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PROBLEM OF EVIL - FADIL SULIMAN - ISLAMOHPHOBIA
Among the questions that the youth frequently ask is that if there is a God, and God is forgiving and capable of everything, how is there all this evil in the world?
And this is one of the questions that makes people hopeless and leads them down the wrong path of atheism.
It’s not that they don’t have faith in a Creator, it’s that they don’t believe that there can be this Creator while there is so much evil in the world.
Like wars, which are created by humans. But also other disasters, such as earthquakes, which humans can’t create.
Anthony Flew, who wrote the book "There Is a God" and was one of the biggest atheists in 2004, wrote that he believed in a Creator, and talked about how there is good and evil in the world.
He said that as long as there is a mind that led us to believe in a Creator, the amount of evil in the world doesn’t mean that there is or isn’t a Creator.
The issue is the characteristics of the Creator. Here we can talk about if the Creator is forgiving or not, but not about his existence.
He showed His existence with proofs, and so if someone says they don’t believe in God because of evil, tell them no, this is an issue that doesn’t interfere with the existence God.
This issue concerns the characteristics of God. But God is real, thats the first thing. Number two, let’s talk about these evil or harmfull entities.
There are two different types. The first one is the evil that is created by humans. No one can blame God for a problem they created by themselves.
God said “O mankind! Lo! We have created you from male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another.”
He didn’t say so you can kill each other and He didn’t say so you can start wars against one another. So we can not blame God for wars that were waged by humans.
This wars are man made, but there is a lot of evil things out there that humans have not created. Like earthquakes, volcanoes, most diseases, like cancer, etc...
Anthony Flew said that all this evil also has a little bit of good in it. He said if this evil didn’t exist, then we wouldn’t be able so see the good.
If it wasn't for these evil incidents, we wouldn’t see people being nice to each other and volunteering to help one another.
Childhood cancer is a horrible thing, and I wish it would disappear off the face of the earth, but without this cancer, people wouldn’t have come together to make hospitals and such in order to help these kids.
There wouldn’t be scientific development and research done in order to improve and find new medicine for this cancer.
People were forced to research and find new methods in order to overcome these problems, and because of this, they were able to gain new knowledge.
And at the same time, one found good in humans. But we still have to ask ourselves, does this idea conflict with the mercy of God?
This question will never be answered until you put this world in perspective. Whoever sees this world as the best place ever will never understand the mercy of God.
Qur'an: "And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the [eternal] life, if only they knew" The Hereafter is the whole real life, while this wolrd is just a tiny part.
Just like a test in high school, when a student is done, they go to the place of the tests and they don’t find it. It’s gone. That’s how this world is also.
This is exactly what this world is. It’s almost like a market, some people win and some people lose.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said “A person in this world is like a traveler on a hot summer. They see a tree, sit under it to rest, and then they continue on their path.”
So this world is a short but crucial moment because it determines the afterlife. Whatever happens in this world is nothing compared to what will happen in the hereafter.
Anything good and pleasurable that happens in this world will, once again, be nothing compared to what will happen in the hereafter.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that if someone lives a very lavish and luxurious life and feels but a small burn from hell in the afterlife, he will swear that none of the luxuries he had in his life was worth this pain.
Because the pain of hell can not be compared with any worldly pain no matter the severity. Likewise, if someone lived a difficult and calamitous life and spent a moment in paradise
he will say that nothing difficult enough happened to him in his life to deserve the great blessings of paradise, even if for a fleeting moment. For the blessings of paradise can not be compared with the blessings of this world.
And this means that no matter how bad we feel, it’s all a test. God is testing us to see if we’re thankful when He takes our blessings away from us.
God is testing us to see if we’ll be patient. Someone can say God created me and I’m not happy. Well, ask them, who said that you were created to live happily?
If that was the case, then God would have created us in a paradise. We’re all living in a test. There’s no such thing as real happiness. This is later on in paradise, only if you passed the test called life.
The best happiness that you can have in this world is to live in peace with God and the people around you. And this can happen if you listen to God’s rules.
So now we have to ask ourselves, does the evil in this world go against God’s mighty ways?
Couldn’t God create this world without all these evils? No, He created them for a reason. He left the evils because they are part of what makes up this world.
Because this whole world is a test. A test to test my patience and how much I can handle living in it.
But if a test was easy and everyone got the same high score at the end, then that means there’s something wrong with that test.
So this world can neither be very hard or very easy. This world’s missing pieces are what makes it full in the end.
Once, a young man came up to me and said “Is Qur’an is supposed to be perfectly correct?” And I told him yes. He replied "But the Qur’an says:
“Surely, We created man of the best stature.” When I personally go into a race with horses, the horses outrun me. I can’t compare my lungs with the lungs of a dolphin.
So I can’t be compared to other animals because they are more talented than me in certain things. So in order to understand the Qur’an, you have to understand where it’s coming from.
This Surah starts with a section that swears to God. It shows that this section can’t be on something that’s clear.
That means that I can’t swear to God that this is a pen. It’s clear that it’s a pen. I don’t have to swear that it is one.
But I must swear on what is not clear. I can swear that inside this pen, there is ink. Yes, that’s ok because this isn’t as clear to us.
But God swears in this Surah. He says “ By the fig and the olive, By Mount Sinai, And by this land made safe; Surely We created man of the best stature.”
As long as God swore, that means that the issue at hand isn’t as clear. There’s more to it than what is written.
“Then we reduced him to the lowest of the low, Save those who believe and do good works, and theirs is a reward unfailing. So who henceforth will give the lie to thee about the judgment? Is not Allah the most conclusive of all judges?”
This issue is talking about religion. The best brain in this world is the mind of a person. Actually it’s the only brain in the world that is called a mind
Animals have brains, but we have minds. This mind was made to prove that there is a Creator. But if the mind says that there is no Creator, it’s almost as if it killed itself.
So we can say that the brain of a person is the best because it’s the only brain that was able to create civilizations.
You’ll never see other animals kick animals out in order to build civilizations in their place. This is only found in humans.
Even if the horse is faster than the human, or the dolphin has better lungs, we have a mind that isn’t found in other animals.
So we were created of the best stature. Knowing that there is a Creator proves that we have a mind.
In the end, it’s a proven fact that humans are God’s slaves, whether they like it or not. Even if they’re atheist and don’t believe in God, they’re still a slave to God.
That’s the system, and no one can change it. But the difference is whether you’re an obedient slave or not.
Whether one is a slave who is at peace with God or one who wants to fight God and live in depression.
We have the opportunity to live life in peace. Inner peace with God and inner peace with the soul. And that’s what we need to do in this world.