Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 158
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 158 Punishment is ordained upon insolence because the perpetra- tor not only commits wickedness, but also boasts of it. This world is not the place for retribution. Only those who are guilty of mischief are punished here. The one who commits sin with civility will be judged in the next life. And the pun- ishment that has now descended upon the world is due to this very reason that audacity, insolence, and rascality has increased beyond all bounds as though there is no God whatsoever. The plague has wreaked such massive destruction, yet still their hearts have not felt anything. If you ask, they laugh it off. Some say it is an ordinary illness as if they deny God’s power over life and death. It is undoubt- edly an illness, but it is through these illnesses that Allah sends down His punishment. When the Jews suffered from this illness, Allah declared it to be His punishment. Remember that Allah brings about destruction by multiplying and intensifying these very illnesses. Denial of Allah’s punishment is a sign of their disbelief. God is Merciful. He is slow in punishing but these people should remember that this punishment will not stop until they cry out that, ‘Now we understand!’ The only cure for this is what I have repeatedly said; namely, humble supplication and turning to Allah in repentance. 1 1. Badr, vol. 7, no. 7, p. 3, dated 20 February 1908