Causes of the Occurrence of Punishment and Destruction

Question:
I heard a statement from one of the well-known scholars in the Kingdom, who is attested to for his goodness, in which he said: The Sunnah of Allah is established until the Day of Resurrection; when disbelief, open sinfulness, and disobedience increase, and vice spreads, it is only a sign of the occurrence of punishment and destruction. Allah destroyed previous nations, some by the flood, some by the wind, and so on. In this era, people have exceeded the limit in disbelief and disobedience, and affliction has spread across all the earth except what Allah wills. This time it will not be by water or air, but by fire. Allah is free from futility, and the atom, hydrogen, or what is called nuclear armament did not exist except for a high wisdom. One day the earth will be purified, and only the sincere believing group will remain. Allah the Exalted said: [Surat al-Ra'd: 31] to the end of the verse. What is your opinion, Your Eminence, on this?

Answer:
There is no doubt that the matter is great, and that the reality warns of danger, because evil has spread and become widespread. There is no doubt that the reality among people today includes types of disbelief, misguidance, and apparent sins, as well as numerous crimes. There is no doubt that this indicates danger, and that people are in great peril. But just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us:
And a time will come upon people in which Allah will destroy all the disbelievers, and nothing will remain except Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that this will occur by the hand of 'Isa (peace be upon him). When 'Isa (peace be upon him) descends, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that he will judge by what is with us, the Shari'ah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and that he will kill the pig, break the cross, abolish the jizyah, and not accept it, and he will not accept anything except Islam alone. And Allah will destroy all religions in his time, until nothing remains except Islam, and until prostration is for Allah alone. This means that He will bring down punishment and evil upon the disbelievers until none of them remains except the Muslims, by the hand of 'Isa (peace be upon him).
As for before that, the trial exists, and the testing exists. Allah tests some people with others, and these are afflicted with punishment, and these are afflicted with punishment, and the others are saved. This is the Sunnah of Allah in His servants.
And He afflicted some nations with a general punishment, as He afflicted the people of Nuh, and He afflicted the people of Hud with a specific punishment, which was the barren wind, and He afflicted the people of Salih, who were Thamud, with a specific punishment, which was the shout and the earthquake, and He did not destroy the others.
Likewise, He afflicted the people of Lut with a subsidence; Allah caused their homes to sink beneath them, while others were spared, and He punished them with a specific punishment for their deep immersion in corruption, shirk (associating partners with Allah), and sodomy, and other corruption such as highway robbery, and so on. Allah punished them with a specific punishment, overturning their cities upon them and causing them to sink—may Allah grant us safety.
And He punished Pharaoh and his people by destroying them in the sea, and He saved the Children of Israel, among other punishments that befall some people. Punishments may also occur with these new weapons, as happened to Japan in the last war, and as happened to others with the great, devastating killing in which millions of people died. Some people may be afflicted today with protracted wars in which hundreds of thousands and millions are destroyed—may Allah grant us safety—by this new weapon.
And other punishments may occur. You also see punishments where planes crash and hundreds of people are killed, and cars collide and overturn, and a great number of people die in them. All of these are a type of punishment—may Allah grant us safety and well-being.