Arabic-Speaking YouTube, Twitter, And Facebook Users Describe Severe Drought In Europe As Sign Of The End Times, Divine Punishment For Legalization Of Homosexuality

In reaction to the severe drought in Europe, which one report said is the worst in at least 500 years,[1] several Arabic-language YouTubers, including Islamists and social media influencers rushed to conclude that it is one of the signs of the end times and a divine punishment for the acceptance in the West of LGBT people. Some even argued that the drought was intentionally engineered to push Europe to take part in a global war to help the U.S. remain the world's only superpower.

Commenting on news reports about drought hitting Europe, Egyptian Islamist YouTuber Khaled Elalfy published a video on August 13, 2022, titled "The Demise of the Old Continent. Be alert of What they Are Going To Do To You"[2] in which he said: "This is Allah's punishment to them. This sudden change did not happen in a short period and not that they have just woken up to find out that their gardens have turned into deserts and that the rivers have dried up... they want to convince you that this matter was caused by global warming and that kinds of nonsense and lies but [the fact is it is the result of] ages and years throughout history in misguiding mankind, committing indecency and abominations, sinning, and waging war against Allah, his prophet, Islam and Muslims on all fronts. Now, the time has come for Allah to avenge his believers and those who have remained steadfast and displaced throughout history, had their limbs amputated, their properties stolen and their women raped and killed the worst kind of death everywhere in that continent in particular." Elalfy went on to say that "Allah had punished [the Europeans] by the wars that have destroyed them, then gave then another chance, and they sided with falsehood and continued to spread homosexuality..."

In another video published on August 17, 2022, Syrian YouTuber and researcher Abd Al-Dai'm Al-Kaheel considered the drought in Europe to be a sign of the end times and claimed that the "Arabian Peninsula or the land of Arabs looked like the Europe of today that is filled with gardens and rivers, but the drought waves that Europe is experiencing now will transform it into a dry continent and the Arabian Peninsula will gradually turn into gardens and rivers."[3] Al-Kaheel then cited a hadeeth in which Muhammad said that "the Land of Arabs will return to be [full of] gardens and rivers" before the Day of Judgment.

On August 18, 2022, Saudi YouTuber Faisal Ageeli published a video titled "The First Drought in Europe in 500 years"[4] in which he said that Allah "might be punishing the Europeans because of their recent actions and of their campaign for the people [LGBT] I do not want to talk about who are being included everywhere. It is as if my God is trying to warn them to wake up, even if you are polytheists and do not believe in me, you are committing a grave act. You are corrupting the nature of human beings... in addition to the vice that you are committing, you are disrespecting mankind and you are influencing Muslims too. You have left no one at peace. It is as if my God is punishing them because of that. Allah knows best and he knows how to punish them..."

Twitter user Hamad Al-Jasser, who has over 52,000 followers, expressed his belief that the drought in Europe is a divine punishment for the legalization of homosexuality. On August 15, 2022, he posted a tweet saying: "In a few months, Europe has experienced the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, price increases, a heat wave, and river dryness. My feeling is that these are an introduction to the divine punishment for homosexuality. Allah did not punish the people of Lot because of the presence of homosexuals among them but because they legalized homosexuality... And Europe now imposes homosexuality by the power of the state and the law."[5]

Al-Jasser's position was shared by Egyptian writer Tarek Al-Famy, who published a post on Facebook on August 21, 2022, saying: "The drought and climate change that are happening in Europe and the U.S. are part of Allah's war against those who commit sins publicly and against the affirmation and the protection of the rights of homosexuals.[6]"

Meanwhile, Jordanian YouTuber Ahmad Faheem has a different position regarding the drought in Europe. On August 17, 2022, he published a video in which he stressed that he could not believe that all these rivers would dry up in a day or so. He said: "I cannot believe that. I think it is a human act done by human hands that have dried up these rivers and these bodies of water... my brothers, experts on the future have said long time ago that there will come a time when science can control wind movement, weather temperature and science will be able to create tsunami waves and artificial earthquakes and volcanic eruptions."[7] He further noted that "there are parties who would benefit from the drought in Europe so that it will be coerced into engaging in a third world war in which Europe would be at the forefront... and fight on behalf of the Americans so that the U.S. remains on top of the world as the only superpower that no one can compete with... historically, global wars are ignited by the Europeans and the great empires such as Great Britain and the U.S. benefit from them."