Question and answer details

Question:

I am constantly challenged by the so-called argument from evil. It is nice to realize that although Allah can inflict trials and tribulations (such as cancer in children), He also promises reward for patience. This explains that the system of reward for patience is perfectly fair but does not explain the need for this system to begin with. I think it is fair but inherently cruel. The story of Prophet Job epitomizes that. He had to endure excessive trials so that the Lord proves to the Devil a point. But I feel more sorry for the man than I can see the wisdom in this exercise. Salam

consultant:

Jasser Auda

Salam dear brother,

Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

Modern science (since the 19th century) placed humans in the center of the universe and created a great deal of "human centricity" in our thinking.

Sometimes we view the whole universe in terms of us, humans, only, as if none else is living with us. Contemporary thought takes a more "systematic" approach to thinking; that is, a more holistic and comprehensive approach in which we consider the whole system of the universe in our thinking, rather than looking at one item of it, namely humanity, and putting it in the center.

The Quranic view of humans is that they are Allah's vicegerents (khulafaa'):

{Behold, your Lord said to the angels, "Behold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it." They said, "Will you place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood —whereas it is we who extol Your limitless glory and praise You and hallow Your name?" [God] answered, "Verily, I know that which you do not know.} (Al-Baqarah 2:30)

{Now, indeed, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam and borne them over land and sea, and We provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life and favored them far above most of Our creation.} (Al-Israa' 17:70)

However, this only means that earth is "made available" for humans, but is not by any means "made only" for humans. In the Quran there are numerous mentions of making things subservient to human beings.

{And He has made subservient to you, as a gift from Himself, all that is in the heavens and on earth: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who reflect} (Al-Jathiyah 45:13)

{And remember that it is God who has created the heavens and the earth, and it is He Who sends down water from the sky and thereby brings forth all manner of fruits for your sustenance; and it is He Who has made ships subservient to you, so that they may sail through the sea at His behest; and has made the rivers subservient to His laws, so that they be of use to you and has made the sun and the moon, both of them constant upon their courses, subservient to His laws, so that they be of use to you; and has made the night and the day subservient to His laws, so that they be of use to you. And always does He give you something out of what you may be asking of Him; and should you try to count God's blessings, you could never compute them. And yet, behold, humans are indeed most persistent in wrongdoing, stubbornly ingrate} (Ibrahim 14:32-34)

Yet again, this does not mean that all of this is created for us only! Thus, when we think about trials, such as illness due to certain bacteria, or what is called a "natural disaster" due to some flood, forest fire, or an earthquake, we need to think about the whole ecosystem and not just our human existence; we need to take all other creatures that Allah created into consideration, according to the guiding laws that Allah put as universal and constant ones.

The most primary law among them is that of balance; it entails that everything is created in a perfect balance.

{And the earth — We have spread it out wide and placed on it mountains firm and caused life of every kind to grow on it in a balanced manner.} (Al-Hijr 15:19)

{for it is God Himself who has bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth and a balance.} (Ash-Shura 42:17)

{Hallowed be He Who has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another: No fault will you see in the creation of the Most Gracious. And turn your vision upon it once more: Can you see any flaw? Yes, turn your vision upon it again and yet again: and every time your vision will fall back upon you, dazzled and truly defeated.} (Al-Mulk 67:3-4)

Part of this balance is what we perceive as "disasters" even though they are blessings for other creatures. For example, the existence of whole forests and grasslands is related to these periodic forest fires, which burn dead plantations and increase earth's fertility, among many other things.

Floods benefit a large number of plants, animals, and birds through dissolved nutrients, underground aquifers, among many other things. And so on. Allah has a grand wisdom behind these things and He is not being "cruel" as you mentioned.

Another very important factor in reflecting upon trials and disasters is the role that we humans, collectively, play in starting them. Sometimes we cause disasters to ourselves by our evil deeds, some of them moral and some material.

Immorality produces mischief in societies and causes humans an awful lot of sicknesses and a variety of stressors (AIDS is one example, even though the majority of people with AIDS are poor and blameless children and youth, but this is another sign of human mischief and injustice).

On the other hand, material waste that we are filling our earth with is changing earth temperature (according to most scientists), and is contributing to many of the natural disasters (such as hurricanes, flooding, etc.) that we suffer from. Refer to the latest documentary that was produced by Al Gore, the former US presidential candidate on global warming, which he called An Inconvenient Truth.

I recently read a very useful paper that tackles this issue scientifically and provides some convincing statistics and thorough analysis. Please refer to Abdul Khair Solihu, "Making Sense of Natural Disasters: An Islamic Hermeneutics of Malevolent phenomena in nature and its implication for sustainable development,"  American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Vol. 24, Winter 2007, No. 1.

Brother Mohsen Haredy, a member of Ask About Islam editorial staff, would like to add the following:

Sometimes, trials and tribulations are meant to test our faith in Allah and how much we are committed to His laws in this vast universe. When Muslims are inflicted with harm or encounter hard times, they must put their trust in Allah and work hard to pass these trials, hoping in Allah's reward for those who prove patient in such times.  

It is Allah's Wisdom to test human beings with different forms of sufferings and tribulations such as poverty, illness and ugliness. This does not mean that Allah Almighty hates the person afflicted with such trials.Prophet Job (peace be upon him) suffered a great deal of agony due to abject poverty and illness. He is a good example to the fact that Allah tests His sincere servants. After passing this test successfully, Allah Almighty alleviated Job's suffering and he finally lived in luxury and bliss.

Patience teaches us that we should not complain about the difficulties we face or feel sad about them. We should make du'a all the time and ask Allah to overcome that suffering. Prophet Job used to make lots of du`aa' to Allah to cure his illness.

{And Job (Ayyub(allayessallam)), when he cried to his Lord, saying: Harm has afflicted me, and Thou art the most Merciful of the merciful.} (Al-Anbiyaa' 21:83)

I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.

Salam.

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