[FONT="]The Diagnosis[/FONT]
[FONT="]A dire need exists for us to study the Qur’an and Hadith and thereby realize the primary cause for our disgrace and downfall. It is an undisputed axiom of reality that no incident occurs in this universe accidentally. We as Muslims believe that every occurrence is directly by the command and doing of Almighty Allah. However, every occurrence has been assigned an outward cause that apparently seems to control and govern it. Thus our difficulties are also governed by causes which Allah and His Rasul صلى الله عليه وسلم have explained to us in the Qur’an and Hadith:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“And whatever calamity befalls you, it is due to your own doings and Allah forgives many of your shortcomings.” (Qur’an 42:30)[/FONT]
[FONT="]At another juncture:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“Corruption has spread on water and land due to the doings of mankind in order that Allah make them taste the penalty of some of their doings. Perhaps they may retract (from their disobedience).” (Qur’an 30:41)[/FONT]
[FONT="]At another juncture:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“Why would Allah punish you if you were grateful and believed. And Allah is Most Appreciative, All-Knowing.” (Qur’an 4:147)[/FONT]
[FONT="]All these verses indicate that the chastisement of Allah is the direct result of our disobedience, ungratefulness, and transgression. On the other hand, if we are obedient and grateful, no punishment will overtake us.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gratefulness[/FONT]
[FONT="]Proper appreciation of Allah’s bounties is the correct utilization of these favours. To utilize life, health, faculties of sight, hearing, feeling, thinking, locomotion, finances, status and position, all for the pleasure of Allah and in accordance with His commandments is true appreciation of Allah’s bounties. The anti-thesis of this is ungratefulness, which invites the wrath and displeasure of Allah.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Heavenly Blessings (Barakah)[/FONT]
[FONT="]Adopting a life of taqwa (piety) i.e. fulfilling all the commands of the Shari’ah and abstaining from the prohibitions is the cause of blessings descending from the heavens.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“If the people of the locality had believed and adopted taqwa(piety), We would have opened upon them the blessings of the heavens and the earth; but they denied and falsified, thus We seized them due to their actions.” (Qur’an, 7:96)[/FONT]
[FONT="]There are numerous verses and hadiths to this effect.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Consequences of Sin[/FONT]
[FONT="]With regards to the verse:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“And whatever calamity befalls you, it is due to your own doings.” (Qur’an 42:30)[/FONT]
[FONT="]Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم explained the tafsīr of this verse to Hadrat Ali رضي الله عنه thus:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“O Ali! whatever calamity befalls you: illness, affliction or any worldly calamity, it is the earning of your own hands.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hadrat Hasan رضي الله عنه reports that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“By Him in whose control is my life! Any scratch, twitching of veins, slipping of the foot or a flying stone suddenly striking the body; all are due to the committing of sins.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hadrat Abu Musa رضي الله عنه reports that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“A wound or any slighter calamity is due to the commission of sins.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hadrat Imrān bin Husain رضي الله عنه once felt ill. People came to pay him a visit and expressed their condolences. He replied: “What is achieved by condolences? This is due to some sin I have committed.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hadrat Dahhak reports, “A person who forgets the Qur’an after learning it is due to committing sins.” Thereafter he recited this verse and said, “What could be a greater calamity than forgetting the Qur’an?”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once Asmā bint Abi Bakr رضي الله عنه experienced a headache. She exclaimed, “This is due to my sins.” (Durr al-Manthūr, Ibn Kathīr)[/FONT]