Question 5: What is the the problem of evil?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The issue of the problem of evil is a term that is in the agenda of the Europeans. It entered philosophy in the course of time and it has been mentioned a lot among people, especially young people.

They state the following:

“-Allah has mercy and compassion. He shows compassion to His servants and the creatures He creates. He pities them. He meets all kinds of their needs.

However, on the other hand, He gives deaths. Disasters such as diseases, earthquakes and wars take place. He removes some creatures from this world in a short time. A large number of plants and most insects and other animals die every fall. How can all this be explained by His compassion and mercy?”

Since they cannot understand this act of Allah in the universe, they call it “the problem of evil.”

I would like to narrate a discussion with a young person about this issue.

-The acts and deeds of Allah in the universe are very wise and purposeful. All His deeds are completely good.

-How can death be good?

- How can it be bad? If there were no death, the ancestors of a person would be alive but ill; they would be in bed with a lot of wounds. They could not go to the toilet on their own. They would not know the people who came and left. One’s great-grandfather would be 300 years old. There would be grandmothers, grandfathers, grandchildren, children, the youngest of which would be 150 years old, but all in need of care. Who would take care of whom? Would death not be a blessing and desirable thing for them?

- Actually, I had never thought of it like that. From this viewpoint, death is really a great blessing. Otherwise, life would be a torture for both those old people and those who cared for them. Death is also a great blessing for seriously ill patients.

- Death does not actually mean to disappear. It is like migration from a plateau to another plateau. It is a kind of being discharged from service and a rest from duty from this temporary and troublesome worldly life. The grave is the place of meeting with all of one’s ancestors and beloved ones.

- Well, what would you say about the death of children? Is their death not bad?

- At first glance, children die in wars or earthquakes, or in some accidents or for different reasons. Everyone is sorry for them; they feel sorry. It is necessary to view the issue as follows:

Who created this child from a single cell? Allah.

Who made him grow and develop? Who gave him health? Allah.

Who gave his sustenance? Allah.

We feel pity for that child because he was our nephew or son, because of his closeness to us, or at least because we are humans. However, it is Allah who created him and met all his needs. Therefore, Allah loves that child more than us.

-Why does He allow his death then?

-Because He loves him very much.

-I do not understand. Allah loves that child but deems death suitable for him.

-It is easy to understand. Does life consist of only a worldly life of 40 or 70 years?

-Definitely not. There is an eternal life in the hereafter.

-We will not have difficulty in solving the problem when we look at the issue from this point of view.

-How?

-Do we know anything about the future of this child? For instance, will he be rebellious against Allah? Or, will he obey the commands of Allah?

- No, we don’t.

-What would happen if that child lived and disobeyed Allah and went to the hereafter without belief?

-He would go to Hell and remain there eternally. 

- Is it better to live 60-70 years and go to eternal Hell after that, or to go to eternal Paradise by dying as a child without living this short worldly life?

- It is definitely better to remain as a child eternally in Paradise.

-If that child, who had not reached the age of puberty, performed worship, he would be resurrected as an adult, not as a child, in Paradise.

-I really did not know about it.

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