In both developing and developed countries...

In both developing and developed countries, millions of people are suffering because of pover ty. Poverty is the most common social disease. Many of the poor people in the world cannot buy the food, shelter, clothing, and medical care that they need. This creates frustration, hopelessness and lack of interest in life. In the late 1980's, it was estimated that I billion people, about a fifth of the world's population, were so poor that their health and lives were endangered.

But what is the cause of poverty and who should be held responsible for all that suffering ? Man or God ? Poverty has variety of causes. Some of them are being mentioned here. a- Lack of education, skills and aptitude to do work. Many people don't want to do work. They suffer due to their laziness or less interest in work. Some people think that Allah Subhanahu taala is our sustainer and He has taken the responsibility of our basic needs.

It is true, but still a lot of effor ts are needed to take our share from the Divine warehouse. So in many cases poverty is due to the under utilization of human potential and natural resources. b- Inflation also significantly contributes to pover ty. Inflation means increasing the price of goods which affects a certain group of the society. We experience this problem now and then.

This is a man-made cause in which human selfish nature works to get as much as possible without considering anything. c- Some countries are poor because of lack of exper tise and equipment needed to produce adequate food supplies for most of their people. It is also due to the lack of involvement in science and technology. d- Many women become poor after they are divorced or separated from their husbands. It is also a personal reason.

e - In some cases poverty also results from natural disasters such as floods, droughts or poor harvests. This can also be the indirect cause of our wrongdoing which we shall discuss later. Thus in most of the cases we find that the hunger and pover ty are mainly either due to the improper distribution of amenities or under utilization of natural abilities and resources Divine Punishments It is important to know more about the Divine punishments.

Quran has described the Divine punishments in detail. However, it is not easy for an ordinary person to identify the Divine punishment and more importantly its actual cause. Diseases and epidemics Disease is also a major cause of sufferings.