Sins that Bring about Divine Punishment
This is according to university scholar Mohammad Reza Yousefi, speaking in a session on Sermon 143 of Nahj al-Balagha. Following are excerpts from his remarks:
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) in the first part of the sermon talks about the fact that the earth and sky are at the service of humanity in a natural system.
Imam Ali (AS) says: “Beware; the earth which bears you and the sky which overshadows you are obedient to their Sustainer (Allah). They have not been bestowing their blessings on you for any feeling of pity on you or inclination towards you, nor for any good which they expect from you, but they were commanded to bestow benefits on you and they are obeying, and were asked to maintain your good and so they are maintaining it.”
In the second part of the sermon, Imam Ali (AS) talks about the fact that sometimes there are disruptions in delivery of blessings. These disruptions are on purpose because God wants to teach mankind lessons.
“Certainly, Allah tries his creatures in respect of their evil deeds by decreasing fruits, holding back blessings and closing the treasures of good, so that he who wishes to repent may repent, he who wishes to turn away (from sins and evils) may turn away, he who wishes to recall (forgotten good) may recall, and he who wishes to abstain (from evil) may abstain.”
When we look at humans’ sins, we see some of them can be easily recognized and their consequences be analyzed.
This is the case both at the individual and social levels. For example, if robbery and embezzlement grow in a society, the result would be poverty and inequality.
This is easily understood but throughout history, humanity has paid little attention to these social analyses and has attributed many things to God. For instance, when there was a shortage of something in a land, they would attribute it to God immediately.
There are a series of verses that say a group of people received punishment because they engaged in sins: “The wicked amongst them changed what was said for other words. Therefore We sent down upon them from heaven a punishment for their evil doing.” (Verse 162 of Surah Al-A’raf)
A question is raised here. If sins are going to lead to punishment in a social system, what sins will cause them? Will such punishments come if people refuse to say daily prayers or fast or wear the Hijab?
When we read the Quran, we realize that not all sins bring about these punishments. The first point is that individual sins do not cause such punishments but sins that involve the communal indemnity of the society may cause them. The second point is the scope of spread of such sins.
The third point is that these sins are not understood only within religious frameworks but are considered evil based on the intellect. For example, everyone recognizes that telling lies or debauchery are bad.
And the fourth point here is that not all natural disaster are divine punishments.
