My take on "If there is a God then why does Evil exists?"

 

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.

1^st 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.

2^nd 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.

3^rd 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.