is now this much shorter. Scientists have also recorded that the powerful quake shifted the Earth’s figure axis by three inches. Hudhur explained this is the axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced. Thus a situation is arisen to ‘reduce earth on its outlying borders’.
The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) indeed foretold earthquakes as one of his signs. A quake struck Chile in 1906 which the Promised Messiah had called as a sign in his support. From 1570 to 1835 five earthquakes struck Chile. The next one struck in 1868 and then the 1906 one. Since then Chile has been struck with eighteen powerful earthquakes. The Promised Messiah wrote at the time of the Chilean earthquake of 1906 that he had had his prophecies about strong earthquakes striking the world published many times so much so that the earth would disintegrate. He wrote that the earthquakes of San Francisco and Formosa that came in accordance to his prophecy were known to all, but recently, on 16 August 1906 an earthquake had struck Chile which was no less powerful. It destroyed fifteen towns, thousands lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were made homeless. Some could ask how could this be a sign, as these earthquakes did not strike Punjab. They did not realise that God is the God of the entire world not just of the Punjab and He had informed the Promised Messiah about the whole world. It was unfortunate that accusations of falsehood were levied in the Punjab. The Promised Messiah warned that just as earthquakes had struck according to prophecies in America and Europe, they would strike in Asia, some of which would be a picture of Day of Judgement, obliterating life en masse. So much so that those with wisdom will find this extraordinary and no worldly knowledge will be able to explain the phenomenon. This is when mankind will get anxious and many will be given salvation while many will be destroyed. This will come to pass in the not too distant future and many other dreadful calamities will take place. Some occurring from the skies, others on the earth. This will be because mankind has stopped worshipping God and all attention is focussed on the world. The Promised Messiah said had he not come, these calamities may have been slightly delayed, but with his coming the hidden will of God had been made evident, just as God has declared: ‘…We never punish until We have sent a Messenger.’ (Al Quran 17:16). Those who repent will be granted refuge.
President Hu Jintao declared a national state of emergency 90 minutes after the quake. All highways into Wenchuan were damaged by the quake, delaying the arrival of relief troops. Half of the wireless communications were lost in the entire Sichuan Province. The earthquake occurred three months prior to the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics hosted in China for the first time. None of the Olympic venues were damaged and as a result, the torch relay route was changed and a minute’s silence was observed. The Chinese government announced RMB 1 trillion ($146.5 billion USD) to be spent on rebuilding the area over a period of three years.
Thereupon he said, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord shall come to pass, He will break it into pieces. And the promise of my Lord is certainly true.’ And on that day We shall leave some of them to surge against others, and the trumpet will be blown. Then shall We gather them all together. And on that day We shall present Hell, face to face, to the disbelievers — Whose eyes were under a veil so as not to heed My warning, and they could not even hear. Do the disbelievers think that they can take My servants as protectors instead of Me? Surely, We have prepared Hell as an entertainment for the disbelievers. (Al Quran 18:93-103)
time, which can be described as between two barriers or mountains. This means that he will find a time when
people on either side will be in fear, and the powers of darkness, in collaboration with the powers of state, will
present an awe-striking spectacle. Under both these powers he will find a people who will find it difficult to
understand him, i.e., they will be the victims of false beliefs on account of which they will find it difficult to
understand the guidance which he will present to them. But in the end they will understand him. These are the
third kind of people who will benefit from the guidance of the Promised Messiah. They will say to him:
‘Dhulqarnain, Gog and Magog have filled the land with disorder. If you so please, let us collect a fund for you so that you may erect a barrier between them and us.’ He will say in reply: ‘The power God has given me is better than your funds, but if you be so inclined, you can help me according to your means so that I may erect a wall between you and your opponents (i.e., he would put forth such conclusive proofs and arguments that their enemies will not be left with any ground for criticism or objection against their religion.) He will say to them: ‘Bring me slabs of iron so that their movement can be stopped, (i.e., hold fast to my teachings and my arguments, be steadfast, and block the enemy’s onslaught like a wall of iron.) Then blow fire into the iron until it appears to be fire itself (i.e., feed the flames of love for God until you yourselves assume the Divine complexion) …
melt easily. Copper, on the other hand, melts very quickly; and it is necessary for a seeker to melt in the
path of God. This means that the Promised Messiah will need such eager hearts and mild dispositions as would melt under the influence of Divine signs. These signs have no effect on the hard-hearted. A person can only become immune to Satanic attacks when he becomes steadfast like iron and that iron becomes like fire when touched by the fire of Divine love, and then the melted heart should melt and cover the iron to secure it against disintegration and decay. These are the three conditions which, when combined, form a wall which cannot be scaled or bored through by the spirit of Satan. Then God says that all this will come about by His grace. It is His hands which will accomplish everything and human design will have no part in it. When the Day of Judgement approaches, mischief will reign supreme once again. This is the promise of God.
religion and will attack each other like the waves of the sea. Then the trumpet will be blown in heaven, i.e., God will raise the Promised Messiah and create a third people for whom He will show great signs until all good people gather under the banner of Islam. They will respond to the call of the Promised Messiah and will run towards him; then there will be only one shepherd and one flock. Those days will be hard and God will reveal His countenance with awe-striking signs. Those who persist in disbelief will experience hell in this very world in the shape of calamities. God says: These are the people whose eyes were veiled against My Words, and their ears heeded not My commandments. Did the disbelievers imagine that they could take humble men to be God and that I should stand dismissed? We shall reveal hell in this very world as entertainment for the disbelievers, i.e., great and terrible signs will appear.
bestowed all these favours on this humble one, who is labelled a disbeliever and Dajjal by his opponents![14]
The location of the quake is relatively remote, meaning that although the death toll is high, it could have been much higher had the quake been in a more populated region.
The exact location is the county of Yushu, which is located in the Qinghai province on the Tibetan plateau.
The Chinese earthquake is only the latests of the natural disasters. Starting with Haiti and going to Chile, Mexico, Japan, United Statees, Solomon Islands, Turkey, and other countries earthquakes have been everywhere.
Scientists don’t seem too concerned, although the Chilean quake was strong enough to move the earth off its axis.[15]
Chinese President Hu Jintao has visited survivors of last week’s earthquake on a remote Tibetan plateau, as the death toll rose to more than 1,700 people.
A few people are being found alive four days after the quake, including a 68-year-man trapped beneath the rubble.
The Dalai Lama has appealed to China to allow him to make a similar visit.
Officials say people now have basic shelter, food and water, but it is not easy to get supplies to the quake-zone 4,000m (13,000ft) above sea-level.
