Surah Anbiya 35 Every living creature will taste death. We test you with evil and good as a trial. In the end you will be returned to Us.
Interestingly, throughout history, many people, from philosophers to theologians, have been immersed in the strange questions raised under the title of "the problem of evil" such as "if God exists, why does suffering and evil exist", "why does He watch people do wrong", "what is the source of evil". In fact, these questions are answered in the Qur'anic verses, in the verses within us and in the universe, and even in our logic. As long as we know how to look at the whole picture.
This world is the realm of testing, of confronting oneself, and it is also the place where some small punishments or rewards begin to be offered. And every adversity or happiness that happens in this world functions both as a test and as a way of giving the person what they deserve. In my article titled "Destiny and Free Will", I have explained this issue with evidence:
http://emre1974tr.blogspot.com/2011/07/kader-ve-ozgur-irade.htmlThe universe we live in is a mixture of paradiseand hell. Just as in heaven there is pure pleasure, or in hell there is pure misery, in this world, which is a mixture of both, pleasure and misery are intertwined. Again, as I said, the bad things that happen in this life are actually because of what people do with their own hands or because of their wrong thoughts/beliefs.
Surah Rum Surah 36 When We give people a taste of mercy, they are relieved and spoiled with it. But when evil befalls them because of what their own hands have prepared, they immediately fall into despair.
Surah Shura 30 Every calamity that befalls you is because of what your hands have earned. Allah forgives many of them.
The adversities in this world have such a function in addition to revealing the bad and the good: warning and punishment...
The evil-doer is confronted with himself and has the chance to realize why he is destined for hell, or if he is destined for heaven, why he is suffering temporary hardship in this world, and so on.
On the other hand, the person who is subjected to this evil is actually tasting the suffering/punishment that they would have experienced anyway. Even if he had not suffered evil from someone else, he would still have experienced an equivalent suffering through an accident or illness.
Doing evil to others, denying the truth, or believing in superstitions and slandering Allah are all derivatives of confronting the evil in oneself. So when we think of cruelty, we should not only think of inflicting violence on others. One of the reasons why the so-called problem of evil is misperceived is that these details are not paid attention to and the issue is not evaluated in its entirety.
Surah Zumar 32 Who is more unjust than he who fabricates a lie about Allah and denies the truth that comes to him? Is there no shelter in Hell for the disbelievers?
A person does not do these things because Allah has created evil/wrong, but because he will do them anyway when he has free will, and our Lord gives him what he wants and deserves. The servants are responsible for all suffering. Both in this world and in hell...If all of the selves had chosen goodness, there would only be paradise and paradise-like places for the servants.
Surah Yunus 44 Allah does not oppress people in any way. But people oppress their own selves.
-Whatever comes to you of goodness and beauty is from Allah. Whatever evil and ugliness reaches you is from your own soul. We have sent you as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah is sufficient as a witness.
Human beings are destined for goodness and truth through the basic revelation given to them at creation. A servant who does not turn his back on the revelations within him knows from birth that doing good to others and believing in the one God is the right way:
7: 172 When your Lord brought forth the offspring from the loins of the sons of Adam, He made them witnesses to themselves: "Am I not the Lord your God?" They say, "Yes, we bear witness." So that on the Day of Resurrection you will not be able to say: "We were unaware of this".
Commit yourself to religion as a monotheist (hanif). Indeed, ALLAH has created mankind with such a creation. There is no change in God's creation. This is a perfect religion, but most people do not know (Surah Rum: 30)
In fact, this path was reinforced by the revelations and proofs that reached him later on.
Surah al-Human 3 We have guided him on the path, so he will either be grateful or ungrateful.
In this way, mankind has no excuse against his Master. Because beyond being created equidistant from good and evil, man was actually created as if programmed to be good, and then this was reinforced in various ways. Nevertheless, those who choose to be evil have not the slightest refuge.
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Since Allah Almighty knows who will do what with their free will and what their character will be like even before they are created, He has directly created those in this universe who do not deserve to be created in Paradise. In other words, no one created for the test in this world is completely innocent, otherwise they would not be subjected to the slightest experience of suffering:
Surah Ahzab
72 And We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shunned to bear it and were afraid of it. And man took it upon himself, though he was very unjust and very ignorant.
