If Katrina was the vengeance of Allah, what

So far, at least, we are none the wiser about why God sent an earthquake to kill so many people in Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We can only hope that sooner or later his purpose will be made evident, so that we all might learn. Why would he torture his people so?

The mullahs have been remarkably silent. The earthquake struck during the onset of Ramadan in two of the world’s most devoutly Muslim countries. It is almost unbelievable that not a single bearded cleric from this most certain and steadfast of religions has offered some sort of explanation for the appalling loss of life and destruction of property. Is it not a judgment upon the Western-imposed infidel, General Pervaiz Musharraf? Or perhaps he wishes for the restoration of the Taleban government in Kabul?

It is odd that no Islamic scholar, holed up in some dusty godforsaken madrasa, has so far advanced these arguments on Allah’s behalf. Previous so-called ‘natural’ disasters, wheresoever they might have occurred, have provoked an immediate and righteous response from the imams. We recall the words of the fine Palestinian cleric Yusuf Abu Sneina, addressing his congregation the morning after Hurricane Katrina had laid waste to New Orleans and a goodly proportion of the US Gulf state sea coast: ‘Oh, Muslims! The greatness of the USA has fallen in the face of the storm. Was the USA able to stop Allah’s power and limit his will?’ Yusuf was asking a rhetorical question here, of course. The answer, which we all knew, was: no, the USA was unable to resist Allah’s will.

Even within the belly of the warmongering infidel whore, the cry was raised. That old Muslim battle-axe (and criminal) Louis Farrakhan clambered aboard the television bandwagon to suggest that the hurricane was nothing less than a judgment of Allah.