Also on Sunday, the death toll from Wednesday’s 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Qinghai province was raised to 1,706 and 256 missing, the official Xinhua news agency said.[16]
VOLCANIC ERRUPTION IN ICELAND IN APRIL 2010
The eruption of a volcano beneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull has resulted in dangerous amounts of volcanic ash in the sky, huge headaches for travelers.
The eruption caused a 3.7 mile high plume of ash, which has wrecked havoc on flights across the Europe and around the world. The ash has the ability to knock out jet engines, an inconvenient fact that has grounded tens of thousands of passengers. Additionally, there is no telling when the ash will disperse. It could take days before the sky clears up. Much of the airspace across northern and western Europe has been closed and air control officials said some 17,000 flights would be cancelled on Friday, April 16, 2010.
(CNN) — One person — believed to be a 10-year-old boy — survived a passenger plane crash in Libya that was feared to have killed more than 100 people, an official said Wednesday.
The boy was undergoing surgery at a hospital in the Libyan capital of Tripoli after the Afriqiyah Airways plane that left Johannesburg crashed as it neared the end of its flight.
The Dutch Foreign ministry said it had a representative at the hospital waiting to identify the boy, believed to be a Dutch national. He apparently suffered bone injuries.
The plane was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew members when it crashed while trying to land at the Tripoli International Airport.
DRAGUIGNAN, France (AFP) – Rescuers airlifted survivors and searched for missing people in southern France Wednesday after heavy storms triggered flash floods that killed at least 19 people, officials said.
Nearly 2,000 rescue workers rushed in to help hundreds trapped in their vehicles, houses or on rooftops in the Draguignan area near the Mediterranean coast, while helicopters were sent in to airlift residents to safety.
Emergency teams also moved 436 inmates from a flooded prison in Draguignan where the water covered the first two floors and they were taken to nearby jails.
The death toll has climbed since early morning as rescuers found the bodies of more victims. State authorities in the Var department said earlier that 15 people had died and 12 were missing.
“I fear the (death) toll will go higher,” said Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, who visited the area to see for himself the extent of the damage by the floods that meteorologists said were the worst there since 1827.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100616/ts_afp/franceflood
FLOODS IN CHINA IN JUNE, 2010
BEIJING – China’s disaster relief departments raised the emergency response to level-three from level-four Saturday morning for the floods that have hit southern China, as authorities forecast more rain to fall over coming days.
The Civil Affairs Ministry and the State Disaster Relief Commission made the decision.
As of 10:00 am Saturday, downpours that began pounding southern China Sunday had left 88 people dead, 48 missing, and forced the evacuation of 757,000 residents from their homes, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement.
About 9.27 million people in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan were affected by the heavy rains, the ministry said.[17]
Floods in southern China caused by torrential rain have killed 46 people since Sunday, officials say.
Fifty people are missing, and about 238,000 people have been evacuated from their homes because of heavy rains that have pounded six provinces.
Hundreds of flights in and out of Beijing have been cancelled or delayed because of severe thunderstorms.
More than 33,000 homes have collapsed or been damaged. And forecasters say more rain is on the way.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10340024.stm
FLOOD IN BRAZIL IN JUNE OF 2010
Floods have engulfed two states in north-east Brazil, leaving about 1,000 people missing and forcing at least 100,000 to flee their homes.
At least 38 people are known to have died so far in Alagoas and Pernambuco.
Correspondents say the floods, brought on by nearly a week of rain, have washed away entire villages.
The governor of Alagoas, Teotonio Vilela Filho, said bodies were being washed up on beaches and riverbanks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10372362.stm
FLOODS IN PAKISTAN AUGUST 2010
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country’s history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said.
The disaster has forced around 2 million to flee their homes. Residents have railed against the government for failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province.
Floodwaters ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan’s main province of Punjab Wednesday, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would soon surge into the country’s south, prompting more evacuations.
…
This year’s monsoon season has prompted the worst flooding in Pakistan in living memory and already killed more than 1,500 people. The U.N. scrambled to provide food and other assistance to some 3.2 million affected people in a nation already struggling with an Islamist militancy and a poor economy.
…
The rains are falling about 25 to 30 percent above normal rates, Hanif said. The northwest, which has been hit the hardest, experienced “once-in-a-century” rains, and can expect more wet weather in coming days, though at normal levels that should allow some recovery. The vast majority of deaths have been reported in that region.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_pakistan_floods
FLASH FLOODS IN CHINA IN AUGUST 2010
ZHOUQU, China – Rescuers dug through mud and wreckage Monday searching for 1,300 people missing after flash floods and landslides struck northwestern China, just one of a series of floods across Asia that have killed hundreds and spread misery to millions more.
In Pakistan, frustrated victims railed against the government’s anemic relief effort for the estimated 15 million displaced by the country’s worst-ever floods, while rescuers in mountainous Indian-controlled Kashmir raced to rescue dozens of stranded foreign trekkers and find 500 people still missing in flash floods that have killed 140.
Sunday’s disaster in China’s Gansu province killed at least 127 people and covered entire villages in water, mud, and rocks.
FLOODING IN NORTHERN CHINA IN AUGUST 2010
BEIJING – Flooding has forced the evacuation of more than a quarter-million people in northern China along its border with North Korea, state media said Monday.
Heavy rains over the last several days caused the Yalu river, which marks the border, to breach its banks, although the water level had started to fall late Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency state media said Monday.
It said four people died, including a couple in their 70s and a mother and son, after their homes in Dandong were swept away by flash floods. Xinhua said 253,500 residents have been evacuated after the Yalu rose to its highest level in a decade.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) – New Zealand prepared for further destruction on Sunday as aftershocks and an approaching storm threatened an area hit by the most devastating earthquake in decades.
Prime Minister John Key said it was “a miracle” no one had died when the major 7.0 magnitude quake wreaked more than a billion dollars of damage on the nation’s second-biggest city of Christchurch.
Civil defence officials warned that ongoing aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 5.4, coupled with a ferocious storm blowing in, could threaten already-weakened buildings.
Despite widespread damage, none of the city’s 340,000-strong population died when the quake struck before dawn Saturday.
“The only conclusion you can draw is that it’s a miracle nobody was killed,” Key said as he surveyed the devastation.
“Parts of the city look like they’ve been put in the tumble dryer and been given a darn good shake.”
Engineers praised New Zealand’s stringent building standards in the earthquake prone country for the limited damage.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealandquake
Almost two-thirds of the 160,000 homes in and around Christchurch have been damaged by Saturday’s earthquake, New Zealand’s prime minister has said.
John Key said many had been damaged beyond repair, and that it might take some time to discover the damage to the region’s underground infrastructure.
