Man and Mother Nature. War and Natural Calamities.

7. Man vs Mother Nature

Nothing of nature or her terrible tempest

Would ever equal the terrible malevolence

Of man and his ill temper.

Over the past century humanity has been besieged by what appears to be mother nature's anger. Droughts, floods, landslides, wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes kill, maim and scatter thousands upon thousands of people across the globe. From Japan, Turkey, USA, Africa to Australia and even New Zealand, mankind has rekindled its forgotten fear of the unknown and nature's seemingly arbitrary violent upheavals...

1. 1931 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in Summer 1931 - 850,000-4,000,000
2. 1887 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in September-October 1887 - 900,000-2,000,000
3. 1970 Bhola cyclone Ganges Delta, East Pakistan in November 13, 1970 - 500,000- 1,000,000
4. 1201 Earthquake Eastern Mediterranean in 1201 - 1,000,000
5. 1938 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in June 9th, 1938 - 500,000 - 900,000
6. Shaanxi Earthquake Shaanxi Province, China in January 23, 1556 - 830,000
7. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami in Indian Ocean December 26,2004 - 225,000-275,000
8. 1881 Haiphong Cyclone in Haiphong, Vietnam in 1881 - 300,000
9. 1642 Kaifeng Flood Kaifeng, Henan Province, China in 1642 - 300,000
10.Tangshan Earthquake Tangshan, China July 28, in 1976 - 242,000

Hard numbers to swallow but comparatively small in comparison to war fatalities. Deaths in war is hard to count, but even by the lowest estimates, boy... has mankind been busy at killing each other in the last century... And this is not the full account -

1. World War II (1939-1945) - 40,000,000 - 65,000,000
2. World War I (1914 - 1918) - 15,000,000 - 36,000,000
3. Vietnam War (1955 - 1975) - 2,500,000 - 6,020,000
4. Korean War (1950 - 1953) - 2,500,000 - 3,500,000
5. Russian Civil War (1917 - 1921) - 5,000,000 - 9,000,000
6. Second Congo War (1998 - 2003) - 3,800,000 - 5,400,000
7. Sudanese 2nd Civil War (1983 - 2005) - 1,000,000 - 2,000,000
8. Iran-Iraq War (1980 - 1988) - 500,000 - 2,000,000
9. Mexican Revolution (1911 - 1920) - 500,000 - 2,000,000
10. Cambodian Civil War (1970 - 1975) - 500,000 - 1,000,000

What depressing statistics. But beneath the almost despairing figures, we gotta admit some positive facts. One that comes to mind is that by some strange fortune, your grandparents managed to survive both natural and man-made calamities in the last century, and got around to conceive your parents who in turn found time to make you.

So now there you are, sitting at home or reading this on a train heading to work. We can choose to imagine the tragedy of war and despair. Or we can choose to accept the trust that our Maker has laid upon us - to make the world better, if at least a little bit, for our future generations. And since God does everything intentionally, He must have foreseen that spark of goodness in you, a promising soul, one reflecting His most beautiful attributes of the Most Gracious and Most Merciful.

Perhaps we shall not be able to change the world. Perhaps we shall not be able to avert wars. But so long as we stand here, we must believe and do what is right, and to temper the adverse and violent passions which humans often entertain at the behest of their vile egos. Every little bit helps, I think. And God shall always be on the side of the do-gooders, howsoever they may call upon Him in their diverse faiths and rites. I know this to be true because it is what my mother believes in. 

Have a good day, sunshine. May God bless our sainted mothers.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Hate has no place in Islam