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Abstract
This paper asserts that both Christian and Islamic traditions of faith affect the ways in which people both try to make sense of, and respond to, disasters. This contention is supported by the results of empirical research, which demonstrates that differing Islamic and Christian perspectives on human suffering caused by disasters are neither as diverse, nor are they so intractable, as is commonly supposed. Today pastoral convergence between the two traditions may also be discerned, together with a general acceptance of the policies of both State agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which are concerned with hazard relief and the propagation of policies of disaster risk reduction (DRR). Indeed some important disaster relief NGOs have emerged from Islamic and Christian faith communities and are supported by charitable donations.
本文主张，基督教与伊斯兰传统信仰，同时影响人们试图理解与回应灾难的方式。此一主张由经验研究的结果支持，该研究证实，伊斯兰与基督教对于人类受灾难折磨的观点差异并非如一般预想的迥然不同或如此难以解决。今日亦可观察到两造传统的牧养结合，以及对于有关救灾和宣传灾害风险降低（DRR）的政策之国家行动者和非政府组织（NGOs）的普遍认可。若干重要的救灾NGOs的确从伊斯兰和基督教信仰团体中浮现，并受到慈善捐款资助。
Este trabajo sostiene que las tradiciones de fé, tanto cristianas como las islámicas, afectan el modo como la gente trata de sacarle sentido a los desastres y responder a los mismos. Nuestra opinión se apoya en los resultados de la investigación empírica, que demuestra que las diferentes perspectivas islámicas y cristianas sobre el sufrimiento humano originado en catástrofes no son ni tan diversas ni son tampoco tan inmanejables como comúnmente se supone. La actual convergencia pastoral entre las dos tradiciones puede también discernirse, al lado de una aceptación general de las políticas de agencias del estado y organizaciones no gubrnamentales (ONGs), preocupadas con el alivio por las catástrofes y la propagación de políticas de reducción de los riesgos de desastres. En verdad, algunas importantes ONGs dedicadas al alivio de este tipo de calamidades son iniciativas de comunidades de fe islámica y cristiana y se sostienen con donaciones caritativas.
Notes
1. For instance, in a study of 49 volcanic eruptions occurring between 1850 and 2002 (Chester and Duncan Citation2007), it was found that religious responses, were often not recorded in learned journals or by government agencies, but were “hidden” in such sources as web-sites, newspapers of record (i.e. major newspapers whose new-gathering and editorial functions are considered to be authoritative) and in anthropological studies. Interrogation of these sources showed that of the 49 cases, only 16 showed no evidence of religion being important in the response. This study was based on internationally available materials, but of the 16 it is known that in some instances when local sources are examined then a religious dimension emerges. For instance, official reports make no reference to religious responses following the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens in the USA, yet such reactions were well documented by the local press (Blong Citation1984).
2. The authors have published catalogues of disaster losses that occurred in either majority Islamic countries, or ones having a significant Muslim minority, from 1890 to 2009 and 1856 to 2010, respectively, for earthquakes and eruptions (Chester, Duncan, and Al G Dhanhani Citation2013). Despite there being 55 major earthquakes in the catalogue, only ca. 29% have usable accounts of human impact being explained in Islamic terms. For volcanic eruptions the situation is better with usable records being available in ca. 66% of cases. As for countries with a Christian ethos (see footnote 1), so in Islamic societies the situation is improving with the publication of more detailed local studies. Judith Schlehe’s detailed anthropological research on Indonesian eruptions is particularly noteworthy (Schlehe Citation1996, Citation2008). This demonstrates that, despite a dearth of conventionally published and accessible materials, religious responses are both well-established and of long-standing. Elsewhere, “although arguments from silence are always weak, detailed investigation of local archives could well reveal that the influence of Islam is more deep-seated and widespread” than has been appreciated (Chester, Duncan, and Al G Dhanhani Citation2013, 280).
3. In theology the German term weltanschauung is used. This means more than the English term “worldview” and involves, “a fundamental orientation .. that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions … which we hold.. about the basic construction of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (Sire Citation2009, 15–16). As argued later in the paper for many, but not all, adherents to Christianity and Islam, their weltanschauung shapes their attitude, not only to the cause of disaster losses, but also to praxis.
4. Although Till (Citation2012) excludes “harming” from external causes, in earlier studies of wounded cities (e.g. Schneider and Susser Citation2003) extreme outside events including wars and natural extremes were included. More recent treatments, such as that of Vargas (Citation2016) and his research into violent gang turf wars in Chicago, like Karen Till stresses endogenous rather than exogenous factors.
