بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
There is no doubt that the world has gone through many crises over the years. Whether these were natural occurrences or conspired to be an act done on purpose by a government or cult, they were still events that affected mankind and some of them were mentioned in the Qur’an to form a lesson for us to learn from. Let us take one of the events mentioned by Allah, part of the story of Musa.
We all know the events that happened in Musa’s life but this specific event was after he and his people flew from the Pharoah and his army – after Allah closed off the river drowning them. 1000s of people who followed Musa ended up on the other side of the river in an empty desert. Imagine leaving our homes with barely any sustenance and ending up in the scorching sands. People will undoubtedly be agitated and frustrated with everything going on around them.
So Musa had to address his people regarding their situation. Allah narrates in the Qur’an:
And [recall, O Children of Israel], when Moses said to His people, “Remember the favour of Allah upon you when He saved you from the people of Pharaoh, who were afflicting you with the worst torment and were slaughtering your [newborn] sons and keeping your females alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.
14:6
Allah reminds the people that they were in a much situation before they got away from the Pharoah. An important point to take away from this is that Musa was telling the people that if Allah was capable of taking them out of one impossible situation, why should they all of a sudden even have the thought that he will abandon them after? Did He remove them from one crisis just to forget about them another?
Allah then follows with another ayah:
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favour]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’ “
14:7
Allah uses the word “ta’athana” which in translation means a voice heard over every other – which is why athan is used for the call of prayer. The interesting thing about this word is that something is only truly called an athan if it is a separate voice from every other, a statement that when you hear all others are overlooked. More interestingly Allah uses the word “shakartoum” referring to being grateful, but more specifically: showing the slightest bit of gratefulness.
What makes this statement highlighted even more is the choice of name Allah used: rab; and part of rab is to nurture, to take care of His property. So our nurturing master proclaims that if the Muslims were to show real gratitude even at one instant, and not assume that Allah has abandoned them or left them to suffer, then He will undoubtedly increase them in all types of favours; and this applies to us in times like we are in now.
We as Muslims must remind ourselves of the favours Allah has bestowed upon us and remember that He has not abandoned His people. Allah will protect His Ummah as He has claimed many times in the Qur’an. This is not to say that we must not take any precautions in times of crisis, but we have to take a step back and assess our situations. Part of why crises become worse is due to how people react to it.
Let us not allow for any kind of trial to overwhelm us or make us live in fear because our hearts must be tied with creator whom nothing can overpower.
A small exercise we can all take part in is to sit down with our close ones and talk about favours that we were given by Allah. Not just the favours we have now but also what was given to us in the past and burdens that Allah removed for us. This will remind us all to be grateful to Him and He will without doubt increase us in goodness.
May Allah protect the people from all types of crises, remove all our fears and allow us to rest our hearts in His remembrance. May He also cure all those suffering from all illnesses and diseases.
Allah knows best.