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In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy

Ibnul Jawzee (rahimahullaah) said:

A thought came to my mind about that which takes places in the world of calamities, hardships and great afflictions, which have difficult end results; so I said: Glorified is Allaah and free is He from all imperfections! Indeed, Allaah is The Most Generous of all those who show generosity, and generosity necessitates forbearance and forgiveness.

So from which angle are those punishments viewed? I thought about it and saw that the existence of many people is like non-existence. They neither study the evidences about the Oneness of Allaah (in His Lordship, Names and Attributes and that He alone has the right to be worshipped) nor do they abide by the commandments and prohibitions of (Allaah); rather they carry on in their habits like cattle.

And unless the Islamic legislation agrees with what they want, otherwise they depend on their personal selfish interests. And after obtaining the Deenaar (money), they do not care whether it was from lawful or unlawful (means). They pray when it is easy for them, and if not they abandon it. Amongst them are those who openly commit great sins, whilst being aware of its prohibition. It may be that there is a scholar with strong understanding and his sins are grave indeed. So I came to know that even when the punishments are great, they are lesser (in severity) than their crimes.

And when punishments occur to wipe away sins, those (responsible for such sins) scream (saying): ‘’which sin is this for?’’ and they forget what has proceeded (of sins), some of which makes the earth shake. An old man becomes so insignificant to the extent that the hearts become sympathetic, whilst he does not know that this is due to him not giving significance to the commandments of Allaah in his youth.

[Source: Saydul Khaatir: page: 18-19]

And Allaah knows best
Translated by: Abu Mu-aawiyyah (Abdullaah Al-Gambi)