By Babatunde Jose
Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in
goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who
patiently persevere. Who say, when afflicted with calamity: “To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return”- (Quran 2:155-156)
These are perilous times and evil pervades the land; the fear of travelling a lonely highway is the beginning of wisdom; a society where iniquity reign and the forces of evil bestride the country without let or hinderance, creating a dilemma for the thinking man who is being forced to reconsider his relationship with God: Where is God when evil strives in the land? Why does God allow Evil? We are ruled by evil men and many of us too are evil in our ways. But the question of theodicy raised herein is what concerns us today. Does God really condone evil? Does God allow evil for evil sake? What is the purpose of evil in society?
George Büchner, a German atheist and poet, calls the problem of evil the “immovable boulder of atheism.” During a 2013 debate entitled “The Origin of Life: Evolution or Design,” atheist Michael Ruse stated clearly that the sole reason behind his refusal to believe in God was the problem of evil. In his famous work, ‘There is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind’, former atheist Antony Flew asserts that, particularly in the western world, the problem of evil represents the most commonly cited argument for atheism. But according to Timothy J. Keller, the existence of evil does not disprove God’s existence. The theodicists even go further to try to understand God’s Wisdom in allowing evil to exist.
From the perspective of the Qur’an and Sunnah, we can safely arrive at the conclusion that there is no difficulty seeing Divine Wisdom as weaving the threads of pain and suffering into a brilliant narrative; that harmonizes mercy and justice; a story that derives happy endings from pain; a chronicle that sees that “immovable boulder” as a building block for one’s spiritual ascent.
Evil in the world has always been a problem, but it has in the past few centuries translated into a revolt against God and religion. The gradual reorientation of the Western mindset from the “purpose of life” to the “quality of life” has created a radical shift of focus, wherein peoples’ means of living displaced the pursuit of transcendent purpose, eventually making life’s frustrations increasingly unbearable.
It is, therefore, no wonder that Western societies have had the greatest difficulty grappling with the problem of evil. As Victor Frankl put it, in Unheard Cry for Meaning 1963: “More people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for. Meaninglessness is what renders life a prison. In a life without meaning, every pinch is seen as an unexplainable—and unavoidable—random event that only represents chaos, commotion, and a tragedy.”
No doubt all that remain today is the human ego. Naturally, when people stop seeing themselves as part of a greater collective and begin seeing their own interests as paramount, the suffering and strife of others do not lead to empathy or solidarity. In a climate that begins with “me” and ends with “me,” evil is no longer a mere problem, but leads to a slow suicide in a deaf, uncaring world. That, unfortunately, is where we are today. It is everyman for himself. Like the street urchins would say, ‘nobody in gara’.
However, the Quran and Sunnah not only claim that the existence of evil can be rationally reconciled with the existence of God but also affirm that there is discernible wisdom behind what may appear to be evil. But, while there exists profound wisdom behind every “evil” in the universe, we as finite beings can only understand these wisdoms on a general level.
Pure evil does not exist says Ibn al-Qayyim, perhaps the greatest Sunni theologian to write on theodicy: Evil, as an independent phenomenon whereby no dimension of good is involved, has no existence in this world. There is nothing in our existence that can be called pure evil, because every evil in this world is good from one angle or another. For instance, sickness harms the body from one angle, while from other angles tests patience, evokes resilience, and may even strengthen immunity. Most disliked things are usually this way; never void of some benefit or another for the human being.
This golden principle stands true both for naturally occurring evils and for evils committed by willful agents, man. God allows them to exist because the good of their existence outweighs the good of their inexistence. Consider how volcanoes are not pure evil, because they rejuvenate the ecosystem which makes life on earth possible to begin with. They have both negative and positive effects on the environment.
Consider how even Satan’s existence is not pure evil: Satan gives God’s devotees a target to push back against evil, encourages them to seek refuge with God from his snares, including pride and conceit, and so much more.
In God’s full perspective we were not created for evil. See Quran 113:1-2. Elsewhere the Quran refers to God intending punishment in the passive tense, see Quran 72:10. See also Quran 2:286; 13:11; 55:60-61; 3:146; 29:2; 47:31; 2:214; 2:216; 31:17 and 3:86.
Ibn Taymiyyah explains that although evil—as we perceive it—can be found in God’s creation, there is nothing that necessitates that God have the same properties as His creation. Ibn al-Qayyim adds that God created beings with a degree of free will which they sometimes use to act in evil ways.
We can never overcome the “boulder of evil” until we find the humility to concede that evil is the exception in a world of innumerable phenomena that are good, orderly, and beautiful. Consider the periods of sickness versus health over the average lifetime, or those impaired versus functional across humanity, or the moments when arteries flow versus clog throughout our lives, or the decades of prosperity versus ruin for the average civilization, or the centuries of dormancy versus eruption of volcanoes, or the millennia of non-collision between planets. Where does all this prevalent good come from? Energy and matter swimming in a world of chaos and coincidence could never produce a world where the default is good. Ironically, scientific empiricism attests to this: the second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy (degree of disorder or randomness) in an isolated system with no external influence will always increase and that this process is irreversible. In other words, organized things will always break down and dissipate unless something from the outside pulls them together. As such, blind thermodynamic forces could never have produced anything good on their own, nor made good as widespread as it is, without the Creator organizing these seemingly random, chaotic phenomena into the marvelous things we experience like beauty, wisdom, joy, and love. Only after establishing that the norm is good can we hope to grasp the exception of evil.
During the times of trials and suffering one should always think positively of Allah, in all the situations, for whatever comes from Allah is for your good and He is The Protector of the pious and Oft Forgiving and The Most Merciful. It is said, “Nothing happens except by the will of Allah.”
“For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease…Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease…So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. And to your Lord direct [your] longing.” (Quran, 94:5-8)
Barka Juma’at and happy weekend