I was awe-struck by the power of the earthquake and the damage it has caused in the city”
John Key New Zealand Prime Minister
A state of emergency in Christchurch has been extended until Wednesday, and the city centre remains cordoned off.
Experts have warned a major aftershock could rock the area in the near future.
More than 80 aftershocks have been recorded since Saturday’s 7.0-magnitude tremor, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 5.1.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11191105
Indonesia tsunami deaths increase after Sumatra quake, October 2010
Rescue workers are preparing to evacuate victims from quake-hit areas More than 100 people have been killed and many are missing after a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Scores of houses were destroyed by waves after the 7.7 magnitude quake, which struck 20km (13 miles) under the ocean floor near the Mentawai islands.
Ten villages on the islands were swept away by the tsunami, a disaster official told the AFP news agency.
Damage and rough weather are delaying efforts to reach the affected area.
Hendri Dori Satoko, a lawmaker in the Mentawai islands, told Metro TV: “Our latest data from crisis centre showed that 108 people have been killed and 502 are still missing.”
…
More than 1,000 people were killed by an earthquake off Sumatra in September 2009.
In December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude quake off the coast of Aceh triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed a quarter of a million people in 13 countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11626242
BANGKOK (AFP) – Severe flooding in Thailand has left 181 people dead over the past month, the authorities said Tuesday.
The government estimates that 7.8 million people have been affected, mainly in the northeast and south, with homes submerged and farmland damaged in what Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has described as “a huge natural calamity”.
Fifty-one of Thailand’s 76 provinces have been hit but the waters have now subsided in many areas, officials said.
In southern Songkhla province, where waters several metres high in places swept through the major city of Hat Yai last week,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101109/wl_asia_afp/thailandweatherfloods
State of emergency in flooded Colombia in November 2010
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has declared a state of emergency in 28 of the nation’s 32 departments because of heavy rains and flooding that have affected some 1.2 million people.
He called on the international community to help and said the capacity of the Colombian government is overwhelmed.
Flooding and mudslides have killed at least 136 people, injured 205 and left 20 missing, the nation’s Interior and Justice Ministry reported.
Emergency officials say the heavy rain has led to problems in 561 municipalities in the South American nation.
“Many have lost everything they had and the capacity of the government [to help them] has been overwhelmed. We’re trying to find ways to get more resources and that’s why we’re calling on the business sector, the public in general, and the international community to help us because, unfortunately, the situation is getting worse,” said Santos.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/19/colombia.rain.calamity/index.html?hpt=T2
Australia floods: Fears worsen for Brisbane, the third largest city of Australia
Jan 2011
Up to 20,000 homes are now at risk in Brisbane, the Queensland state premier has said, as deadly floodwater surge towards Australia’s third-largest city.
Central Brisbane is a ghost town, with electricity cut and thousands urged to either evacuate or stay at home.
West of Brisbane, the city of Ipswich is being swamped by flood waters in a situation described as “total chaos”.
The death toll from the flash floods in Queensland is 12 so far, with many others reported missing.
Australian broadcaster ABC reports that the Brisbane river is now forecast to peak at 5.2m (17ft) in the early hours of Thursday, down from a prediction of 5.5m.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12167950
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRv5RTUAP_U
Sri Lanka floods
More than 30,000 army, navy, police and air force personnel are battling to provide urgent aid to people hit by heavy flooding in Sri Lanka.
A government spokesman said more than 325,000 people had been displaced by flooding. At least 23 people have died and more than a million are affected.
The priority since the rains abated on Thursday has been to deliver emergency food and medical supplies.
In the centre and east, farmland has been flooded and rice fields destroyed.
Thousands of people who fled the flooding are now living in camps on higher ground, a spokesman from the disaster management centre told the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12179296
Brazil floods: More than 500 dead
More than 500 people are now known to have died in floods in south-eastern Brazil, the country’s worst natural disaster for several decades.
Heavy rain has led to massive mudslides hitting several towns, resulting in thousands being made homeless.
Police say the number of dead is likely to rise further.
The death toll has now surpassed the devastating 1967 mudslides in Caraguatatuba, Sao Paulo state, in which up to 430 people perished.
‘Thousands trapped’
Rescue workers will resume searching for survivors in the mountainous Serrana region, north of Rio de Janeiro, later on Friday.
Many spent Thursday scrabbling with their bare hands through debris.
On her visit to the area, President Dilma Rousseff promised a shipment of seven tonnes of medicines.
In the Campo Grande area of Teresopolis, which was earlier cut off, rescuers found people pulling bodies from the mud.
In the neighbouring town of Petropolis, local resident Nelson Toledo told the BBC that some areas “had been completely devastated” by the floods and mudslides.
He said “thousands” of people remained trapped in their homes.
A hurricane heading towards Australia: Twice the size of Katrina
The first winds began howling throughout Cairns as night fell Wednesday, with the storm expected to make landfall sometime around midnight.
Dozens of guests at a Cairns waterfront hotel took cover in the central ballroom as lights throughout the building flickered. Staff members pinned curtains shut over windows that were in danger of shattering and handed out flashlights to everyone.
Barbara Maskei, a 49-year-old tourist from Germany, lay on the ballroom floor under a sheet reading a book, as her 20-year-old daughter Annette and husband Peter dozed beside her. For her, there will be no sleep tonight. “I like to keep my eyes open,” she said as the wind roared outside.
Winds at the center of the storm were gusting up to 186 mph (300 kph), and the front was about 300 miles (500 kilometers) across. The worst of the winds were expected to last up to four hours on the coast, though blustery conditions and heavy rain could last for 24 hours.
In Innisfail, a town about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Cairns that is nearly in the direct path of the storm, Mayor Bill Shannon said he saw the roof torn off a building near the local government building where some 500 people are sheltering.
“We ‘re just hoping and praying we can all get through the night,” Shannon said.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/australia-cyclone-queensland_2011-02-02
Invariably, at the time of any disaster the masses and the leaders are all praying, but still some fundamentalist atheists like Richard Dawkins, continue to deny this powerful human need to be consoled.
WELLINGTON—New Zealand’s second-largest city, Christchurch, was rocked Tuesday by an earthquake that destroyed part of its cathedral and killed at least 65 people, with the death toll expected to climb as offices and buildings collapsed.
“We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day,” said Prime Minister John Key from Christchurch. “What was a vibrant city a few hours ago has been brought to its knees.”
Key said that the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which hit 10 kilometers south-east of the city, and its following tremors have so far claimed 65 lives and he expects this figure to climb as rescue workers begin sifting through wrecked buildings.
The first quake was followed by aftershocks, including one measured at 5.6 magnitude. Tremors from the earthquake were felt as far away as the city of Dunedin, about 320 kilometers south of Christchurch.
