FROM ONE DISASTER TO ANOTHER

I’ve not forgotten about a tsunami disaster in Aceh 2.5 years ago. Now, a disaster has struck again in Indonesia. Oh my God, what kind of disaster that you send to us? What’s wrong with us? Did we commit a lot of sins so you send us the disaster again?

I was surprised when an earthquake happened in Jogja, the center of Java Island, on the 27th of May. I thought it was not a devastating quake. According to USA Today, more than 5000 people have been killed. It destroyed more than 105,000 homes. About 80% of Bantul was flattened by the quake. And more than 200,000 Indonesians left homeless. It was a 6.3 - magnitude earthquake. The epicentrum was in the Indian Ocean, about 5 kilometers from Bantul and about 20 kilometers from Jogja.

A disaster can’t be predicted. While people were concentrating on Mount Merapi, a devastating earthquake happened in Jogja. There was no a relationship between the activity of Mount Merapi and the earthquake. It was a tectonic earthquake, and not a volcanic earthquake. God decided He wouldn’t erupt mount Merapi but He made the earthquake. People are only planners, but God is the decision maker.

God might be warning us that we must remember Him. To avoid an eruption, people in mount merapi did a ritual offering. In Islam religion, it was syirk ( not believing in one God). Most people in Java are superstitious. God might be angry then He made the earthquake. Besides, an earthquake happened because of a movement between Eurasian and Indo-Australia lithospheres.

Most survivors were still living in group shelters. They should be given religious guidance to avoid trauma. They must be patient and accept what happened to them. According to Qur’an at http://www.al-islam.com/, An Nahl (16), verse 96 : “ What is with you must vanish. What is with Allah will endure. And We will certainly bestow, on those who patiently persevere, their reward according to the best of their actions”.

We must help our brothers and sisters in tragedy with all our efforts. A disaster can happen everywhere. We must not be complacent and we must not feel that a disaster wouldn’t happen in Surabaya. Once again, we must always remember God and we must be in straight.