5. For example in the early years of the current millennium the well-regarded text, At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability and Disasters (Wisner et al. Citation2004), makes only passing mention to religion as being an important element of culture.
6. Geomythology is the study of oral traditions that preserve the memories of pre-historic geological events. Archaeological and historical investigations, which investigate attempts to propitiate supposedly angry deities and so seek to prevent catastrophes, are well established fields of research (Harris Citation2000; Sheets Citation2015; Sigurdsson Citation1999; Vitaliano Citation1973). One important contribution has been the seminal research of the anthropologist Mary Douglas (Douglas Citation1966, Citation1970), who emphasised the relationships between societies, culture and religious expression.
7. In some countries, especially in the Anglophone world, an “Act of God” remains a term that is enshrined in insurance law and some contracts to define losses caused by disasters that are outside human control and for which no person can be held responsible.
8. Pre-industrial was a term used to characterise the ways in which a society at a particular level of economic development would respond to natural catastrophes (White Citation1974, 5). Pre-industrial societies involve responses to hazards being focused on local initiatives which involve a wide range of actions, are flexible and harmonise with nature. Individuals and groups are involved and the role of the State is minimal.
9. The Hyogo Framework for Action (2005–2015) was inaugurated at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction which was held in Japan in January 2005. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) is a revised version and was published during a second World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. This was also held in Japan ten years later (United Nations Citation2006, Citation2014, Citation2015). The only specific mention of religion in the Sendai Framework concerns the need to “protect or support..sites of historical, cultural heritage and religious interest” (page 20), but culture and society in its broadest sense (including religion) permeates the whole document. References include: the need “to promote a culture of disaster prevention, resilience and responsible citizenship (page 16) and for community-based organisations (including presumably those with a religious ethos) to assist in advocating “resilient communities and an inclusive and all-of-society disaster risk management that strengthen(s) synergies across groups” (page 36) (United Nations Citation2015).
10. Theodicy is a compound of two Greek words θεός (theos)—God and δῐ́κη (dike)—justice. In this paper no distinction is made between a theodicy and a defence. The former is a rationale for divine action, whereas the latter has the more modest desire to refute arguments against the existence of God because of the existence of suffering (Chester Citation1998, 488).
11. In date order and by no means an exhaustive list includes: Saints Augustine (354-430 CE) and Irenaeus (ca. 115-90 CE); David Hume (1711-76); Immanuel Kant (1724–1804); Feodor Dostoievsky (1821–1890); Karl Barth (1886–1968); C.S. Lewis (1898–1963); Austin Farrer (1904–68); John Hick (1922–2012); Jürgen Moltmann (born 1926) and Dorothee Sölle (1929–2003).
12. For instance: Numbers 16: 28-35; 2 Samuel 22: 8; Psalm 104: 31-32; Isaiah 24: 18-20; Jeremiah 10:10; Nahum 1: 5 and Habakkuk 3: 6.
13. Derived from the Greek word eschatos (ἔσχατος)—last or final, eschatology is the theology of heaven, hell, death, judgment and the future of both individuals and humankind.
14. Biblical quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). “New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
15. There is an extensive discussion of this point in Chester and Duncan (Citation2009, 320–321).
16. ‘But how conceive a God supremely good,Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?What eye can pierce the depth of his designs?From that all-perfect Being came not ill:And came it from no other, for he’s lord:Yet it exists. O stern and numbing truth!O wondrous mingling of diversities!’(Le désastre de Lisbonne—translation McCabe Citation1912, 259–260).
17. It should also be noted that the division between Sunni and Shi’a has no relevance to an Islamic understanding of disasters. It is the oldest and most significant split in the community and relates to political developments and ethic considerations that occurred over who should be Muhammad’s successor and leader after the prophet’s death.
18. Hadith are oral traditions which record the actions of Muhammad.
19. The Qur’an is divided into 114 suwar, or chapters.
20. The Mu’tazillite school originated in the 8th century CE. The Ash’arites date was the tenth century CE and take their name from Al Ashrai, who was originally a Mu’tazillite, but recanted his belief to become one the greatest and most influential Islamic scholars, reverting to a belief in the absolute control of God over the whole of nature both animate and inanimate (Bowker Citation1970, 125–6).
21. Fatalism is the belief that God controls human destiny and the outcome of any actions people may take. Believers have to accept their fate (Elder Citation1966, 229).
22. The approach originated in the 1940s under the stimulus of President Roosevelt’s New Deal and was initially associated with attempts by Gilbert Fowler White (1911–2006) both to study floods and reduce their impacts within the USA. Later it was extended to cover a range of hazards across the world (Macdonald et al. Citation2012; White Citation1945).
