PROBLEM
OF EVIL
The problem of evil has been traditionally related
with two attributes of God which seem to contradict each other i.e.,
omnipotence and all-loving. The first
question is that if God is omnipotent, he must be able to abolish evil and the second is that if God is all-
loving, he must wish to abolish evil.
The questions
asked by philosophers about problem of evil are:
1.If
God is omnipotent, but he is not removing evil this means He is not all-loving.
2.If
God is all-loving and wants to remove it but is not able to remove evil, this
means he is not omnipotent.
Thus, according to them
God can not be both omnipotent and
all-loving at the same time as evil persists in the world.
However, the problem of
evil treated by Muslims and Christians
is different because of the
difference in their basic belief and view of God.
Basic
belief of Muslims and Christians
According to Christians,
their God (Jesus) is all-loving who loves all humans despite of their sins.
According to them, Jesus died for the salvation of their sins and whomsoever
possesses faith in him will enter paradise.
Muslims however believe
that although God (Allah) is Al-Rahman ,
Al-Raheem, Al Wadood(All loving) but
he is also Al-Dar(The Causer of
Harm), Al-Muntaqim(The Avengar), Al Jabbar(The Overwhelming) and Al-Hakm(The Judge). Although he loves
humans and for this love He has sent guidance in various forms to them to live
according to His will. He has also sent various prophets who had practically
lived according to His will and showed it to all. He has also given humans the
liberty to repent a 1000 times and He will accept and forgive them. As He has a
system of universe and this life, He wants people to live with a purpose
according to His guidance. But if after all this, people still sin and continue
to live a life without any purpose, without acknowledging, praising and be
grateful to their Lord, he punishes them. In this way, people are rewarded and
punished and a balanced system of universe is created. Muslims take all these
attributes of God into account and then treat problem of evil.
Theories
Many theories have been
proposed over the years about problem of evil by various philosophers as well
as theologians.
1st
Theory
Evil is an illusion of
human mind.
Rejected
This theory was rejected
as it seemed very impractical considering the cruelty that exists in this world
such as murder, corruption, drought, tsunamis, earthquakes, bribery, rape etc
as these problems inflict humans on daily basis. Also, Christians also rejected
this theory as their Holy book Bible is filled with the events of horrifying injustice
and evil to mankind. The greatest example of which is the crucification of
Jesus Christ itself.
Thus,
this theory was rejected.
2nd
Theory
This theory was presented
by Saint Augustine. According to
him, evil represents going wrong of something that was good in itself. He
believed that God created universe in a good state but over the years it was
corrupted so much that it turned into evil. According to him, universe is a
creation of a good God for a good purpose.
Rejected
However this theory was
also rejected because it further highlights problem of evil. Because if God
created universe in good form but was not able to control the evil, it means He
is not omnipotent.
3rd
Theory
Other theories have been presented by various
theologians. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that tries to
justify God in face of evil. It is an attempt to explain why God permits
evil. It has been seen by thinkers having more negative conclusions than
positive. Theodicy treats problem of evil in two ways. It explains there are two types of evil
· Problem
of Moral Evil
· Problem
of Suffering
Problem of Moral Evil
It
refers to the act of humans which are considered morally wrong.
It represents the evil created by human activities.
Problem of
Moral Evil is related with free will.
Free will means humans have freedom to do anything and to act rightly or
wrongly.
An
argument to this is that if God is omnipotent and omniscient,
he must have known which people would sin so he should have not created the
sinners.
Theodicy
states that after giving free will, the idea of a person who always act rightly
is infallible. Consequently, the possibility of sin or wrong doing is inseparable
from being a person. It means that if people had free will, they would
definitely sin. To state that God should not have created people who would sin
simply means he should not have created people.
However, Theodicy has been
challenged by questioning free will. They say that humans are not in actual
free beings. They found themselves in situations created by God and act
accordingly.
For
example,
Ø If
a teenage boy finds himself in the company of boys who are drug addicts and
criminals, it is likely that he will follow their path.
Ø Similarly,
if a teenage boy finds himself in the company of boys who have certain
ambitions and are pious, it is likely that he will be like them.
This shows that humans
have no true free will and they only respond to the situations in which they
find themselves.
Problem of Suffering
Problem of Suffering refers to sources of human pain
which are independent of any human will such as natural disasters, earthquakes,
famine, tsunamis, and floods and so on.
Theodicy deals with this problem that God didn’t want
to create a heaven for humans where all could enjoy equal resources and be
happy. In this way, all humans would be independent of each other and great
values such as generosity, humbleness etc. would have no meaning in life. Also,
if there would be no natural calamities, people would not understand the
importance of prayer and that they are dependent on God for All their desires
and wellbeing.
Problem
of Evil According to Islam
According to Islam, problem of moral evil exists
because of human action who did not follow the commandments of Allah and went
beyond their prescribed limits. Islam has ordained certain rights and duties
for every person and if they don’t follow them evil and chaos results.
According To Islam, Problem of Suffering exists
because Allah tests the people he loves so that he can judge them and increase
their ranks.
Prophet (PBUH) said, “He is the one who
decrees harm and causes it to reach whomsoever he wants.”
Allah
says in the Quran in Surah Al Baqarah
Do you think you will be admitted into
Paradise without being tested like those before you? They were afflicted
with suffering and adversity and were so ˹violently˺ shaken that ˹even˺ the
Messenger and the believers with him cried out, “When will Allah's help come?”
Indeed, Allah's help is ˹always˺
near.
Thus, this was the
problem of evil which is today still a hot topic among philosophers,
theologians and common people as well. This problem can be best tackled if we
try to find its root and follow Islamic injunctions in this regard.
