by Asma bint Shameem

Millions of passengers stranded across the globe, families desperate to return home…
thousands upon thousands of flights canceled causing chaos across the world…..
Billions of dollars lost by the airline industry as airspace across Europe shut down….
the economy, of not only a major continent, but the entire world affected…all in a matter of just a few days.

Food supplies ran short as fresh produce rotted in cargo.Health officials issued warnings concerning public health, while experts worried about severe weather worldwide.And why?

Could you ever imagine that something like this, taking place thousands of miles away from your home, could actually disrupt your life and plans?
Yet the ripple effect of its massive ash cloud reverberated worldwide and literally paralyzed man.

All it took was one little puff….one blow…..from a small volcano….out of the many, much bigger, and more powerful volcanoes that Allaah has created on this earth.

And all this volcano is, is a trivial, trivial creation from among the creations of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Taala.

And look how it affected man. Look how it affected his life. It left him powerless, weak and subjugated.

So what will you do O man, when the entire earth will shake and the skies will shatter…when the stars will fall and the mountains will crumble?

To whom will you run and where you will you hide?

Doesnt this volcano and its ash make you think of Allaah….His Irresistible Power, His Invincible Might….His Authority and Command?

Doesnt this show His Supreme, Unsurpassable Ability to do anything and everything, any which way He pleases?

And all this is easy for Allaah.

And if it wasnt for Allaah and His Immense, Overwhelming Mercy towards His slaves, He could have done this every day.
Every single day, there could be volcanoes blowing ashes….or the earth trembling…..or the sky falling on our head.

Yet, it is He that placed mountains on the earth so that it wouldnt shake and made it stable and walkable and liveable…for us to flourish and farm and cultivate. And He made the sky a roof over our heads, a shade and a protection from the elements in space. Shouldnt we be thankful?

“He (Allaah) has created the heavens without any pillars, that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you.” (Surah Luqman: 10)

And if it wasn’t for His Favor and Generosity, there would be no night and no day.
Or there would be a long night, a night so long that it would be continuous until the day of resurrection. Or a day that is continuous until the Day of resurrection.

“Say: ‘What would you think if Allah should make the day continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, what god, other than Allah, shall bring you the night to sleep in. Will you not see?”

Say: ‘Think! What if Allah should enshroud you in unceasing night till the Day of Resurrection, what god, other than Allah, shall bring you light! Will you not hear?’ (Surah al-Qasas:71-72)

How scary that is and unimaginable! Yet Allaah does not do that to us. He gives a short night so that we can rest therein and a short day for us to be up and about and work. Shouldnt we be grateful?

There would be no clouds, no rain, no wind, no food.
No air to breathe, no clothes to wear….
no eyes to see with, no ears to hear with and no feet to walk with. No heart to love and no memories to remember.
No butterflies, no flowers, no colors and no beauty.
No families, no friends, no loved ones.
Birds wouldn’t fly and ships would sink.
No cars, no planes, no computers.
Subhaan Allaah. I can go on and on.

Yet out of His Compassion and Kindness he gives us all that without asking, and every single thing that we did ask for, every single day of our lives, to every single one of us.

And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allaah, never will you be able to count them. Verily! Man is indeed wicked and thankless. (Surah Ibraaheem: 34)

Alas! As Allaah says, we are ungrateful and thankless. We are so involved in our lives, its fun and enjoyment, so engrossed in all the blessings that we have around us, that we forget to thank the Lord of the blessings. We are so arrogant that we associate everything to our selves and our achievements and our power. We lose sight of the source of the blessings, the One who gave us the blessings in the first place.

We forget that the best way to thank Allaah is to submit to Him…to obey Him and worship him the way He deserves to be worshipped, without associating partners with Him Subhaanahu wa Taala. Not to disobey him and to follow the Sunnah that His Messenger (Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam) brought.

Therefore, Allaah sends us reminders…reminders, like ash from an insignificant volcano, that incapacitates and debilitates us, so that we may remember and reflect…so that we may be thankful and submit to His Might and Power.

So take lesson from these signs and reminders that your Lord sends to you and truly appreciate His innumerable blessings upon you and thank Him from the bottom of your heart. Realize the Ultimate, Supreme Greatness of your Lord and the fragility and insignificance of your own.

Know that you are nothing but a speck of dust in front of the Mighty Plan of the Lord of the worlds and if He so wished, you would be annihilated in less than a second and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, you could do about it.

So live your life according to what He has ordered and submit to Him before its too late.

Where are you going to go when the ‘REAL’ volcano blows…?