A common question asked by many about the benevolence of God

[Zainab_M]

This is an interesting and useful query put by a young female quesitoner to the counsellors of Islam Online (IOL). The question is given below, followed by the response of the counsellors.  I have edited the response substantially by omiting the out of context contents and adding more essential substances that were overlooked by the IOL team.

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QUESTION:
I am a Muslim girl who lives in the United Kingdom. I have lots of friends who are not Muslim. This one friend… he is actually an atheist… lately we started to have these discussions about God and the existence of God. Even though I deeply believe in Allah and I'm a true Muslim believer, I could not respond to his calims when he said the world is falling apart because of wars and God is not doing anything. I don't know what to say in return. Is it wrong to indulge in such conversations?  Kindly provide some answers.

RESPONSE:
We thank you for your question, and I must admit that it is not an easy one to answer. You are still very young and you are approaching a time when you will complete your formal years of statutory education and will go out in the world to make choices of your own. Somehow it does not seem fair that young people have to put up with the careless actions of adults when in fact you should have role models that can help you take your rightful place in the world that represents your future.

If someone spills a cup of milk, who do you blame?

If someone has not done their homework who do you blame?


If a child grows up angry, who do you blame?

Who sould take responsibility to clean up the milk, to do the homework, to ensure that a child grows up in a well-balanced environment. An African expression is it takes a whole village to grow a child.

If the village/community/family members are all busy doing things that are in their personal self interest as individuals, what happens to the child?

If there is always someone covering your tracks which leaves you free to do as you please, what will you learn by not taking responsibility for your own actions? What would you have learnt and what will you be able to do for yourself and for others? Who then is accountable to whom? No one?

"Your striving is most surely (directed to) various (ends)"  (Al-Layl 92: 4)

"And when distress afflicts a man he calls upon His Lord, turning to Him frequently; then when He makes him possess a favor from Him, he forgets that for which he called upon Him before, and sets up rivals to Allah that he may cause (men) to stray off from the path. Say: Enjoy yourself in your ungratefulness a little, surely you are of the inmates of the fire"  (az-Zumar 39: 8)

"And surely Allah does not do any injustice to men, but men are unjust to themseves" (Al-Yunus 10:44)

In our selfishness we deprive others of good, of compassion, of fair judgement, of understanding, of consideration and from this we create tension which leads to conflict both at the domestic level and on the global level. We are ready to see people starve, to fall prey to illlness, to die of hunger, persecution, to be deprived of dignity and the right to live with honor. We do this through trade when we under value what others sell and we want to buy, when we over – charge and make them poor, when we aready to take things and turn them into personal wealth, when we buy products that undermine the livelihood of a people who receive little benefit. And then we want more, and are ready to make others suffer for what we want – then we turn around and blame it all on God.

It's an established law of ethics which the Prophet (pbuh) surely embraced wholeheartedly that we cannot bring improvements in our community unless we wish for our brethrens that which we wish for ourselves.

How much freedom we take for ourselves means taking away from somebody else.  Even if this means throwing a stone into a pond, we affect each other.

One of the problems with this type of question begins with people’s pre-conceived notions of what or who God is. Many times people will come with this kind of statement, 'how can a benevolent God exist with so much suffering and violence in the world, etc.?’   It’s actually a very arrogant mindset and implies that their notion of benevolence is the only one, and that somehow God has to ‘prove Himself’ to them. Because it doesn’t suit THEIR definition of benevolence, therefore God cannot be benevolent.  So first,  please understand that it is not up to God to prove to us that He is benevolent, but rather, for us to understand what true benevolence is according to His definition of it and how He manifests benevolence in His world.  Having said that, humility is very essential to understand His being.  God has categorically stated in the Noble Quraan that He is the "Rich" and we are the "poor."  To initiate His infinite mercy, we have to take the first step and reach out.  This has to be done with a humble and contrite heart, not with a challenging spirit for then we'll get nowhere.  We simply have to put aside our pride and become realistic by accepting the fact that while communicating with God is NOT the right place of us to show our arrogance.  This will only throw us several steps behind, and we'll end up getting more muddled and confused than ever before. 

It is not a question of why isn’t God doing anything. It’s a matter of us turning away from Reality – a Reality that is mercy, peace and prosperity when we surrender to It.

If He wasn’t benevolent why would He command goodness for us? Why would He command charity, kindness, compassion, fairness, love, selflessness, cooperation and the like if He was other than benevolent?

