Page 52 - Never Plead Ignorance

50 NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE

Do they not see that they are tried once or twice in every year? But still
they do not turn back. They do not pay heed. (Surat at-Tawbah: 126).
Remember that Allah creates each disaster as a reminder for hu-
man beings that the world is anything but serene and still. So, you nev-
er plead ignorance that, through these disasters, Allah is warning you.

In the Qur'an, Allah informs us that He showed the right path to all
people throughout world history and warned them through His messen-
gers of the Day of Judgement and hell. These messengers became the
leaders of faith in their separate societies and communicated the limits
man has to observe to earn the good pleasure of Allah.
However, a majority of these people denounced the messengers sent
to them and showed animosity towards them. The relevant verse follows:
How many cities spurned their Lord's command and His Messengers!
And so We called them harshly to account and punished them with a ter-
rible punishment. They tasted the evil consequences of what they did and
the end of their affair was total loss. (Surat at-Talaq: 8-9)
As stated in the Qur'an, those communities who rejected to submit to
the call of messengers faced various disasters. These disasters actually be-
fell abruptly, at a time they never expected. However, we should consid-
er one significant fact: those communities who resisted obeying the com-
mands of Allah did not suffer from Allah's wrath without warnings. Allah
sent them messengers to warn them with the hope that they would regret
their behaviour and submit to Him. Yet, because of their arrogance, they
brought Allah's wrath down upon themselves and were wiped off the
face of the earth quite suddenly. The Qur'an gives an account of the sto-
ries of some communities:

And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb, he said: "My people, wor-
ship Allah and look to the Last Day and do not act unjustly on earth cor-
rupting it." But they denied him so the earthquake seized them and morn-
ing found them lying flattened in their homes. (Surat al-'Ankabut: 36-37)
We seized Pharaoh's people with years of droughts and scarcity of fruits
so that hopefully they would pay heed. (Surat al-A'raf: 130)