Sky News television footage earlier showed the collapsed spire of Christchurch Cathedral, a major landmark in the city, cracked roads and a number of badly damaged buildings. The city’s international airport was closed indefinitely following the quake, and the entire center of town is being evacuated. Police had warned of multiple fatalities in several parts of the city, including two buses crushed by falling masonry.
There was a spike in suicides and stress-related conditions after the first quake, and David Meates, the region’s health director, said Tuesday’s disaster “has certainly got most people very, very fragile, very anxious”.
“In these sorts of situations there are enormous pressures and strains on families, relationships, people’s livelihoods are now at stake,” Meates told AFP.
“Sometimes the way that it’s expressed, people are a lot (closer to) their breaking point and sometimes some of the reactions can be quite out of character. Certainly domestic violence is something that becomes more obvious.”
Already a major problem in New Zealand, with tens of thousands of incidents reported each year, one local study showed the incidence of domestic abuse could triple during natural disasters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealandquakeviolence
The strongest earthquake in 140 years hits Japan in March 2011
In 2011 alone it was first Australia, the New Zealand and Brazil and now Japen has been stuck with a massive natural disaster.
A massive earthquake has hit the north-east of Japan, triggering a tsunami that has caused extensive damage.
Japanese television showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake.
The quake has sparked fires in several areas including Tokyo. At least 32 people were killed, officials said.
It struck about 250 miles (400km) from the capital at a depth of 20 miles. There have been powerful aftershocks.
The tremor, measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, hit at 1446 local time (0546 GMT). Seismologists say it is one of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan for many years.
When the earthquake hit, buildings in Tokyo swayed. Walking was like crossing the deck of a ship at sea.
People poured down from their offices and stood in the street staring up.
A large fire seemed to have broken out in one part of the city and, in another place, injured people were being brought out of a station.
The authorities immediately issued a tsunami warning.
In Tokyo, public transport has been suspended, elevators are switched off in many buildings and thousands of people have gathered in squares and around train stations.
A tsunami warning was extended across the Pacific to New Zealand in the south and North and South America to the east.
The Red Cross in Geneva warned that the tsunami waves could be higher than some Pacific islands, Reuters news agency said.
Coastal areas in the Philippines, Hawaii and other Pacific islands were evacuated ahead of the tsunami’s expected arrival.
Strong waves hit Japan’s Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, officials said, damaging dozens of coastal communities. Kyodo news agency said a 10-metre wave (33ft) struck the port of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598
The power in a Tsunami is unbelievable, the houses have been hurled together and some of them are on fire in the picture below:
TOKYO – An explosion blew the roof off an unstable reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, Japanese media said, raising fears of a disastrous meltdown at a nuclear plant damaged in the massive earthquake that hit Japan.
The 8.9-magnitude earthquake — the strongest ever recorded in Japan — sent a 10-metre tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast. Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed.
Jiji news agency said there had been an explosion at the stricken 40-year-old Daichi 1 reactor and TV footage showed vapour rising from the plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
March 12, 2011
“An unchecked rise in temperature could cause the core to essentially turn into a molten mass that could burn through the reactor vessel,” risk information service Stratfor said in a report. “This may lead to a release of an unchecked amount of radiation into the containment building that surrounds the reactor.”
NHK television and Jiji said the outer structure of the building that houses the reactor appeared to have blown off, which could suggest the containment building had already been breached.
Earlier the operator released what it said was a tiny amount of radioactive steam to reduce the pressure and the danger was minimal because tens of thousands of people had already been evacuated from the vicinity.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the earth’s axis had shifted 25 cm as a result of the quake and the U.S. Geological Survey said the main island of Japan had actually shifted 2.4 metres.
Friday’s tremor was so huge that thousands fled their homes from coastlines around the Pacific Rim, as far away as North and South America, fearful of a tsunami.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-03/12/content_12161819.htm
More than 900 people were killed and about 700 were missing, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
In the town of Minamisanriku, 9,500 people are unaccounted for, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported, citing local officials. That figure is about half the population of the town, which is located on the Pacific, the news agency said.
More than 3,000 people had been rescued, according to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Kyodo News Agency said.
“We’d first like to focus on saving lives and secondly the comfort of the evacuees,” Kan said. “There will be many resources that will be needed for this evacuation process.”
Japan’s historic quake Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake was centered about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Sendai, a farming region already battling youth population losses to big cities, leaving aging residents struggling to keep up with the global economy.
Aftershocks continued to jolt the island nation Saturday, including two at 6.1 and 6.4 magnitude.
In the city of Shirakawa, south of Sendai, rescuers dug through rubble with shovels to try and reach 13 neighbors trapped when the earth opened up and swallowed their homes. Relatives and friends stood in the cold, quietly watching, praying and waiting. Others wept.
Amid disaster, Japan’s societal mores remain strong
Food and water are both scarce. Electricity in the tsunami zone is nearly nonexistent. Survivors have lacked information about their missing loved ones.
But unlike other disasters where the world has observed looting, rioting and public outbursts of sorrow and rage, it has seen a country quietly mourning, its people standing patiently for hours in orderly lines for a few bottles of water.
This is surprising only if you’ve never lived here or experienced how Japan’s society operates. As a resident of Japan for three years, I would have been surprised if this country’s people behaved in any other manner.
How Japanese cope with disaster Across Sendai’s tsunami zone, both in the areas devastated and in the neighboring regions, you can see that Japan’s societal mores have failed to break down, even if the tsunami destroyed the physical structure of this coastal community.
At stores across the city, long, straight lines of Japanese tsunami victims have been waiting for rations in the city. No one is directing these lines; they’re organized by the people themselves.
At the front, which takes hours to get to in some cases, shoppers are limited to 10 food or beverage items. No complaints, no cheating.
Friday Sermon of Khalifatul Masih V about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The death toll from severe storms that punished five Southern U.S. states jumped to a staggering 178 Thursday after Alabama canvassed its hard-hit counties for a new tally of lives lost.
Alabama’s state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 128 deaths, up from at least 61 earlier.
“We expect that toll, unfortunately, to rise,” Gov. Robert Bentley told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Mississippi officials reported 32 dead in that state and Tennessee raised its report to six from one. Another 11 have been killed in Georgia and one in Virginia.
The fierce storms Wednesday spawned tornadoes and winds that wiped out homes and businesses, forced a nuclear power plant to use backup generators and prompted the evacuation of a National Weather Service office.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports around the regions, including 66 in Alabama and 38 in Mississippi.
