The Storms We Are Blind to
The comforts inside our homes make us forget the storm outside
Yesterday night, I was on a small volunteer duty at someplace. My duty was to open the door for coming people. The weather was very fierce. It started raining sometimes and sometimes it stopped. The sky was completely dark except for the recurring bolts of lightning. I was standing by the outer gate under a shade that protected me from rain.
There are often thunderstorms like this but I witnessed something different yesterday. Normally, in this weather, we spend our time inside our home, mostly watching TV. But what I witnessed yesterday was that life does not stop in this situation. The outer gate is near a passageway (which I won’t explain to avoid prolongation). People on motorcycles were coming homes from their work. I even saw a family on a motorcycle — a man, his wife, and little son. It was raining and they had nothing which protect them from it. Some people were (unsuccessfully) covering themselves with plastic sheets and some were completely wet.
Not surprisingly, 94% of our country’s population don’t enjoy the luxury of a car. They don’t have any excuses to get an escape from their works. They have to get out of their small homes to earn daily bread for their family no matter there’s a storm or whatever. So who are we then? We are blind — blind to the storm. For us, the storm is nothing but a change of weather, a good time to eat pakoras, and an opportunity to take good photographs that we can later upload to our social media status. So we are blind to the difficulties and challenges the storm brings for common people.
So now when I ponder over the whole idea, I think that we are not just blind to one storm, we are blind to many storms. Those who are safe inside their homes think that the world is at peace. It is a good time to enjoy and we need not worry about anything.
Now look from a wider perspective. The world is burning right now. Natural disasters have become much frequent. Earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis, floods, storms, wildfires, pest attacks, diseases — you name it — there’s no disaster that has not increased much in recent years (No need to mention about covid-19 separately). Not just natural disasters but also man-made disasters, the biggest of them is…. not climate change…..it’s the danger of a nuclear war. I think I don’t need to go into details. The current global condition and upcoming consequences of covid-19 are self-explanatory.
I think all of these as storms. The storms that we are completely blind to. We may think that we are safe in our homes and there is no need to worry but these storms are very very different from the one I mentioned earlier. Because we won’t get out of it that easily. And we should not even think it that way. Think from the perspective of those who are suffering. Think about the countless children in Africa, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Kashmir who are deprived of basic rights like food, shelter, education, parents, and most of all life.
Now coming to my point, why is all this happening. Someone may disagree. But I must tell what I think but the fact that I am presenting is undeniable. Look at humanity. Look at their deeds. What are they doing? Do you think are they fulfilling the rights of their fellow beings? Everyone is in his own race trying to win as much as he can. Take one person, or take one country. People have forgotten God. Even religious people — take Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus — have made their religion just a ritual and they have forgotten about the true essence of religion. They have forgot to remember God, the God who is alive and who keeps us alive.
(The above-mentioned ideas do not apply to all people. It just portrays a general picture. There are indeed people who fulfill the rights of fellow-beings and God and are continuously striving for peace. May we be among them.)
So when people forget Allah Almighty, He sends storms upon us. The storms which we are facing now. it is the time for the world to wake up and remember Him. And if they didn’t, then God Almighty will show to the world that He “is” Almighty. The big super-powers of today’s world think that they are the “rab”, the nourisher, without their help, no country can progress. But they forget what happened with the Pharaohs. And even science has proved that there have been many civilizations even more advanced than us. But all of their kingdoms, their empires now lie beneath the sand, unnoticed.
So it is time for us to turn to Allah Almighty and ask for his forgiveness. Because He is ever-merciful and when a man walks towards Him, He runs toward his man. So I pray that humanity pays heed to God and these storms pass away soon just like the storm of yesterday. Ameen!
