Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 473
14 MAY 1908 يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى [God grants them respite till a specified term. ] Our God is the Omnipotent. He has full authority:1 is our belief. He is not like a fortune teller. He issues an order in the morning and has the full authority to change it at night. The verse : 2 مَا تَنْسَحْ مِنْ آيَةٍ bears witness to it. After all, sadaqah [almsgiving] and istighfar [seeking forgiveness] do mean some- thing. It is the unanimous consensus of all noble Prophets that sadaqah and istighfar ward off calamities. What is a calamity? It is an adverse painful event that has been decreed through the will of God Almighty. Now, when a Prophet informs of such a calamity, it becomes a prophecy, but Allah the Exalted is the Most Merciful of all who show mercy. He turns with His mercy towards those who supplicate with humility. Therefore, I do not believe that prophecies that contain a warning are irrevoca- ble. On the contrary, they can be averted. You see, where I have mentioned the earthquake, I have also drawn attention towards repentance, seeking forgiveness, supplications with humility, and almsgiving which implies that this grave calamity can be averted. Alas! People have advanced in my enmity to such an extent that they have even forgotten the principles of Islam. They read: مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَلِّ بَهُمْ وَأَنْتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا 3 كَانَ اللهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ and still criticize me. May Allah guide them. 4 473 1. Allah effaces what He wills (Sürah ar-Ra'd, 13:40). [Publisher] 2. Whatever Sign We abrogate (Sūrah al-Baqarah, 2:107). [Publisher] 3. Allah would not punish them while you were among them and Allah would not punish them while they sought forgiveness (Sūrah al-Anfāl, 8:34). [Publisher] 4. Badr, vol. 7, no. 19, p. 3-4, dated 24 May 1908