73 That this is so, Allah's; It is to punish hypocritical men and hypocritical women, and men and women who stray from shirk, and that he accepts the repentance of believing men and believing women. Allah is Ghafur, Rahim.
Surah Al-Nahl: 61 If Allah had punished mankind for their wrongdoing, He would have left nothing struggling on the earth. But He does not do so, but delays them until a certain period. When their time comes, they will not be able to go back an hour nor will they be able to go forward.
By the way, let us mention again that since our Lord knows who would do what and what wrongs they would exhibit if they were tested forever, the inhabitants of this universe are generally in a negative position in His eyes. Otherwise, this has nothing to do with Adam and his wife eating the forbidden fruit. No one can be blamed for another's sin and everyone is judged by God Almighty on what they have done and will do. So this is not to be confused with the Christian belief of being born a sinner...It also has nothing to do with the spiritist belief of being born to evolve/evolve. Even if Adam and his wife had not made that mistake, they were already created for this world because that is what they deserved...And our Lord knew this from the beginning.
And as I mentioned, life on earth is a mixture of paradise and hell. That's why blessings and troubles are intertwined in our universe. This situation is actually designed again to get what we deserve, both in terms of experience and in terms of testing... In the middle, in terms of the collective picture, in terms of the system, there is the temporary exposure to tiny punishments or rewards (the troubles in this life are minor compared to those in hell) that you deserve. But here, unlike in hell, the suffering you experience is sometimes two or more birds with one stone. That is, if what you are suffering from is not an accident or an illness or something like that, but something done to you by someone else, it is at the same time a confrontation with that person (i.e. the one who did the evil) and evidence against him for the Hereafter, a trap for him, and at the same time you (the one who suffered the evil) experience the suffering that you (the one who suffered the evil) deserve.
Now, you may ask why a young person or a teenager can experience troubles in life without committing evil? A servant can begin to experience suffering without committing sin, because our Lord knows what that person deserves and does not deserve, what he will do and what kind of character he will have. Again, everything is realized by Allah Almighty according to what that person deserves. Likewise, the happiness, success and blessings that we experience in this life and will experience in the hereafter...
In short, from a holistic and collective point of view, there is no injustice even in this world. The only injustice can be in the event itself. In other words, in this world of testing, no one is even authorized to say a bad word to anyone, but if one person does evil to another person, the one who commits this injustice is committing a sin. But as I said, from a holistic point of view, everyone gets what they deserve by being "equalized". Moreover, the life of this world should not be evaluated in isolation, but should be considered together with the life of the eternal hereafter. Then it will be much clearer to see how divine justice works perfectly.
Even in this universe of trial, our Lord's perfect plan is at work and life here, just like heaven or hell, serves its design purpose perfectly. As I mentioned in an earlier article:
Our world and our universe;
1-The world of testing (confronting people with themselves).
2- A mixed life of paradise and hell (rewards and suffering as a warning and/or punishment)
3- It contains a finite life in which his creatures and even the universe itself will surely die in the end.
What is meant by perfection in this universe is perfection in terms of being suitable-serving for these three items, because this is the purpose of its creation. But since the purpose of creation and the conditions of the hereafter universe are different, perfection in the hereafter world is completely different. But punishment and rewards serve basically the same goal in the integrity of the world and the hereafter.
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If we look at what is happening in our universe from a holistic point of view, from the point of view of the system, there is good in everything, but if we look at it from the point of view of the individual, of course this is not the case at all. For individuals, there is good in some things and evil in others in this life (and in the hereafter).
Our earthly life, i.e. our universe, is sometimes described in negative terms when it is compared to paradise, whereas when it is compared to nothingness and/or hell, it is praised and described in verses as a land of beauty to be thankful for, emphasizing the blessings within it. (From this, it can also be concluded that the heavenly side of earthly life outweighs the hellish side...).
