“Tell them (O Muhammad!): ‘Who protects you, during the night or the day, from the Most Compassionate Lord?’ And yet they turn away from the Admonition of their Lord? Do they have any gods who would protect them against Us? They have no power even to help themselves; nor do they enjoy Our support. Nay, We generously provided them and their fathers, and they enjoyed Our provision for long. Do they not see that We are now advancing into their territory, diminishing it from different directions. Is it they, then, who will triumph?”
(Al-Qur’ān – 21:42-44)
These aayaat invite the unbelievers to consider who would be mighty enough to ward off God’s scourge if He chose to smite them with it. The fact is that God’s bountifulness and compassion have led the unbelievers to the mistaken notion that whatever they have is because they are deserving of it, and that no one has the power to deprive them of it. They regard their prosperity and high position as things that will always endure. They are too intoxicated with power to remember God Who has the power to make or mar their fate.
The ayat 21:44 reminds us of the innumerable manifestations of God’s power throughout the universe. Such manifestations include famines, epidemics, floods, earthquakes, and spells of severe cold and heat. From time to time any of these calamities can suddenly strike and can result in thousands, even hundreds of thousands of deaths, the devastation of the whole towns, the destruction of flourishing crops, and the ruination of prosperous businesses.