The greatest sign of the mercy and benevolence of God is that He made us the superior-most of all living beings and thus gave us the freedom (free will) to choose what to do with this life, and to either accept or turn away from the peace and mercy that has been offered to us, depending on to what extent we are able to understand the presence & existence of God the level of our Faith (Iman) in Him. 

There's another way of putting this too.  As we've often heard people ask that if God controls everything, why do people make slips and blunders?  The answer is simple for a truly perceiving mind, yet difficult for an aggressive person looking for confrontations.  As the Quraan says, God has given we humans the ability to discern and thus choose our path of conduct.  Whether or not we allow our conscience to grow or leave it stunted is entirely upto us.  Surely, there are times when God intervenes to change the course of our lives, but not as a rule.  And the reason why He does it, whenever He decides to do so, is only known to Him.  No one, not even the greatest "scholar" or scientist can answer this question.  Thus, by and large, we are the conductors of our lives in accordance of our own rules of conduct and level of Iman.  Our destiny is in our own hands.  It's not that God cannot intervene, but He chooses not to.  This is His standard law.  As mentioned, He makes exceptions whenever He deems proper and only He knows the interpretation of it.  This is one of our bounds that we cannot cross.  There are many aspects of the Unseen that humans are not supposed to know.  God has made this very clear in the Quraan as well.  It's just wise that we be humble and truthful enough to accept and admit this limitation.  Attempting to explain the Unseen will only result in presumptions, lies or anger .. none of which has or can ever yeild a fruitful outcome.  WHILE DISCUSSING ABOUT THE ALMIGHTY GOD, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY HUMAN BEING TO ANSWER EACH AND EVERY QUESTION.  GOD HAS PLAINLY CONVEYED THE MESSAGE IN THE QURAAN THAT HE MAKES "NONE TO SHARE HIS GOVERNMENT."

Also, both positive and negative interventions from God are either an outcome of our own efforts or a test to prove our worth.  There are some humans who are rightly guided in the sight of God and some far from it.  So, does God help all humans to acquire or not acquire gudance?  Again, the initiative must be taken by us, in that, we need to think, reflect, be rational, avoid superficiality and be humble with an accommodative spirit to understand God.  Thus, He appreciates such genuine efforts and feelings within our heart and illuminates our path with much greater guidance, that could become an endless source of knowledge .. again depending upon our own depth of wisdom.  That's when matters begin to straighten out on its own.  We find ourselves answering our own questions and the queries of others quite easily.  Even if we aren't articulate or competent enough to express our thoughts into words, nonetheless, those thoughts of guidance enhanced by the mercy of God, remain within us forever and are constantly beneficial in the most unprecedented & inexplicable ways.  This is our guidance and our most precious possession, the only form of wealth that will not turn useless upon death, which we can carry with us in our final and most important journey to the other world.  The flame of this wealth never diminishes unless we ourselves put it off by deciding to turn back.  Thus, the Almighty God says in the Glorious Quraan that "Allah changes not the condition of a folk unless they first change that which is in their hearts."  This is such a comprehensive verse that it explains in just one line everything that's been mentioned above.


Anyone interested in comparing this response with the unedited reply of the IOL team, please click HERE

[Ruhi_Rose]

Wonderful piece, and that's greatly because I like the way you've edited it.  I checked the unedited version too.  You're right, they've made particularly one surprising omission by not quoting the Quranic verse you put at the end.  That's the essence of this entire topic.

I'm totally in agreement that answering all quesitons about the Almighty Allah is impossible.  Allah has appointed limits for mankind in their search for spiritual facts.  Like you said, not even the best scholar or scientist can't cross those bounds.  Ayat al-Kursi conveys this message very well and so do several other Quranic verses. 

Thanks a lot, sis!

[Zainab_M]

I'm totally in agreement that answering all quesitons about the Almighty Allah is impossible. 

Yes .. actually this is an aspect few of us have grasped as yet, or maybe despite grasping it, most of us don't want to acknowledge it.

Debates:
I would also take this opportunity to point out another very important aspect that's linked to this issue.  On the basis of this significant truth which says that it's impossible to answer all questions about the Almighty Allah, it can never be fruitful to have debates on this topic either.  If you're having a debate with an atheist or an agnostic, they would almost certainly win in the eyes of the world .. a 'victory' that actually and ultimately means nothing, and carries no weight in the sight of God.  On the contrary it only opens the door toward still greater cranky bewilderment and a spirit of aggression within the 'winner.' 

