ASK MAULANA
Your Questions Answered
The remedy for ignorance is asking questions. (Prophet Muhammad). The spirit of enquiry is the hallmark of an open society and the above saying of the Prophet aptly illustrates this principle. A culture of curiosity and open-mindedness will foster development in any society by motivating its members to learn enthusiastically and enrich their knowledge. This is because awareness of one’s ignorance is half of knowledge, as it becomes a stepping-stone to seeking and finding answers. A questioning mind is like a flowing river that is replenished with fresh thoughts and ideas and continues on its journey.
Why does God not send His angels to stop evil in this world?
This question hinges on a fundamental issue in which ‘problem’ is termed as ‘evil’. In reality, evil has no existence in this world. It is only problems that exist and a ‘problem’ is another name for a ‘challenge’. God has placed us in a world of challenge so that we develop. I found the answer to this through Arnold Toynbee’s 12-volume book, A Study of History, in which he studied and analyzed for thirty years, 26 civilizations of the world. In his words, the development and evolution of civilizations have challenges at the root. When a group faces a challenge, it begins to work to respond to it and thus a ‘challengeresponse mechanism’ unfolds. I came to Delhi in 1967 and became the editor of a fortnightly magazine Al-Jamiat. The magazine became very successful, but due to some difference of opinion the magazine’s secretary developed complaints against me and ceased the publication of the magazine. It was apparently an instance of ‘evil’. But because of this incident I gained the incentive to start my own magazine Al-Risala (a monthly being published since 1976). This became a huge success and enjoyed great popularity among readers both in the Indian subcontinent and abroad.
So, I did not consider my experience with the secretary of Al-Jamiat as an occasion of evil, rather I took whatever happened as a challenge. My response to this challenge has brought me where I am today. I learnt the lesson that when others do not give you a chance, this becomes an opportunity for you to create a chance for yourself.
Why did God allow Satan to tempt us when He knew Satan could tempt us into Hell?
This is a negative approach to the subject. In reality, Satan is a source of struggle. There would be no development at all if there is no struggle. The development of a person’s mind is a result of his response to challenging situations. If there were no Satan, there would be no field of struggle left for an individual, his mind would not unfold and he would not be able to tap into his potential. Satanic temptations give a person the opportunity to develop resilience and patience by not succumbing to them. According to a verse of the Quran, man is asked to seek refuge from the temptation caused by both Satan and man’s own soul. The verse is as follows:
Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of people, the King of people, the God of people, from the mischief of every sneaking whisperer, who whispers into the hearts of people from jinn and men.’ (114: 1-6)