In other words, while the verses emphasize the insignificance and transience of the life of this world, they also talk about the picture that emerges when compared to heaven in terms of "experiencing beauty". Otherwise, while praising the beauties of our universe compared to nothingness or hell, its importance is also emphasized due to its function as a "life of testing". If we look at it from this perspective, that is, if we realize that this is the moment of trial that will shape our eternal life, we can say that we are actually living the most important period of our life...
I have mentioned above the purpose of the creation of our universe, but if we look at it from the point of view of just us servants, our purpose of creation in this world of trial: To serve our Lord, to face ourselves, to receive the necessary warnings, and to start tasting some small punishments or rewards in this world... In this context, the so-called problem of evil, the so-called "what is the source of evil", is not even an issue.
Surat al-Sajdah Verse 21: Verily, We shall make them taste of the near torment (the torment of the world) before the greatest torment, lest they turn back.
Surat al-Rum, Verse 36: And when We bestow upon mankind a mercy, they trust in it; and when evil befalls them because of what their hands have done, they despair.
Just as no one talks about the problem of why there is suffering and demons in hell if God exists, it is the same for the world. Our universe is not as full of suffering as hell, but it is not a paradise either. Our universe looks like a hellish place compared to heaven and a heavenly place compared to hell. Because it is qualitatively in the middle of both, heaven and hell, and pleasure and suffering are blended and balanced. On the other hand, in the "Hereafter Universe", which is called the "Lord's Floor" in the verses and which exists now, there is no such mixture and balance. The realm of bliss and happiness and the realm of punishment and suffering are completely separate from each other, and the inhabitants of that universe, the creatures living in it, are immortal. This land of eternity/afterlife, which already has different laws of physics...
http://emre1974tr.blogspot.com/2011/07/zaman-zamanszlk-ve-rabbin-kat.htmlhttp://emre1974tr.blogspot.com/2011/07/ahiret-evrenirabbin-kat-ve-ebedi-yasam.htmlI think that if the servants in this world were as perfect in behavior and thought as those living in paradise, they would not have been created on earth, let alone in hell.
I even think that there may be servants who are created directly in heaven, who do not experience suffering in any way...And also, if there are those who are good enough to deserve to be created directly in heaven, their degrees may be higher than anyone who has ever lived or will ever live on earth.
This world of ours (and our universe) is already a place of punishment compared to paradise. But again, compared to hell or non-existence, it is a land of happiness and bliss.
In this context, those in the world are servants who deserve to experience a mixture of paradise and hell, blessing and suffering, and to face themselves, to be tested.
There are also questions such as, "Couldn't a system based only on rewards have been created?" or "If He knows who will pass the test, couldn't He have created only the good ones?" Of course, Allah Almighty could have set up the system in this way if He wished, but He does what is right, what is good and, of course, what He wills.
Our Lord created such a system and order because it was the most perfect and the way it should be. Again, just as there is no objection as to why He does not throw the people in heaven or everyone into hell, the situation is exactly the same here. Nobody questions why the good are rewarded in heaven, because they know that this is the way it should be. But when it comes to the righteousness of creating the bad and punishing them in hell, for some reason, human beings generally avoid showing the same wisdom.
http://emre1974tr.blogspot.com/2013/03/iyiler-mutlaka-kazanr.htmlThe fact that our Lord rewards the good and the righteous, and punishes the wicked and the evil, is a result of His mercy, goodness and perfection. There is no problem at all, it is a matter of living what we deserve in a perfect implementation and system. The suffering in the world, like the suffering in hell, is not a lottery for anyone, but the justice and goodness and perfection of Allah Almighty is being manifested. In other words, the evils that servants do to each other of their own free will are also part of this situation.
Surat al-Tegabun 11 No calamity will come upon you except by Allah's permission. Whoever believes in Allah, Allah guides his heart to the truth and the good. And Allah knows everything in the best way.
Surat al-Rum, Verse 41: Mischief has come upon the land and the sea because of what their own hands have earned, that Allah may make them taste some of what they used to do, so that they may desist.
Just as He creates and rewards those who know who will earn Paradise, so He creates and punishes the wicked, knowing who they will be, in the same beautiful and perfect process. And so are the temporary rewards and punishments in this world...
Surah Al-Baqarah 81 It is not as they think: those who have done evil and ugliness, and whose guilt has surrounded them, are the companions of the Fire. They will remain in it permanently.
