What Do We Do in the Face of Disaster? Responsibility and Compassion in Surah Al-A’raf

8 February 2023

When a great disaster occurs, all of a person’s plans change in an instant. The house, car, and work matters they were thinking about the day before fade into the background. Personal safety and news of loved ones take precedence over everything.

Question: At such moments, do we only feel afraid, or do we also do the right thing within our power?

When reflecting on the warnings in Surah Al-A’raf, we should first recognize our own responsibility rather than blame those who are suffering.

Taking the Admonition Sent Down to Us Seriously

At the beginning of Surah Al-A’raf, revelation is described as a warning and an admonition for believers. This is followed by the warning to follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and not to turn away by taking other protectors and supports besides Him.

These words help us think about what we make the fundamental standard of our lives.

A person may trust in their money. They may think they will never lose their large business or the properties they own.

Yet we know that life does not always unfold as we wish. Health, safety, and material circumstances can change.

Question: If we feel secure only by relying on what we possess, how firm is that security?

Working to buy a home is not wrong. Saving and thinking about our children’s future are also part of life.

But when these goals begin to govern our entire moral standard, we may overlook other people’s rights.

Concealing a product’s defect, delaying payment for someone else’s work, or continuing a practice we consider wrong simply because everyone does it are choices that need reflection.

We need not only to read the Qur’an’s admonition, but also to relate it to our daily decisions.

Sometimes we can place too much trust in a person, a company, or a technological product. We think we cannot continue our lives without it.

A phone, a job, or a source of income may provide us with many conveniences. But when that thing changes, our entire standard of what is right should not change with it.

Questioning what we rely on besides Allah does not mean giving up all the resources we possess. It means thinking about the purpose for which we use them.

We can use a resource not only to benefit ourselves, but also to meet the needs of someone in difficulty.

Whom Will We Hold Accountable in the Face of Calamity?

Verses 4 and 5 of Surah Al-A’raf speak of the severe consequences that befell past communities and what they said when confronted with them.

These verses contain a warning about divine accountability. But we cannot claim to know whose sin caused a particular earthquake occurring today.

It is not right to make categorical accusations over the suffering of a baby, an elderly person, or someone who has lost their family. We do not know what they deserve.

Question: Which should we prioritize: interpreting a disaster, or rushing to meet the needs of those affected by it?

Help, of course. A person trapped under rubble needs rescuing, an injured person needs medical care, and someone who has lost their home needs safe shelter.

While trying to do good, we can also question the system in which we live. Why was help delayed, what safety measures were missing, and who failed to fulfill which responsibility? These questions matter.

Investigating responsibility and blaming those who were harmed are not the same thing. We need to act with factual knowledge and justice.

Approaching a problem only by saying, “That person did it; this person did it,” may not be enough. But ignoring concrete negligence would not be right either.

Let us not see the good we can do and the accountability that must be sought as opposites.

Reflecting on Cause and Effect

In daily life, when we get an unwanted result, we investigate its cause. When rice is too watery, we question the proportions. When our business makes a loss, we return to the accounts.

In social matters too, we need to understand which decisions produce which consequences. The safety of a building, aid reaching those in need, and people receiving accurate information all matter.

Question: When a problem recurs, will we continue the same behavior?

A person may have taken on debts beyond their control while expanding their business. They need to consider the consequences.

Someone else may think their home is safe. But good intentions alone are not enough to assess safety; knowledge and inspection matter too.

Another person may collect aid. Caring about whether that aid truly reaches someone in need is also part of that good deed.

All of these remind us to pay attention to causes. Praying does not remove responsibility or the need for precautions.

People may turn to Allah in a disaster. They may pray in fear. This is an understandable human response.

But when the danger passes, instead of forgetting all our previous mistakes, we can also remember the needs we saw in those days.

Many comments may be made after every major event. Some people may give exact dates for disasters they say will occur in the future.

But making such statements without reliable information can lead people into unnecessary fear. Taking a possible danger seriously and claiming to know exactly what will happen are different things.

Our duty is to prepare on the basis of accurate information as far as possible and to fulfill our own responsibility.

We can pray. Alongside this, we can investigate measures that improve safety and help one another.

Trying to prevent harm is not the opposite of trusting Allah.

Changing Through Awareness, Not Fear

One day, when we experience a tremor, we may rush to the mosque. We pray for our loved ones and think more about our safety.

Then time passes. Daily life and our habits return.

Question: When fear passes, does the responsibility we learned disappear as well?

Repentance should not remain merely a few words spoken in fear. Trying to leave behind a behavior we believe is wrong is also part of it.

If we have noticed a problem with our earnings, we can consider it. If we have acted unjustly toward our family, we can begin to put it right.

It is possible to review our own decisions without waiting to see what others will do.

On the other hand, being harmed in a disaster is not necessarily proof that we have acted wrongly. We need to preserve this distinction.

When people suffer, they may need support and understanding. Let us not readily make harsh comments that force them to defend themselves.

Directing the warnings in Surah Al-A’raf toward ourselves is more meaningful than adding a new burden to someone else’s wound.

We can see that we hold on to one another more closely in fearful days. A phone call or a small act of help that we once overlooked suddenly becomes very valuable.

Let us not reserve this closeness only for difficult days. Let us remember someone in need during ordinary times too.

A person’s ability to help may be limited. But the care and sincerity they show should not be assessed only by their money.

Some people may postpone helping despite having the means. Others may try to do whatever they can with fewer resources. Instead of passing judgment without knowing everyone’s circumstances, let us consider our own part.

Worldly Possessions, Death, and Gratitude

A person works for years to acquire a home. Then a disaster reminds them how fragile life can be.

This does not show that working is wrong. But we need to know that what we possess may be temporary.

Protecting property matters. So do personal safety, our family’s peace, and other people’s rights.

Question: Have we forgotten the value of human life while protecting our possessions?

Someone preparing an aid package, someone holding a loved one’s hand, or someone listening to a grieving neighbor can truly be helpful today.

Not everyone has the same resources. One of us may give money, another may give labor, and another may share reliable information.

Let us try to do this to meet a need, rather than to show off.

A person’s life is not measured only by how much property they have. Having someone trustworthy beside them when they are in need is also a great blessing.

When considering solidarity after a disaster, it also matters whether the help reaches people. Let us not think that all our responsibility ends simply because we have sent aid.

Finding out what someone in need truly requires, choosing an appropriate way to help, and maintaining support where possible may be more beneficial.

Someone may need help today; another day, they may meet someone else’s need. Recognizing this mutual dependence also helps us move away from arrogance.

Taking a Lasting Step

When we relate the admonition in Surah Al-A’raf to our lives, two duties emerge: questioning our own mistakes and not remaining indifferent to another person’s needs.

Question: What concrete action of ours today could ease the burden of someone who is suffering?

We can find out what help is truly needed. We can support a reliable way of delivering aid. If we are able, we can contribute to someone’s safe shelter or basic needs.

We can also act reliably and responsibly in our own work. We can be attentive to negligence that puts another person’s life and labor at risk.

At the same time, we can try to understand what the Qur’an says, reflect on our own attitude, and turn back from our mistakes.

If a major event that happens to us reminds us of life’s fragility, we can use this to build more honest, compassionate, and responsible relationships with those around us.

My Allah, grant help and relief to those experiencing disaster. Give us compassion, solidarity, and the strength to do what is right. Protect us from injustice, negligence, and indifference toward those in need.

Let us stand beside those who suffer instead of blaming them, and let us not postpone our own share of responsibility.