Every corner of the universe abounds with manifestations of the unequalled creative artistry of our Almighty Allah.  Everywhere we look reflects Allah’s eternal might and grandeur. The blessings Allah bestows upon mankind are uncountable. Our Lord revealed this truth in the Quran:
 

If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl, 18)

The truth is that, it is too easy for Allah to create. This is stated in a verse:

The Originator of the Heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is. (Surat  al-Baqara, 117)

Our All-Mighty Allah, Who is exalted above anything, has the might to create anything whenever He wants. It is extremely easy for Him to create the precise balances that exist on the Earth such as Milky Way, Solar System, countless cosmic laws, physical values and measures surrounding the Earth. Allah is the Creator of the uncountable factors from the heat that Sun radiates to the velocity of the expansion of the Universe, from the fluidity of the water to the position of the Earth in the Milky Way, from the distance between the Moon and the Earth to the ratio of the gases in the atmosphere. Allah stated that it is easy for Him to create. This is related in the verse as follows:

Have they not seen how Allah brings creation out of nothing, then reproduces it? That is easy for Allah. (Surah al-Ankabut, 19)

When we consider that Allah creates everything He wishes whenever He wants at anytime with flawless artistry, we can better understand that Allah creates everything that befalls man with divine wisdom. Indeed, in everything that happens there is absolutely Allah’s providence, a destiny He determined, a goodness and purpose. Nothing ever happens by itself and without a purpose. Even the slightest details like the fall of a leaf occurs within Allah’s knowledge, as a sign of His perfect artistry, with goodness and purpose.

The keys of the Unseen are in His possession. No one knows them but Him. He knows everything in the land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it. There is no seed in the darkness of the earth, and nothing moist or dry which is not in a Clear Book.  (Surat al-An’am, 59)

Therefore many incidents that can be considered as a deficiency were actually created within a destiny for goodness and purpose and again displays the endless creative might and artistry of Allah. There are purposes for human beings in being mortal, vulnerable to tiniest microbes and having been created as a being that has many flaws which is in need of food and sleep.  Thus, a man who is able to think rationally can easily understand that the life of this world is temporary and deficient. Therefore he does not feel attached to this world and turns to the Hereafter. Besides he can figure out how a helpless being he is  and appreciate Allah’s grandeur much better.    

It is apparent that if He willed, Allah, Who has the might to do anything, would not create this world as a deficient place. But being a place of trial, the world is created specially with flaws. For instance, hunger is a feeling specially created by Allah. No doubt, if Allah willed, there would not be such a concept. But actually hunger is specially created to put man to test and separate believers from unbelievers, the ones who persevere and submit to Allah from those who rebel against Allah. As a result of all this test, it makes Muslims attain rewards. As revealed in this example, there are many special divine purposes in all the other details that seem to be deficiencies.

In line of this thought, we can easily grasp that the concept of “famine” was also created with a special purpose. All the famines that occurred throughout history had some purposes.  Allah draws attention to what some of these purposes might be as follows:

Allah makes an example of a city which was safe and at peace, its provision coming to it plentifully from every side. Then it showed ingratitude for Allah’s blessings so Allah made it wear the robes of hunger and fear for what it did. A Messenger from among them came to them but they denied him. So the punishment seized them and they were wrongdoers. (Surah an-Nahl, 112-113)

As is known, prophets are the blessed individuals that Allah created to guide people to  the right path.  There are many special purposes in the events that take place in a community following their turning away from a messenger who calls them to have faith in Allah. In the Qur’an, Allah expounds the situation of those communities in the past who turned away after a warning came to them. Indeed, in the verses above, Allah relates the story of a community which lived in abundance and peace but was struck by famine due to their ingratitude to Allah.

In the Surah Yusuf, there is also reference to a community which was struck by famine. As a punishment or a warning of Allah, this famine might have befallen to that community due to the injustice done to the Prophet Yusuf (as) by the prominent people of that community. Allah knows the truth.

The age in which we live is a special period all believers have been waiting for 1400 years. It is a period with historical importance during which Hazrat Mahdi (as) will start to spread Allah’s light all over the world and Prophet Jesus (as)  will return to the Earth. These events are heralded by our Prophet (saas). In this distinctive period unprecedented events have successively occurred and continue to occur.

As can be seen in many examples in the Qur’an, afflictions may unexpectedly come to those people who turn away from Allah’s warnings, from unrecognized directions. As one would notice, in our day people are stuck in many troubles that they have no idea how they get into. Lack of sincerity and intimacy among people, inability to take pleasure from beauties, unhappiness, constant depression have become the afflictions they can not evade. Turning away from Allah’s religion and the morality of the Qur’an and their attachment to this temporary life of this world rather than turning to the Hereafter cause them to lead miserable lives. This is in fact a hidden type of affliction they never calculated. Having indulged themselves into the worldly interests and forgetting their duties as a servant of Allah make them encounter afflictions they have never expected. As they chase more after the worldly values, the world leaves them more rapidly and they get into the downward spiral of lovelessness, insincerity and psychological diseases. As a result they lose their physical strength and age in a short time. However this age of Hazrat Mahdi (as) is a period when people all over the world are openly called to fulfill their duties as servants to Allah. Through various means humanity is constantly warned by Allah’s verses and signs. A person who is knowledgeable about the Qur’an easily recognizes that people who turn away from faith are first reciprocated by loss of love and sensitivity towards beauties and failure to attain real happiness. The economic crisis occurring in our day sets an example for it. So much so that people have encountered a trouble enclosing the entire world in a single day. Allah knows the truth.