.....
Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allah’s mercy be upon him)
said:
“Sometimes, Allah permits the earth to take a breath and due to that there
befalls on the earth great earthquakes-and as a consequence of that His
servants become afraid and fearful, they turn to Him in repentance and they
abandon sin and disobedience – they humble themselves before Him in humility ,
and they feel remorse, as one of the Pious Predecessors said when the earth
shook with an earthquake, ‘Indeed your
Lord is admonishing you!’ And when Madinah was shaken by an earthquake, Umar
Ibn Al-Khattāb (Allah be pleased with him)
addressed the people and admonished them, saying , ‘If it happens again , I
will not live among you in Madinah.”*
* Ibn Abī Dunyā reported: “An earthquake
struck in the time of ʿUmar (may Allah be
pleased with him), so he said: ‘O people! This earthquake did not occur except
due to some transgression you have committed! By the One in whose Hand is my
soul, if it strikes again, I will not live in this city with you, ever.”
(Ibn Abī Shaybah
in al-Musannaf no. 2/473, and al-Bayhaqi in
his as-Sunan 3/342—and its chain of narration
is sahīh).
