The Ruling on Describing the Dwellings of the Afflicted and the People of Calamities

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says, may Allah preserve you: Are the dwellings of the afflicted and those upon whom wrath has been sent only those mentioned by Allah the Exalted in the Qur'an? And how do we rule that the people of a dwelling or a country in this time are afflicted if they are struck by a calamity such as earthquakes and volcanoes? Is it said that it is a land of punishment?

Answer:
What is said is that these earthquakes occur even in the lands of Muslims, and calamities occur in the lands of Muslims. Rather, those whom Allah destroyed by punishment, such as the lightning that took the people of Thamud, such as the wind that destroyed the people of 'Ad, such as the drowning in the flood by which Allah drowned the people of Noah. As for earthquakes occurring or calamities occurring, this happens to Muslims and disbelievers alike. However, the Muslim considers even what happens to Muslims as such, and that what struck them was only because of their sins.

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Is it permissible to watch programs?

Answer:
(Exalted and Majestic is He) said to the hypocrites: Yes.