Page 32 - Quick Grasp of Faith 2

Allah states that there is instruction in the stories related
in the Qur'an. Events narrated in these stories provide an ex-
ample for believers in many respects. These stories assume
great importance for believers, in terms of enabling them to
recognise and not to repeat the mistakes of those who have
passed away; to discern how past messengers and believers
behaved in particular cases, and to take them as role models;
to discern and adopt their virtuous characters; and to evalu-
ate current events by considering past events and their out-
comes.

25. How were past nations destroyed?

Allah sent messengers to nations who have passed away
and warned them of the presence of the Hereafter and the Day
of Reckoning. Yet most of these nations did not pay heed to
these warnings, they opposed Allah and His messengers and
forgot their Islamic morals, upon which Allah struck them
with disasters as a reminder, and destroyed those who did not
take heed of the warning. The punishments that befell these
nations were varied in nature. However, what is common is
that it came to them from where they did not expect, and at an
unexpected time, usually while they were asleep.
These punishments sometimes destroyed a whole city or
an entire nation, they did not leave any trace of the city, and
were painful and fearful. Allah refers to such perished nations
in many verses in the Qur'an as a reminder to people:

Do they not see how many generations before them
We have destroyed and that they will not return to
them? (Surah Ya Sin: 31)
Of the punishments mentioned in the Qur'an some are
listed as follows:

32 QUICK GRASP OF FAITH – 2 –