Here's what I mean.  To begin with, what's a debate?  It's basically about presenting and taking challenges, and answering a barrage of questions in the process.  If you are debating on subjects such as politics, sports, music, art, literature, 'famous' personalities, medicine, science etc., you'll be talking and responding with both facts and presumptions, and even the presumptions will be taken as apt rejoinders of the participant. 

But if the topic is about God, it becomes a very different matter.  We cannot answer endless questions about God.  That's humanly impossible because this isn't the way it's been ordained for us by Him.  God has said in the Noble Quraan that it's not meant for us to know the Unseen.  The Book also says that not even the Prophet (pbuh) was avid of the Unseen.  It is mentioned in Surah Bani Israel that concerning the soul, we humans have been vouchsafed little knowledge.  The only thing we know for a fact about the soul (as given in Verse 39:42) is that the soul does not die or get destroyed with the body after death.  But how and where the soul is preserved after death till the Day of Resurrection is not known to anyone except God.  Further, the Almighty Allah has plainly stated in the Quraan that He makes none to share His government.  Also, as you very correctly mentioned, Ayat Al-Kursi states this concept very well and clear which I quote: "Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave ? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will."   (2:255)  Thus, whatever knowledge we are able to fetch through our research and findings is something that's already permitted by Him.  That which isn't sanctioned will have to remain within the sphere of the Unseen.  Therefore, we humans have very clear-cut limitations concerning the Domain of the Divine Power.  But an atheist will never understand this fact.  And even if he does, he'll never admit it.  Their standard rejoinder is that if something is true then it must be able to cope with any amount of questioning.  With this in mind, they ask questions about God just the way they would ask about any common aspect of life.  But the truth is that God is NOT just any aspect of life.  Needless to say, God has a far more supreme status than such a person might comprehend through their limited perception or confrontational mindset.  The Truth about God is far above and much more secretive than the commonplace truths of other matters within the earthly sphere.  We can respond to queries about God only so much.  Whether that be a lot or little, we cannot cross the bounds prescribed by Him, no matter how hard we try.  Attempting to know beyond the realm assigned to us will provide us with no sense of accomplishment either.  Filling in these blanks is only done on the basis of presumptions or lies.  While many of us might consider that in the absense of concrete information we are entitled to presume, however, we are not entitled to presume that our presumptions are final or ultimate .. particularly NOT on the subject of God.  And presumptions serve no ethical purpose.

The best step would be to respond to quesitons we know on the basis of the Quraanic guidelines and never consider it an infradig to admit that God has set limitations for us concerning the Unseen.  The basic and most important knowledge of a spiritual 'scholar' is to be aware that the boundaries of spiritual knowledge are clearly defined by God Himself and never to claim anything beyond that.  Accepting this Divine rule and adjusting it into one's discourse would be the true victory of any debate or discussion.  After all, knowledge, however little, based on truth is far more meaningful than 'vast' knowledge based on guesswork.   Most importantly, it's the rule of God and far more pleasing to Him.

Last but not least, never forget that whatever we know of the Unseen which may seem a lot to some of us, is actually very little compared to all that we do not know about it.

Thanks for reading!

[Ruhi_Rose]

Debates:
I would also take this opportunity to point out another very important aspect that's linked to this issue. 

I went thru this with interest.  I read the validity of your concept.  It's really correct and wonder why no one has raised it yet.  This issue of debates on God cannot be considered similar to just any other debate for obvious reasons, and limitations of the human mind & knowledge.  I saved this one.  Thanks a load, zeynab.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Thank u.  The edited one is more comprehensive. 

I would like to add, only once the Almighty Allah gives permission to be curious about the Unseen but cautions us as well.  Refer to Verses 5:101 and 102 as follows:

O ye who believe! Ask not of things which, if they were made unto you, would trouble you; but if ye ask of them when the Qur'an is being revealed, they will be made known unto you. Allah pardoneth this, for Allah is Forgiving, Clement. (5:101)

A folk before you asked (for such disclosures) and then disbelieved therein. (5:102)

Verse 5:102 signifies that asking too many questions about the Unseen can at times get people confused and puzzled with the possibility of making them slip into disbelief.  After all, human understanding of the Unseen is very narrow and they always try to compare it with the earthly laws they are acquainted with.

The concept of debates on this issue and its limitations is an important one.  It would be nice if you put that up as a separate topic, I mean, just copy it into a new topic. 

Thanks again sister!