We must remember, and the opening verse of each chapter of the Quran reminds us that two principal attributes of God are that He is the Lord of Grace and the Lord of Mercy. With regard to punishment and chastisement, His law is:

…I will inflict My punishment on whom I will; but My mercy encompasses all things… (Ch.7: V 157)

Again ……

And when those who believe in Our Signs come to thee, says: ‘Peace be unto you! Your Lord has taken it upon Himself to show mercy, so that whoso among you does evil ignorantly and repents thereafter and amends, then He is Most Forgiving, Merciful’. (Ch.6: V.55)

God’s purpose is to lead mankind into His grace and mercy: His purpose is not to punish. Misfortune and calamities overtake us in consequence of our defaults and transgressions, but the gates of God’s mercy are ever open, and everyone may enter them through righteous action and humble supplication. Even when wrong has been committed, the door of repentance is open:

Why should Allah punish you, if you are thankful and if you believe? And Allah is Appreciating, All-Knowing. (Ch.4: V 148)

Here is an assurance of great comfort:

Say, ‘O my servants who have committed excesses against their own souls! despair not of the mercy of Allah, surely Allah forgives all sins. Verily He is Most Forgiving, Merciful. And turn ye to your Lord and submit yourselves to Him, before there comes unto you the punishment; for then you shall not be helped. And follow the best teaching that has been revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you unawares; while you perceive it not; Lest a soul should say, ‘O my grief for my remissness in my duty in respect of Allah! and surely I was among those who scoffed. Or lest it should say. ‘If Allah had guided me I should certainly have been among the righteous’, or lest it should say, when it sees the punishment, ‘Would that there were for me a return to the world, I would then be among those who do good.’ (Ch.39: Vs.54-59)

Turn to God

The true remedy, therefore, for the ills that afflict us today and that threaten to overwhelm us tomorrow, is for us to turn to God with the single minded purpose of making our peace with Him, having sincerely determined that in all matters whatever our guiding rule shall be, ‘Thy will, and not mine.’ Truly we stand again at the brink of a pit of fire. God’s grace and mercy alone can save us. To win His grace and mercy we must turn to Him alone the One God, ever Gracious, most Merciful, discarding all that may ever have been associated with Him and from whom mankind may at any time, have brought protection, beside Him. There is no other way.

Once we turn to the One God in sincere repentance, He will lead us out of the shadows and the darkness into the light. He will guide us along the paths of peace:

O People of the Book there has come to you Our Messenger who unfolds to you much of what you had hidden of the Book, and passes over much. There has come to you indeed, from Allah, a light and a clear Book.

Thereby does Allah guide those who seek His pleasure on the paths of peace, and leads them out of every kind of darkness into the Light by His will, and guides them to the right path. (Ch.5: Vs.16-17)

Again,

Allah is the friend of those who believe; He brings them out of every kind of darkness into light. And those who believe not, their friends are the transgressors, who bring them out of light into every kind of darkness. (Ch.2: V.258)

All knowledge proceeds from God. Man encompasses only so much of it as God pleases:

…He knows what is before them and what is behind them; and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He pleases. His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth; and the care of them burdens Him not. He is the High, the Great. (Ch.2: V.256)

He who has, in due order, vouchsafed to man the knowledge of the properties of the atom and of the principles of fission and fusion, surely has it in His power to bestow upon man of the knowledge and comprehension, or principles and properties which may provide adequate safeguards and full immunity against the aggressive use of nuclear power:

And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures thereof, and We send it not down except in a known measure. (Ch. 15: V.22)

God constantly revealed Himself in a new state. Having revealed Himself as creator or nuclear power, He surely, may go on to reveal Himself as its guardian and controller; for all is within His power and under His control. It is only by turning to Him that security may be achieved:

Of Him do beg all that are in the heavens and the earth. Every day He reveals Himself in a different state (Ch.55: V.30)

The two powers to whom reference has been made have been warned:

…if you have power to go beyond the confines of the heavens and the earth, then do go. But you cannot go save with authority. (Ch.55: V.34)

But, with authority from on high, there is no limit to beneficent achievement:

And He gave you all that you wanted of Him; and if you try to count the favours of Allah, you will not be able to number them. Verily, man is very unjust, very ungrateful. (Ch.14: V35)

He, surely, also has power to inspire the minds of those who are today in control of nuclear power, and are in a position to determine and direct its application to agree upon measures which would ensure that such power shall be used only for the beneficent service of man, and shall not be employed for his destruction. He also has power to drive away from positions of authority those who continue to resist His will, and to oppose His designs:

Say , ‘O Allah, Lord of Sovereignty, Thou givest sovereignty to whomsoever thou pleasest: and Thou takest away sovereignty from whomsoever Thou pleasest. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou pleasest and Thou abasest whomsoever Thou pleasest. In Thy hand is all good. Thou surely hast power to do all things. Thou makest the night pass into the day, and makest the day pass into the night. Thou bringest forth the living from the dead and bringest forth the dead from the living. And Thou givest to whomsoever Thou pleasest without measure’. (Ch.3: Vs.27-28)

Such is God our Lord. Let us, therefore, turn to Him, to Him alone, The True, the Living the One God. Let us humbly beseech Him to make our night pass into day and to bring us forth alive out of death,

Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between its and you that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’. (Ch.3: V.65)

Our last observation is:

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. (Ch. 1: V2)