Some people use all the evil & suffering going on around the world as a proof against their being an Allah. Can you please explain why there is so much Natural and Moral Evil in the world?
The first question is, what do we deem as evil? Do we deem a test as evil? Do we deem a ‘wake-up call’ evil?
The absence of light is darkness, the absence of heat is cold, the absence of wetness is dryness and the absence of good is evil… when people left good, evil came.
We need to understand first and foremost that any ‘evil’ or destruction we see around the world is only due to our actions.
Allāh says:
ظَہَرَ الۡفَسَادُ فِی الۡبَرِّ وَ الۡبَحۡرِ بِمَا کَسَبَتۡ اَیۡدِی النَّاسِ لِیُذِیۡقَہُمۡ بَعۡضَ الَّذِیۡ عَمِلُوۡا لَعَلَّہُمۡ یَرۡجِعُوۡنَ
“Chaos appears in the land and the sea because of the evil deeds which people’s hands have earned, in order to make them taste the flavour of some of their misdeeds – in order that they may come back.”
[Al-Rūm: 41]
Allāh warned the people not to create havoc on the face of the earth, but man is rebellious and he wants to disobey the Command:
وَ اِذَا قِیۡلَ لَہُمۡ لَا تُفۡسِدُوۡا فِی الۡاَرۡضِ ۙ قَالُوۡۤا اِنَّمَا نَحۡنُ مُصۡلِحُوۡنَ
“And when it is said to them, “Do not cause turmoil in the earth”, they say, “We are only peacemakers!””
[Al-Baqarah: 11]
The Evil we see is only due to our own disobedience. Evil is committed by man. The oppression upon civilians, the wars against innocent people, the bombing of weapons upon the blameless nations, the destruction of countries in the name of ‘peace’, the imprisonment of people due to their race and religion, the sanctions on ‘veiled’ women in a ‘free’ country, the devastations of tribes and communities due to ‘anti-terror’ legislations, the injustice and discrimination against individuals by usurping their lands, the violation of rights and privileges by those in authority, the annoyance caused by drawing cartoons in the name of ‘freedom of speech’…
…the frustration of the Syrians due to the world turning a blind eye, the sorrow of the Bosnians that their history is being neglected, the cries of the Palestinians that they have been ignored and mistreated, the screams of the women of Rohingya which are muted by the media, the deaths of Ethiopians due to the greed of their leaders, the killings in middle east in the name of ‘democracy’, the helplessness of the prisoners who are falsely accused of terrorism, the starvation of children due to feeding the egos of the rich, the buying of weapons by regimes whose people are dying of hunger, the selling of petrol by those governments whose people are in poverty…
…the wastage of billions of dollars to build arms which could be used to help educate and develop communities, the bias and unfairness the deprived have to witness, the cruelty and mistreatment of the destitute, the slavering of people by crushing them under the name of debts, the ever-increasing drug abuse schemed by the authorities, the rise in suicides due to gambling, the growth of domestic violence in the name of ‘equality’, the tons of extra food bought and thrown away because of consumerism, the ignorance of ‘educated’ people owing to the hours of false-media coverage, the lies and betrayal of many governments by giving false promises, the increase of university fees so students are trapped in a system of debt which prohibit them to think and have “internalised disciplinarian culture”, the brain-washing of millions by the weapons of mass media…
and the worst of all… blaming Allāh for the evil committed by the evil of man.
Allah knows best.
Answered by Mawlana Mohamed Husein Qadri
