THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Islamic Perspective
ACCORDING to the Quran, God has created the universe with a certain purpose. All its parts, which are strictly under His control, are carrying out His divine scheme without the slightest deviation.
Similarly, man, too, has been created with a certain purpose. Yet man, unlike the rest of the creation, is totally free. He can do what he wants by his own decision. However, in spite of this freedom, he is being watched constantly by God, for God does not allow any such deviation in human history over a long period as would nullify His very creation plan.
Creation Plan of God
The universe made by God is so vast that, despite the enormous
progress made by human beings in their attempts to fathom it, many
of its secrets still remain unknown. The planet Earth, made by God as
part of the cosmos, was and still is unique in the entire universe, in that
it has been endowed with all the other factors which are essential to
make it habitable for man.
Amongst the entire universe that functions compulsorily under the will of God, man is the only creature that has been granted free will.
After bringing into existence a favourable world in the form of the Earth, God created the first man, Adam, and his female counterpart, Eve. Although the precise date of this event is unknown, Adam and Eve were the first pair of human beings to set foot on Earth.
Adam was the first man as well as the first prophet. The way of God is to select a man as His messenger from amongst human beings themselves in order to send His revelations to humankind. Therefore, God revealed to Adam through an angel the purpose of man’s inhabiting the earth. According to this plan, God created a special creature in the form of man, upon whom He bestowed freedom. Amongst the entire universe that functions compulsorily under the will of God, man is the only creature that has been granted free will. The rest of the universe has no choice but to submit to the will of God. It is desirable for man also to opt for this divine plan of his own free will.
This plan of divine will is based on two basic principles—monotheism, and justice. Monotheism holds man to worshipping one God alone, and not associating anyone or anything in this worship. Justice holds man to adhering completely to ethical principles in dealing with other creatures, including fellow human beings, and refraining from all kinds of injustice and oppression.
Along with this, God informed man that, although he appeared to be free, he was fully accountable to Him. God has a complete record of man’s actions. In the eternal life after death God will judge everyone according to this record. One who exercised his freedom wrongly will be thrown into eternal hellfire.
Adam died at a ripe old age. For a long period of time his people continued to adhere faithfully to the divine guidance. But later, degeneration set in. Polytheism replaced monotheism. People began to adopt the ways of injustice and oppression instead of justice and rectitude. After about one thousand years the perversion became allpervading and they were completely distanced from the path of the religion as shown by Adam.
The Age of Perversion
God subsequently sent Noah as His messenger. Noah was granted
an exceptionally long life of nine hundred and fifty years. During
this extended period, he continued to show people the right path,
generation after generation. But only a few people heeded his words.
The rest persisted in their sinful ways. Then, in accordance with the
ways of God, a huge flood engulfed them by way of punishment. Noah
and his small band of followers were saved in
an ark, while all the rest were drowned.
At that time, human population was probably concentrated only in the region of Asia known as Mesopotamia. The men and women saved in the wake of this flood settled afterwards in other parts of the world. Their race multiplied until it spread over the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.
In the eternal life after death God will judge everyone according to this record.
After the death of Noah, his people continued for a considerable time to adhere to the divine path shown by him. But again degeneration set in amongst later generations and they deviated from the path of monotheism and justice. God’s messengers—the Quran has mentioned twenty-six by name—continued to come for several thousand years.
The Hadith tells us that more than one hundred thousand messengers came to the world. In this way a long period elapsed between Adam and Jesus Christ, when God’s messengers continued to come to the world in almost every generation. But each time only a few individuals believed in them. The majority rejected these prophets in every age.
The Reasons for Perversion
What were the reasons for this continued transgression? There were
two main reasons; one, political absolutism; another, ignorance about
the world of nature.
In ancient times, the system of monarchy prevailed over large parts of the world. The kings of those days had adopted an easy strategy for the consolidation of their empires, and that was to apply a complete curb on intellectual freedom. As a result, science could not make any progress.
The same was the case with religion. The policy adopted by these kings was not to allow their subjects to follow any religion other than that approved of by the king. Superstitious religion served their purpose only too well. Therefore, not only did they themselves embrace superstitious religion but they also compelled their subjects to adhere to it. People were denied the right to think freely and opt for any religion other than the official one. This policy of the kings produced the evil of religious persecution. History shows that religious persecution has continued from time immemorial in one form or another.
The element of freedom is essential in order that the intentions and actions of each individual can be properly judged.
The other main factor in this connection was ignorance. In ancient times, man knew little about the world and its phenomena. Political absolutism had placed an almost total ban on scientific research. Therefore, all kinds of superstitions regarding natural phenomena prevailed. It was generally held that the sun, the moon and the stars etc. possessed supernatural powers. Similarly, it was believed that the sea, the mountains and other such natural phenomena were endowed with some extraordinary, mysterious power and that they exercised decisive control over human destiny.
The Problem of Evil
Those who want to interpret human history in the light of predetermined
law in the physical world cannot but meet with failure. While the
physical world may be explainable within the framework of predeterminism,
the events of the human world are simply not amenable
to interpretation in terms of any such law.
Others want to interpret the events of the human world in the context of freedom. But they, too, are not satisfied with their interpretation. This is because in the case of human freedom, the suffering experienced in this world has no valid understandable explanation.
The failure of both interpretations of pre-determinism and absolute freedom is due to the fact that they attempt to explain the whole in the light of a part—which is not at all possible.
According to Islam, there is only one correct principle to interpret human history, and that is the principle of test.
The truth is that the right principle by which to interpret human history is neither that of pre-determinism nor of freedom. According to Islam, there is only one correct principle to interpret human history, and that is the principle of test. Man has been placed in the present world for the purpose of being tested. On the outcome of this test will depend the eternal future of every individual.
The element of freedom is essential in order that the intentions and actions of each individual can be properly judged. For, man can be granted the credit for a good deed only on the condition that, despite having the opportunity to indulge in bad deeds, he chooses of his own free will to act virtuously.
If in this world everything had been totally pre-determined, the element of trial would have been absent. However, the granting of freedom did involve the risk of some people misusing their freedom, and misuse it they did. This gave rise to the problem of human suffering which results from evil. Yet, this suffering, or evil, is a very small price to pay for a very precious thing. According to Islam, that person is most precious who leads his life in this world in such a manner that despite facing all sorts of temptations, he succeeds in overcoming them. Despite having the power to misuse his freedom, he refrains from doing so. Despite the possibility of leading an unprincipled life, he chooses of his own free will to be a man of principle. To identify such individuals it is essential that an atmosphere of freedom prevail in the world. This is not possible under any other system.