Why does Allah make me suffer?

- How does Allah know about the trillions of events, stress, pains, light, and sufferings in the world?
- How will He know the suffering of all those people who will burn in Hell?

Dear Brother / Sister,

All the material and spiritual characteristics given to man, which clearly distinguish him from all other creatures, are intended to enable man to find his Creator, come to know Him, and thus obey His commands.

Thus, in this world where they have been sent to be tested, they will be able to attain Allah’s consent and, by passing the test, reach Paradise, the abode of eternal bliss.

Whether they be material or spiritual hardships, pains, blessings, or good things, they all serve to test how we will react in different situations and to determine whether we will stray from the path in times of both abundance and scarcity.

A believer must never lose this awareness, must not fall into heedlessness, and must constantly read and practice the Quran, which should be his bedside book, and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Under these circumstances, a believer who is tested by both abundance and scarcity, must meet all different situations with maturity and reliance on Allah so that his spirit may evolve.

For example, since angels have no nafs (soul) and do not commit sins, their level is the same; they remain constantly in the state in which they were created.

Thus, depending on all the qualities bestowed upon a person and whether or not he uses them in accordance with Allah’s consent, he either attains ranks above the angels or falls to a level far lower than that of the most wretched of creatures.

We should know that whatever happens to us is a test, and our aim should be to face incidents in a way that pleases Allah and to attain high ranks.

Regarding the second part of your question, you ask how can Allah control so many things at the same time?

Yes.

It is quite difficult for us to comprehend this with our limited minds. However, for Allah, whose attributes are all in absolute perfection, to know the intention of a mosquito or what an ant is doing underground is the same as knowing everything that happens in the entire universe because all of Allah’s names and attributes are absolutely perfect.

We can try to understand it through the example of the Sun. Is there a difference, from the Sun’s perspective, between heating a single cherry and heating the entire Earth? In other words, do you think the Sun will have difficulty in heating the Earth while heating a single cherry easily? Definitely not; both are the same; there is no question of difficulty or ease.

Or, for the law of gravity, there is no difference between pulling a speck of dust and pulling the entire Earth and everything in it; it is all the same; it does not matter whether there is only one thing or a thousand or a million things.

Just as these examples illustrate, even the Sun, which is a simple servant of Allah, performs its task of heating and illuminating so easily, and even the law of gravity shows no difference between attracting one thing and a trillion things; therefore, there is no difference between the Sun heating everything and the law of gravity attracting everything, and Allah, who is the true sun of our universe and our creator, who is infinitely perfect in every aspect, knowing, providing for, creating, listening to, seeing, etc., one thing and a trillion or even infinite things simultaneously.

What else can we do but surrender completely to such a creator?

Questions on Islam