One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama. The city’s police and other emergency services were devastated, the mayor said, and at least 15 people were killed and about 100 were in a single hospital.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama (CNN) — Daylight illuminated a scene of utter devastation across many areas of the South Thursday, following storms of near-epic proportions that killed as many as 247 people in six states.
The vast majority of fatalities occurred in Alabama, where 162 people perished, said Yasamie August, Alabama Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman.
A breakdown provided by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley’s office showed that violent weather claimed lives in 16 Alabama counties. Thirty people perished in DeKalb County in northeastern Alabama; the death toll in the hard-hit city of Tuscaloosa, in west-central Alabama, was at 36 as of Thursday morning, said Mayor Walter Maddox.
“I don’t know how anyone survived,” Maddox said. “We’re used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It’s part of growing up. But when you look at the path of destruction that’s likely 5 to 7 miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide … it’s an amazing scene. There’s parts of the city I don’t recognize, and that’s someone that’s lived here his entire life.”
Torrential rain and flash flooding have caused chaos in north-eastern Colombia.
The rain has flooded towns and huge swathes of farmland. This year’s rainy season is the worst in Colombia’s history.
References
- [Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, pp. 268-269]
- http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Essence-5.pdf
- [Majmu‘ah Ishtiharat, vol. 3, p. 518]
- [A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, pp. 261-262, footnote]
- http://www.alislam.org/library/books/thewill/the_will.pdf#page=12
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami_2004
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrina_Hurricane
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquake
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Nargis
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7234842.stm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_Earthquake
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8561340.stm
- [Brahin-e-Ahmadiyyah part V, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 21, pp 119-126]
- http://cnmnewsnetwork.com/17742/china-earthquake-2010-death-toll-and-update/
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8627946.stm
- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/20/content_9993521.htm
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam
CNN belief blog about natural disasters:
God may not prevent natural disasters, but religion is always a big part of the response. We see it play out every time Mother Nature delivers a punishing blow, from March’s Japan earthquake and tsunami to the recent tornado that flattened much of Joplin, Missouri.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/08/10-things-the-belief-blog-learned-in-its-first-year/?hpt=hp_t2
Friday Sermon: Status of Prophethood of the Promised Messiah and Divine Promises of Triumph:
Sermon Delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in May 2011:
God revealed to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace): ‘Despair not of the treasures of Allah’s mercy. We have bestowed upon you abundance of every kind of good.’ [Tadhkirah p.579] Thus God assured the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) and informed him that he had been granted an abundance of good. Hudhur said there is restlessness among the mainstream Muslims but they do not see a way and are disappointed and when their restlessness increases, they opt for wrongful ways to address their problems. We need to take the message to them that God has also granted the abundance of good that He gave to His beloved, to the true and ardent devotee of His beloved, because of the devotee’s ardent love for the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and it is due to this devotion of his that he was given the status of Prophethood. If people wish to put an end to their disappointment, they should come into the fold of the Community of this ardent devotee and find peace. They should reflect and ponder that all the powers have come together to try their best to suppress and eliminate this Community; but have they succeeded? On the contrary, this voice is resounding all over the world.
The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) also gave earthquakes as a Sign of his advent. He said that these natural calamities will not stop, rather they will continue to occur, so much so that man will wake up to the fact and will wonder what is going on! God states that He will not stop until people reform their hearts. Hudhur said if the world deems the natural disasters as a mere act of nature and disregards them, then it should be remembered the these disasters are closely linked to the era of the Messiah. It is the task of the Ahmadi that he/she strengthens his/her faith, he or she should also alert the world and try to bring people close to God. It is requisite of the love that we have in our hearts that we should try to save humanity from being destroyed.
http://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/2011-05-13.html
Distinguishing between Cause & Effect and Crime & Punishment:
Here is an audio in Urdu which is lecture number 143 (Al Quran 17:14-26) in the translation series of the Holy Quran by Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the previous international spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
http://www.alislam.org/quran/tarjumatul-quran/
Friday Sermon of Khalifatul Masih V about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami Delivered on March 18, 2011:
Hudhur explained that a true believer continues to call on God after trouble is averted while the ungrateful get embroiled in bad ways. As the blessed model of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) demonstrated, true believers do not just fear God at the time of their own trouble, rather when affliction falls on others, it instils fear of God in them. Hudhur said whether the calamities be of the past or current times, if a true believer fears God through the bad ending of ancient people, how much more should the present disasters make one turn to God and fear Him. However, the majority attributes natural disasters to simply climatic changes and laws of nature. It is correct that natural disasters occur due to the laws of nature. Earthquakes happen when the earth’s plate tectonics move. It is correct that New Zealand, Japan and many islands are located on plate tectonics and that is why they experience more earthquakes. However, it is also noteworthy that the one commissioned by God in the current age foretold earthquakes.
Many years ago, during his Tabligh efforts, one of our missionaries in Ghana Mubasher sahib, was told by the local ulema (religious leaders/scholars) that earthquakes were one sign of the coming of the Mahdi and if his claim about the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was truthful, then they wanted a sign of earthquake in their country. Earthquakes are not common in Ghana. The missionary sahib prayed and it so happened that an earthquake occurred in Ghana. This created a lot of restlessness among the Christians and many came into the fold of Ahmadiyya Islam and this sign became most renowned. Hudhur said we observe that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has indeed connected his advent with earthquakes and other natural disasters. Having being informed by God, he foretold that natural disaster would take place as a sign for him. He wrote: ‘Addressing me God Almighty said: ‘You are a warner on my behalf. I have sent you so that the guilty ones be separated from the righteous, ‘and He said, ‘A warner came unto the world but the world accepted him not, yet God will accept him and demonstrate his truthfulness with mighty onslaughts.’ And, ‘I shall bless thee, so much so that kings shall seek blessings from thy garments.’ And God informed me of another impending earthquake which would be of utmost severity and said: ‘Again the spring came and again the word of God was fulfilled.’ Thus another massive earthquake is bound to occur, but the righteous are safe from it. Be righteous, therefore, and fear God that you may be saved. Fear God today so that you may remain safe from the fear of that Day. It is inevitable for the heaven to show some sign for the earth to do likewise. But those who fear God shall be saved. God’s Word informed me that many calamities will occur and many disasters will descend on the earth – some during my life time and some after I have gone. And He will promote and advance this Jama’at to the full. A part of it will happen at my hands, and some after me.’ (The Will, pp. 3 – 5).
Hudhur said he has explained it before that the natural disasters that have occurred in the last 100 years have exceeded all previous records. God is repeatedly demonstrating these signs in different part of the world. Therefore, we should repeatedly keep this warning in view and strengthen our faith and take this message to the world.