23. IDNDR ran from 1990–2000 and the ISDR from 2001 onwards.
24. Absolute loss of value is measured in monetary terms, usually US dollars. Relative loss of value is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan (Magnitude ca.7) the GDP cost was ca. 2%, whereas in poor countries it may be huge e.g. 120% in the case of the Haiti earthquake of 2010, which also had a magnitude of ca. 7 (Daniell, Wenzel, and Khazai Citation2010, 6).
25. In the Hebrew Bible a scapegoat was an animal which was ritually burdened with the sins of others, then driven into the desert to carry away the sins of Israel (Leviticus 16). Whilst the majority of theologians and non-theologians (e.g. Cloke Citation2011) follow the interpretations of Girard (Citation1972, Citation1977) and Schwager (Citation1987), the anthropologist, Mary Douglas (Douglas Citation2005) adopts an alternative interpretation in which the scapegoat does not atone for human transgressions, but functions as an envoy of peace and reconciliation to those excluded from the covenant between God and Israel. The latter interpretation of the scapegoat narrative is so far removed from the Christian and Islamic theological and anthropological mainstream, that it is not considered further in this paper.
26. Structural sinfulness was first indentified by the liberation theologians of the 1970s and 1980s. It was viewed as a means by which the poor and disadvantaged were subjugated (Boff Citation1979; Gutiérrez Citation1988).
27. The reactions of local inhabitants of Merapi volcano in central Java, Indonesia are often cited as examples of a religiously based passive acceptance of eruption losses (Donovan, Suryanto, and Utami Citation2012; Cannon Citation2015, 95). For instance in the 2010 eruption, Mbah Maridjan a local “spiritual guardian” of the volcano, gained notoriety by staying in his village together with thirty-four people who also refused to evacuate: all perished (Mei et al. Citation2013). Indonesia in general and central Java more particularly, are notable for their syncretic relationships between Islam and pre-Islamic religions and practice. Indeed these action by Mbah Maridjan and the villagers are regarded by Islamic commentators as being highly heterodox and not in accord with orthodox beliefs (Bagir Citation2012, 362).
28. The others are: reciting the profession of faith; praying five times a day; fasting during the month of Ramadan and the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
29. Other groups are: travellers in need; those committed to the way of God; non-Muslims who are sympathetic to Islam; those who wish to convert; slaves and those in bondage; those whose debts are overwhelming and those who collect the Zakat (Benthall Citation2003).
30. Early research in hazard studies (Burton and Kates Citation1964, 433) used the term “cognitive dissonance.” In many but not all more recent studies “parallel practice” has been preferred because cognitive dissonance has a far more restricted meaning in psychology (Carroll Citation1990).
31. A full list of signatories of the 1994 Code of Conduct for International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and Non-Governmental Organisations in Disaster Relief is available. Accessed August 22 2017. http://www.ifrc.org/en/publications-and-reports/code-of-conduct/signatories-of-the-code-of-conduct-/.
32. Sadly one current issue for Islamic development and disaster relief charities is the provision of relief in war zones, where counter-terrorism legislation and policies in donor counties may negatively impact their work both in the field and in securing funds. With respect to British charities, a detailed study by the Overseas Development Institute (Metcalf-Hough, Keatinge, and Pantuliano Citation2015, 12), found some risk that organisations may be abused for extremist purposes, but that this has been greatly exaggerated by the popular media, though the report calls for “improved due diligence procedures and improved governance, such as fraud and money laundering; and those that are inherent in the provision of aid in high risk conflict contexts, such as theft of aid or attacks on staff or promises.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
David K. Chester
DAVID K. CHESTER is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool L16 9JD, UK and Senior Fellow, Department of Geography and Planning, at the University of Liverpool. E-mail [email protected]. He has spent more than four decades researching volcanic and seismic hazards, and has worked in Italy, Portugal (including the Azores) and the USA. He is an ordained priest in the Church of England (Episcopalian) and has researched religious responses to disasters since the 1990s.
Angus M. Duncan
ANGUS M. DUNCAN is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX. E-mail [email protected]. He completed his Ph.D. in volcanology in the 1970s and has carried out research on volcanoes across a range of countries, especially in Italy and the Azores. He has also published widely on human responses to eruptions and other categories of hazard.
Janet Speake
JANET SPEAKE is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool L16 9JD, UK. E-mail [email protected]. She is is an economic and urban geographer whose long-standing research has focused on urban regeneration, visual culture, and spaces of affectivity. Much of her work explores the synergistic interfaces that operate when working within an interdisciplinary context.