God created man, put him on earth, taught him the way of life and told him he would be subjected to test. This test comes in the form of hunger and loss of someone/something dear to him, illnesses and afflictions like flood, tsunami, earthquake or drought. If he succeeds in the test, he would be rewarded; if not, he would be punished here on earth as well as in the hereafter. But most people remain deeply immersed in the comforts the mundane world brings to him. They do not pay attention to Divine Teachings nor to the warning God sends from time to time by means of trials and tribulations.
This is the grim picture that is holding a mirror to society today. The world has been exposed to a test in the form of a pandemic. Those who do not believe in God and His Majesty have lost their way. They call it a mere virus, a disease, and are not ready to accept it as a warning from God. Even in the face of millions of deaths, their hearts are not softened, nor are their consciences awakened. They are hard hearted and oblivious of their duties to God, and they deny the hereafter. Their arrogance and total indifference to Divine teachings stop them from turning back to God and entreat Him to ward off this affliction. The Qur’ān presents their arrogance in a subtle manner: “Even were We to show them mercy and remove whatever distress might afflict them, they would still persist in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro.” (23:75)
So it is their refusal to turn back to God that is responsible for the devastating spells of the pandemic. In the very next verse, the Qur’ān says: “Indeed, We took them to task, but they neither humbled themselves before their Lord, nor do they submissively entreat [Him]. (23:76)
Had they humbled themselves to the Lord Almighty and humbly and devotionally appealed to Him to ward off the affliction, God out of His Mercy and Munificence would have removed the pandemic. But, thanks to their ‘overweening arrogance’, they do not seem to budge. If they persist in their arrogance and refusal to turn back to Him, they would not be saved from the Divine wrath. The Qur’ān says: “Yet when We open before them a gate of truly severe suffering, they will plunge in despair.” (23:77) Then there will be no chance for them to mend their ways and escape the ultimate punishment.
There is still time. The only way left for man today is to turn back to God, surrender before Him, seek His Forgiveness and take shelter in His Mercy. This is the only way we can achieve success here and in the hereafter.