To summarize and to add one or two more important details; this issue, which is said to have occupied the minds of many philosophers, theologians or other people under the title of "the problem of evil or evil" in history until today, as I said, is already solved both in the verses and in our logic, the answer is very simple and clear. Our Lord, who knows who will be among the good ones and who will be among the bad ones even before He creates them, brings them into existence so that these selves can get what they deserve. He has created hell to punish the bad and the evil, but before that, He has created a test in our world, which is a mixture of heaven and hell, so that the servants can face themselves and eliminate possible objections in the hereafter. Moreover, both the suffering in this world, which we call natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, accidents, illnesses, aging, etc...) and the suffering that people bring about by doing evil to others of their own free will, fulfill the task of punishment, warning, and confronting the wrongdoers with themselves (test) and revealing their evil deeds. On the other hand, the sufferings in the Hereafter Universe, that is, in Hell in the Court of Allah, fulfill the function of punishment.
Surah Najm 31 Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth belongs to Allah. This is for Allah to punish those who do evil by their deeds and to reward those who do good and think well.
The servants are solely responsible for all suffering in this world and the Hereafter. It is the free will of the servants to choose evil.
Of course, the jinn are also in this group and their wrongdoings and misguiding people are also included in the source of this evil:
Al-Baqarah
168. O people! Eat of the earth's bounty, provided it is clean and lawful. Do not follow the steps of Satan. For he is a clear enemy to you.
169. Indeed, he commands you evil, ugliness, disorder and filth. And he commands you to say about Allah what you do not know.
In the meantime, we see that Allah Almighty, knowing who will choose evil, sometimes destroys the wrongdoers by creating them in the same geographical area and period in order to punish them collectively:
Al-Ankabut
30. Lot said: "My Lord, help me against this party of mischief-makers."
31. When our messengers brought the good news to Abraham, they said: "We will destroy the people of that city. For they have become unjust."
And just as an absurd idea like "the problem of evil" cannot be created for the tribulations and sufferings in hell, neither can it be created for our world/universe. Because in both universes the suffering is aimed at giving the selves the experience they deserve and the situation is the same.
Likewise, the pleasures in the world and in heaven serve the purpose of giving the good and the good the reward they deserve, and this situation also ensures justice in the world and in the hereafter in a unity, and nobody even questions this rewarding by blessing. But punishing evil by allowing it to come into existence, chosen by free will, is just as right, perfect and good as rewarding good... It is the result of the mercy and goodness of Allah Almighty...
The calamities in this world and the Hereafter are the reflection of the anger of the Almighty, our Lord, against evil.
Surah Muhammad 28 This is what will happen! For they pursued that which enraged Allah, and they abhorred His pleasure; so Allah made all their deeds vain.
Surat al-Shura: 16 Those who dispute about Allah after His acceptance, their proofs are invalid in the sight of their Lord. Upon them is anger and a severe torment.
Surah Ta-Ha 81 Eat of the pure of what We have provided you! And do not be unruly in this matter! Otherwise My anger will descend upon you. And whoever My anger descends upon, he will go to the abyss.
And of course, the door of repentance is open for those who realize their wrongdoing at that moment:
Surat al-Tawbah 118 He accepted the repentance of the three who were left behind. The earth, for all its vastness, had become narrow to them, and their own selves had squeezed them; they realized that there was no other way to escape Allah's anger but to seek refuge in Allah. Then He granted them repentance so that they could return to their former state. Indeed, Allah is the Most Accepting of repentance and infinite in His mercy.
There is no problem of evil, on the contrary, there is a make of evil and evil-doers being exposed and always punished in both worlds. The problem is only in the diseased thoughts and behaviors of the servants. And the only source of evil and suffering is the servants who choose wrong/cruelty with their free will.
And what we should do, of course, is to turn towards goodness and truth and contribute to making this world a more paradisiacal place, and most importantly, of course, to reach true salvation/paradise in the Hereafter and to earn the pleasure of our Lord.
(My Turkish article translated with machine)
http://emre1974tr.blogspot.com/2013/11/kotuluk-problemine-cevap.htmlPeace