Last week an extremely powerful earthquake hit Japan. It was followed by a tsunami which obliterated many towns. Hudhur said our team is on the ground helping the victims. En route they rang and said they were passing through a desolated area where once a town of 15,000 inhabitants stood. Roads, large buildings were wiped out. Hudhur said this is a most frightening situation and we should follow in the blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and pray that may God enable these people to recognize the truth so that they may be saved from disasters; may God open their hearts. For this, we too have to take the message to them.
The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) had a particularly good intuition about the Japanese people. So, while they suffer from earthquakes, in light of the Promised Messiah’s (on whom be peace) good intuition, if they understand the true teachings, they can be saved. Our Jama’at in Japan is small, but it should try its very best to take this message to people. In the current situation, discretion should be used in taking this message to them alongside service to humanity. Our Ahmadi camps are indeed serving humanity there, but they need to make these links permanent so that people know about Ahmadiyyat. Hudhur said the Japanese are very proud of their Shinto and Buddhists beliefs.
http://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/20110318.html#summary-tab
So said Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
Let it be absolutely clear that a mere verbal pledge has no value if it is not supported by a genuine and firm resolve to live up to it in every way. Therefore, whoever fully lives up to my teaching, he alone enters that house of mine with reference to which God Almighty has promised ‘I shall Myself protect all those who are in this house’ [revelation in Arabic]. It should not, however, be understood here that this Divine protection is extended only to those living within the compass of my house made of mud and bricks: the pledge also encompasses those who follow my teaching to the fullest extent, and who, therefore, can truly be said to be the inmates of my spiritual home.
Relevant to a proper observance of my teaching it is essential that one should firmly believe that there is an all-Powerful, all Sustaining Supreme Being, the Creator of everything, Changeless, Everlasting and Eternal. He does not beget, nor was He begotten. He is Holy, so that there is no need or occasion for Him to go on the Cross, or suffer in any way, or be subject to death. He is such that being far removed, He is still very near; and being very near, He is still very far. Although He is One, and absolutely unique, His manifestations
are diverse and multifarious. Whenever there occurs in man a new change, for the changed man He becomes a new God, dealing with him on the basis of a fresh manifestation, the man witnessing a change in God in proportion to the change in himself, not that there occurs any change in God, He being Eternal, Changeless and most Perfect in Himself; but with every change in man for the better, God also reveals Himself to him in a fresh and clearer manifestation. With every progressive effort on the part of man God also shows Himself with higher and more powerful manifestation. He displays an extraordinary manifestation of His power and glory only, when man shows an extraordinary change in himself-this being the root and the bedrock basis of the marvels and miracles witnessed at the hands of all servants of God. Belief in this God, with these powers, is the foremost essential condition of our Movement. Inculcate this belief in your hearts, giving to its implications and requirements the first and top most priority over all considerations of self, over its comforts and relationships. By means of actions in the field of your daily life, with unflinching courage, show a steadfast loyalty in His way. Others in this world do not give Him preference over material means and the support they hope to get from their friends and relations. But do you give him the first place, so that in heaven you should come to be reckoned His people.” (Our Teaching, Pages 1-2)
Muslims for Peace:
This is a website describing the political and social philosophy of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
Love for all and hatred for none.
http://muslimsforpeace.org/
A minute and a half video clip on the topic:
A message of peace and compassion:
Jack Yaco thank you for your comments below (This is copied from the extinct Google-knol).
The Messiah of this era, the lead follower of the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He wrote in his last booklet:
“A religion which does not inculcate universal compassion is no religion at all. Similarly, a human being without the faculty of compassion is no human at all. Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities which have been granted to the Aryans have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America. The earth created by God provides a common floor for all people alike, and His sun and moon and many stars are a source of radiance and provide many other benefits to all alike. Likewise, all peoples benefit from the elements created by Him, such as air, water, fire and earth, and similarly from other products created by Him like grain, fruit, and healing agents, etc. These attributes of God teach us the lesson that we, too, should behave magnanimously and kindly towards our fellow human beings and should not be petty of heart and illiberal.”
This booklet, Paigham-e-Sulh (A Message of Peace) is the last written work of the Founder of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community. It was completed on May 25, 1908—just a day before his demise. The citizens of Lahore were the primary audience for this address; however its subject matter is in no way confined to them alone but is of vital importance to the entire population of the world. The general principles laid down in the work are applicable to all countries which host multiple religions.
The Promised Messiah passed away on May 26, 1908. The address was read out on his behalf at a conference held on June 21, 1908 at the Punjab University, Lahore for which it was intended. The book lays down the principles of human compassion and religious tolerance.
To read the booklet go to:
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Message-of-Peace.pdf
In the first few months of 2010 alone there have been 4 major earthquakes:
In the first few months of 2010 alone there have been 4 major earthquakes.
People are beginning to notice the frequency of earthquakes and other calamities. Explanations may vary but the frequency cannot be denied.
Mike Krumboltz writes:
“Tuesday’s massive earthquake in western China has left hundreds dead and thousands more injured. Both of those numbers are expected to rise in the coming days, as many victims are still trapped under collapsed buildings and rubble. Below, some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding the devastating earthquake.
…
The earthquake was centered near the Qinghai Province in western China. That is located right next to Tibet, the mountainous homeland of the Dalai Llama. While many people who live outside of China are aware of the country’s major cities on its east coast, far fewer have any understanding of the land’s geography out west. That explains the explosive searches on “china map” and “where is qinghai province.”
Are we having more earthquakes?
It sure seems like it. Since the beginning of 2010, there have been four major earthquakes around the world.
7.0 in Haiti on January 12, 2010.
8.8 in Chile on February 27, 2010.
7.2 in Mexico on April 4, 2010.
6.9 in China on April 13, 2010.
All of this seismic activity has left some wondering if earthquakes are increasing in frequency, or if it just seems like they are. According to an expert from the United States Geological Survey, the recent activity is not unusual.
Geophysicist Dale Grant spoke with CNN and remarked that while it may seem like quakes are getting more frequent, the numbers are about average, historically speaking. What has changed? The quakes are striking more populated areas, which has led to more damage, more deaths, and, as a consequence, far more news coverage. It might seem like we’re getting a lot more earthquakes, but they’re actually just causing more damage due to where they are striking.”
…
http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93573?fp=1
The final line, quoted here, may be a futile attempt at hiding the increased frequency that is self evident, “It might seem like we’re getting a lot more earthquakes, but they’re actually just causing more damage due to where they are striking.” See the wikipedia reference in the body of the knol about all the recorded earthquakes in the nineteenth century onwards.
