by Bryan Pearson, 10 January 2005
The word Allah is inset on the satellite picture. Photo: DigitalGlobe
Colombo - God signed His name in the tsunami that battered Sri Lanka and other countries on December 26, and sent it as punishment because humans have been ignoring His laws, Sri Lankan Muslims say.
Proof, according to Mohamed Faizeen, manager of the Centre for Islamic Studies in Colombo, is a satellite picture taken seconds after the tsunami smashed into Sri Lanka's west coast near the town of Kalutara and as it was receding.
"This clearly spells out the name 'Allah' in Arabic," Faizeen said, pointing to the shape of the waves - a gigantic "E" complete with whorls and sidewaves that do indeed appear to combine to resemble the Arabic script for the name "Allah".
The picture was taken by the DigitalGlobe Quickbird satellite on December 26 at 10:20am local time, shortly after the moment of tsunami impact. It can be viewed at the website "Allah signed His name," Faizeen said. "He sent it as punishment. This comes from ignoring His laws."
He likened the tsunami to the Old Testament account of floods being sent by God in the time of Noah as punishment for those who had drifted from His ways.
He added that he had visited the mainly Muslim Ulvae, near the major town of Batticaloa, and found that a madrassa - an Islamic religious school - had been left untouched while 400 houses around it had been flattened with great loss of life.
The shorelines of many Asian countries hit by the waves had become playgrounds for Westerners and errant Muslims. Vices such as prostitution and drinking were rife, the cleric said.
"Allah first sends small punishments - like loss of business. If we ignore the warning, He sends bigger ones - loss of life. If we still ignore the warnings, the big punishments, like earthquakes and tsunamis will come."
Faizeen said areas of Sri Lanka mainly populated by Muslims were the hardest hit and that the waves were aimed at Muslims in Indonesia and Sri Lanka who he said had strayed from God's ways.
The island is around 70 percent Buddhist, 15 percent Hindu, 7.5 percent Muslim and 7.5 percent Christian.
Another Muslim leader, Muhammed Fawmey of the International Islamic Youth Front, said he too believed the tsunami was sent by God.
"He clearly signed His name in the waves," said Fawmey, who said the Arabic script in the waves had suddenly "appeared to me as in a vision" when he was staring at the satellite picture.
"The Koran says people can be punished through water or through fire," he added, referring to Islam's sacred scripture.
Scientists have a more rational explanation for the December 26 tsunami - an undersea earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale off the west coast of northern Sumatra.
"Near the source of submarine earthquakes, the seafloor is 'permanently' uplifted and down-dropped, pushing the entire water column up and down, the US Geological Survey says on its website.