Tsunami, God (read: Allah) and Al-Fatihah

I was analysing my data when I first heard the news about the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami that followed. The news it self sent chills down my spine. Especially the fact that the entire east coast of Japan was affected. Such extensive areas, surely a lot of people are involved. I immediately said my du’a. “Ya Allah, help them survive this…I know everything that happens, happened for a reason, but please let them survive this…”

Soon, many videos recording the event were posted on the net and from those videos I saw how devastating the actual tragedy was. When nature destruct, immediately people would relate to God. Some say it’s the proof of His existence, his wrath and in the aftermath, His love. Others would say, it’s nature… it has nothing to do with God and God believers are merely trying to instigate His existence by relating “nature” to his “power”… I was even shocked by several people who asked others to stop praying to the “non-existent” God and start donating money instead. “Praying will not do any good to the helpless people of Japan,” they said.

To me, think whatever you want, the most important thing is, those who pray and those who would rather not, would join hands in helping Japan earthquake and tsunami survivors in any way possible… be it in the form of warm blankets, used jackets, canned food, good monies or sincere prayers, everything is counted for. When a friend cries, if you can not offer a tissue, a good shoulder to cry on is good enough. And at times of sorrow, a simple call or a text message from a friend who live faraway would be very much appreciated. The same thing applied here only at a magnitude several times higher.

Of course, not everyone would offer help. Even the tsunami tragedy in Acheh with more than 100,000 fatalities, people who were resistant to help, remained resistant no matter how devastating the condition were. Weddings, parties and concerts were still on despite the hundreds of people who died during Victoria’s Black Saturday tragedy. Because life couldn’t just “pause” for a moment when earthquake hits the other side of the world, or when hurricane and volcanoes erupted in a continent different from ours. But our thoughts(read: and prayers) are always with them.

Most events would acknowledge the tragedy and the lives that were taken by it, by spending a minute of silence as a sign of respect. I don’t know how this one minute of silence would help those who have passed on, but at least in Islam, one minute worth of Al-Fatihah will insyaAllah help the souls in the after life… 

So indeed, there are so many ways to help Japan tsunami victims. And money is only one of them.

Till, then.

Love, Ana.