The Plague epidemic in India at the end of the nineteenth century:
Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad writes in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth:
THE WORLD WE KNOW TODAY is so different from that of a mere hundred years ago. The age of air travel had not yet dawned. The fledgling flight of the Wright brothers was to remain, for many more years, a dream to be realized. Massive ships towering high like mountains were not yet built and the era of submarines was not as yet afloat. Nevertheless, there was a stir in the air, like that at the early break of dawn. A dazzling new day of revolutionary scientific inventions was breaking.
The air in the realm of religion was also vibrant with an expectancy of a different nature. There was talk in every religion of the near advent of a Divine Reformer of global dimensions. Who would come and where, was the most hotly debated question. The air was tense with claims and counterclaims. But nowhere was the tension of inter-religious debate so intense as in the subcontinent of India.
Christians and Muslims were awaiting the arrival of the Messiah among them. The Hindus were no less enthusiastic about the manifestation of their Lord Krishna. The Buddhists did not lag behind either, in hoping for the re-advent of Buddha.
In that atmosphere of multi-religious conflict, a voice was heard loud and clear, from a person of humble origin by the name of Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian. He electrified the atmosphere with his outstanding advocacy of the supremacy of Islam over all other faiths. He threw challenges on behalf of Islam in every direction with such powerful arguments based on scriptural and logical evidence as compelled the champions of other religions to take serious note of him. ‘A new warrior has risen for the defense of Islam,’ was the clamor everywhere.
To read the rest of the story go to:
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/revelation/part_6_section_5.html
To hear in Urdu description of plague in reference to one of the verses of the Holy Quran, hear Quran translation number 196, regarding commentary and translation of verse 27:83:
http://alislam.org/quran/tarjumatul-quran/
A mile wide tornado in Yazoo city Mississippi:
The National Weather Service on Monday gave the tornado that ravaged parts of Mississippi a preliminary rating of speeds of up to 170 mph. Yazoo was one of the hardest-hit counties.
The tornado traveled 150 miles across Mississippi, starting in the western part of the state and moving northeast before weakening as it moved into Alabama.
The Governor of Mississippi declared it a state of emergency in the state and called the devastation in areas to be similar to Katrina. Some video clips:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/19315787
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/19315787#video=19319558
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/19324096#video=19323355
What the Holy Bible has to say about the End Times? See a comment below …
The volcanic ash chaos:
April 19, 2010
Britain sent Royal Navy warships on Monday, five days after the volcanic erruption in Iceland that has disrupted thousands of flights, to rescue those stranded across the Channel by the volcanic ash cloud and the aviation industry blasted European officials, claiming there was “no coordination and no leadership” in the crisis that shut down most European airports for a fifth day.
Eurocontrol, the air traffic agency in Brussels, said less than one-third of flights in Europe were taking off Monday — between 8,000 and 9,000 of the continent’s 28,000 scheduled flights. Passengers in Asia who had slept on airport floors for days and were running out of money staged protests at airport counters.
All airports were open Monday in Spain and the country volunteered to become the new hub of Europe to get stranded passengers moving again. Infrastructure minister Jose Blanco said Spain could to take in around 100,000 people under the new emergency plan, which focuses on aircraft trying to bring Britons home from Asia, Latin America and North America.
…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_iceland_volcano
Perhaps influenced by the frequency of different calamities in recent years, National Geographic came out with a special volume in May of 2010, titled ‘Nature’s Fury.’ Its advertisement states:
“With humanity crowded into some of the most vulnerable spots on the planet, natural hazards from above and below are more likely than ever to impact our lives. Learn more in the special issue from National Geographic.”
They seem to stress the location of humanity more so than the frequency of disasters!
Natural Disasters or Divine Punishment?
Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (1928-2003), the fourth international head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community wrote:
Ahmadi Muslims often have to bear ridicule poured upon them by their colleagues from other faiths. An allegation is made that each misfortune which afflicts the world is enumerated by Ahmadis as evidence of the truthfulness of the claims of the Founder of their Community. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Thus opponents allege, “If there is an earthquake in Chile or tremors in China register high Richter scales; the cities of Hazara and Mardan get a foretaste of the doomsday; whether it rains very heavily or there be a drought; whether there be a violent storm or typhoons or hurricanes or it becomes extremely hot and sticky in the doldrums; in short, no matter how the dice falls or which mode of catastrophe occurs, without rhyme or reason, your people are quick to advance these as further evidence of the truth of your Mirza. How nonsensical and ridiculous is this line of argument which no person on earth can accept today. On hearing this, some Ahmadis have no response other than to distance themselves from it. Some are bewildered and begin to harbor doubts. After all, since time immemorial, the world has suffered many disasters. How than can we as Ahmadis advance such natural disasters as proof of the truth of the Promised Messiah?
One thing leads to another. Our thoughts quickly race to another source of comfort. We begin to search for a tangible cause for why the Holy Quran clearly mentions various natural disasters as Signs of the truth of the Prophets of God. Why is the Holy Quran replete with instances of the destruction of one people after another who had rejected God’s chosen Prophet sent by Him to them? God only saved those who believed. Why, for instance, does the Holy Quran elicit the same argument in support of even the Chief amongst the Prophets, the Holy Prophet of Islam, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? The Holy Quran warns mankind that if they reject the Chief amongst the Prophets, then the misfortunes afflicted on those who denied earlier prophets of much lower rank in the sight of God than the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him would also afflict the disbelievers. Their fate may be even more disastrous than those who denied earlier Prophets. Such punishment would, therefore, prove the truth of this Noble Prophet.
Having considered this concomitant matter, one is no longer confined to Ahmadiyya teachings, but one’s thoughts turn to the broader and loftier underlying principle of divine chastisement. What is this principle? Is it right for any religion to claim that because of the outright rejection of a Prophet of God, world calamities are a sure sign of the punishment of God? In other words, must we wag the finger of God at every disaster?
After these introductory remarks emphasizing the significance of this burning issue, I shall now try, as far as possible, to shed some light on the various aspects of this subject in the hope of prompting further contemplation. …
Read a detailed five part article on this topic that is linked on the following page:
http://www.alislam.org/library/tahir.html
Fresh Brazil landslide ‘leaves 200 feared buried’
April 2010:
Some 200 people are feared to have been buried by a landslide in Rio de Janeiro, following the heaviest rains in decades, Brazilian officials say.
Mud came crashing down into a slum in Niteroi, across the bay from Rio, sweeping away at least 50 homes.
Rescuers are still searching for survivors of previous mudslides. The number of confirmed dead is 150 but is now expected to rise steeply.
Officials are to distribute thousands of aid packs with food and medicine.
‘Instant death’
Hundreds of people and rescuers rushed to find buried victims after the fresh mudslide hit Niteroi, one of the worst affected parts of the greater Rio de Janeiro area, late on Wednesday.
A nursery for children was among the 50 buried buildings, officials said.
Brazilian media initially said some 20 people had been pulled from the debris alive and that six had died – including five women and a child.
However, civil defence spokesman Pedro Machado later told the Globo news network that at least 200 people were feared buried in the landslide.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8608718.stm
The Prophet Jeremiah and others
God ways are not new. We have seen similar theme of God punishing the disbelievers in the religious history. It is said in the Holy Quran and the Gospel of Peter that God let Jerusalem be destroyed in 70 AD as a punishment of the treatment that had been meted out to Jesus, may peace be on him, around 30 AD. The treatment given to Pharoah of Moses and his people is commonly known. Wikipedia has the following description about the prophet Jeremiah:
“Jeremiah (Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה, Yirmĭyahu, meaning “Yahweh exalts”; Greek: Ιερεμιας; Latin: Jeremias; in English pronounced /dʒɛrɨˈmaɪ.ə/) was one of the many prophets of the Hebrew Bible. His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him. God appointed Jeremiah to Judah and Jerusalem for the worship of idols and other violations of the covenant described in Deuteronomy. According to Jeremiah, the LORD declared that the covenant was broken and that God would bring upon Israel and Judah the curses of the covenant. Jeremiah’s job was to explain the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity), “And when your people say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’
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God’s personal prediction to Jeremiah, “Attack you they will, overcome you they can’t,” was fulfilled many times in the Biblical narrative as Jeremiah warned of destruction of those who continued to refuse repentance and accept more moderate consequences. In return for his adherence to God’s disciplines and speaking God’s words, Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, thrown into a cistern by Judah’s officials, and opposed by a false prophet. Yet God was faithful to rescue Jeremiah from his enemies. For example, when his prophecies regarding the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem were fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be freed from prison and treated well.”
In other knols I have discussed the history of the people of the ‘Ad and Thamud.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
“In the opinion of such scholars, Jeremiah began to prophesy toward the end of the reign of Josiah or at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (609–598).
Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah delivered his famous “Temple sermon,” of which there are two versions, one in Jeremiah, chapter 7, verses 1 to 15, the other in chapter 26, verses 1 to 24. He denounced the people for their dependence on the Temple for security and called on them to effect genuine ethical reform. He predicted that God would destroy the Temple of Jerusalem, as he had earlier destroyed that of Shiloh, if they continued in their present path. Jeremiah was immediately arrested and tried on a capital charge. He was acquitted but may have been forbidden to preach again in the Temple.
The reign of Jehoiakim was an active and difficult period in Jeremiah’s life. That king was very different from his father, the reforming Josiah, whom Jeremiah commended for doing justice and righteousness. Jeremiah denounced Jehoiakim harshly for his selfishness, materialism, and practice of social injustice.
Near the time of the Battle of Carchemish, in 605, when the Babylonians decisively defeated the Egyptians and the remnant of the Assyrians, Jeremiah delivered an oracle against Egypt. Realizing that this battle made a great difference in the world situation, Jeremiah soon dictated to his scribe, Baruch, a scroll containing all of the messages he had delivered to this time. The scroll was read by Baruch in the Temple. Subsequently it was read before King Jehoiakim, who cut it into pieces and burned it. Jeremiah went into hiding and dictated another scroll, with additions.
When Jehoiakim withheld tribute from the Babylonians (about 601), Jeremiah began to warn the Judaeans that they would be destroyed at the hands of those who had previously been their friends. When the King persisted in resisting Babylonia, Nebuchadrezzar sent an army to besiege Jerusalem.
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“Jeremiah.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 29 Mar. 2010 .
The Transcendent God can influence nature without breaking laws of nature
Whereas the nineteenth century physics was about to frame God out of physical understanding of the universe, the twentieth century physics has turned the tables in favor of Monotheism and Personal God. The Holy Quran says:
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and He causes death; and He has power over all things. He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows all things full well.
(Al Quran 57:1-4)
For details go to:
http://knol.google.com/k/zia-shah/the-indispensible-god-hypothesis/1qhnnhcumbuyp/16#
Signs of the Second Coming in the Bible
Here is Mathew 24:1-8, from New International Version:
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
The End is the Beginning, A Christian View of the End
This is a short article by: Rev. Diana Facemyer.
“Who knows when the end will come? Jesus answered, “But about that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels of Heaven, not the Son,
but only the Father.” (Matthew 24: 36)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and is seated on his throne, then all the nations will be gathered before him.” (Matthew 25: 31-32)
Read the article at the following link:
http://www.muslimsunrise.com/dmddocuments/2007_winter.pdf#page=34
Biblical prophecies about the End Times or the Latter Days
Matthew 24:21-22:
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
Revelation 16:18-21:
Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
The lesson number 143 in the Tarjumatul Quran classes covers this issue. This Translation and Commentary of the Holy Quran has more than 300 lessons in Urdu translation by Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rh). Click on a lesson to download the mp3 audio file.
The lesson 143 pertains to verses 14-16 of chapter 17 of the Holy Quran:
http://www.alislam.org/quran/tarjumatul-quran/
Quoting from a post by Dr. Abdul Alim:
The Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908), peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, having received repeated revelations from God, warned humanity to return to Him in earnest. If humanity did not follow his advise, He said, great signs of destruction will appear as divine manifestation. Among these signs is the growing frequency of severe earthquakes, that have stretched the limits of humanitarian Agencies including the United Nations. Below is evidence of a historical trend since he made his prophecy and claim in 1889.
Silent and unexpected,without warning,they smite with irresistible force. All that dwells upon the surface is subject to the invisible fury of the earthquake. Shacks and mansions,buildings,bridges,and roadways;their permanence rendered illusory. Yet for all its titanic power,the earthquake,unlike other natural forces,does not kill man directly. It exerts itself on the very things that sustain our civilization,causing what normally provides shelter to cave in and crush us.
But in some ways earthquakes are similar to other natural disasters. Like pestilence,its force is unseen and usually takes us by surprise. Like a great flood,it can level villages or cities. And similar to some other natural disasters,there seems to be a rising trend in the number of people killed in recent times. As the bar graph below indicates,there is a clear rise in the number of people killed by earthquakes in the last few decades.
The question is why? What is causing this increase? Is it due to stronger earthquakes? Poor building practices? These are not just academic questions. They’re on a lot of peoples’minds nowadays. Subsequent posts on this subject will show that many different theories abound,running the gamut from the religious to the scientific:from the end-of-the world crowd to those who tie earthquakes to global warming.
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2011/12/religion-science/global-earthquake-trends-1900-–2010-signs-that-promised-messiah-has-come
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