If God is Good, Why Do We Suffer?

[00:00:00]This is probably one of the biggest doubts about religion that people get and maybe the biggest reason why people leave their religions. People have been struggling with this for over 2,000 years and that is of course the problem of evil. You've probably heard of it. A lot of people talk about it but honestly not many people talk about it from an Islamic perspective. So I'm going to do that inshallah. Also big shout out to just pray for sponsoring this video.

[00:00:19]More on that later. Anyways, a lot of people say if God is good then why do we suffer? Why do bad things happen? Why did my family member die? People say, "If God is all powerful and all knowing, then he must just not care. If he's all powerful and he loves us, then he must not know that I'm suffering. But if he's all loving and all- knowing, then he must not have the power to stop my suffering." And this is what's called the inconsistent triad, and it's been a problem for a very long time. And at first, this argument seems very strong because we're all taught that God is all good, and he is good, but of course, it's much more nuanced than that. Yes, Allah is all powerful, and he is all knowing, and he is good. But in Islam, Allah is not only defined by these attributes. The thing is with this argument is that it only really works in a Christian framework. For them, love is the main attribute of God. They even say that God is love. They think of him as a loving father who would never let his children get hurt. But of course, this falls apart in Islam. Yes, Allah is good, but of course, we know of over a hundred names and attributes of Allah.

[00:01:12]Al-Hakim the most wise, Alim the all knowing, Alhakam the judge, etc. We cannot just choose one of these names and compare it to the world because all of these names work together. And so I'm pretty sure that the main reason why a lot of Muslims these days struggle with this argument is because they don't know their Lord. And you might say, okay, so Allah's attributes work together, but Allah is still supposed to be the most generous, the kind, the bestower of good. So why do bad things happen?

[00:01:35]Firstly, we have to understand that Allah being good and him being merciful, and him being kind does not mean that he's obligated to constantly make us feel good and comfortable in this world.

[00:01:44]Because the purpose of life is not to be happy and to have fun. We were created to worship Allah and life is just a test. If we pass the test, we go to Jenna. And if we fail the test, we go to jannam. May Allah protect us from that.

[00:01:55]And so every single thing that happens to you, good or bad, is a test. For example, Allah tests us with wealth, the way to pass the test is to spend it according to the sunnah, on charity, your family, yourself, with the intention of pleasing Allah. Those who are stingy with their money, not spending it on charity or on other people. And those who sacrifice their dean for money have failed the test. In the same way, bad things happening are a test. For example, you may be tested with illness. And some people will become angry with Allah. They will say why me? Why did Allah do this to me and others do the correct thing which is to understand that illness purifies you. It expedates for your sins and it elevates your rank. If you know this and you have high eman illness could actually feel relieving to you because you know that the worse you have it here the better you have it in Jenna inshallah. And the same goes for the death of a loved one or poverty being oppressed or seeing other people being oppressed. These things are tests. If you accept and understand that Allah is the most fair and the most just and the most wise, you know that Allah will give everyone justice. If it doesn't come in the dunya, it will come in the afterlife.

[00:02:53]And suffering also has other wisdoms besides it just being a test. Like I just said, illness experiences your sins. And actually, any kind of pain could expedate your sins. Even being prickled by a thorn. And also, hardship can build qualities in people that can't be built any other way. A rich person might feel all high and mighty and like, "Ooh, look at me. I'm so rich." And then boom, a recession happens. the stock market crashes, he gets sued, whatever.

[00:03:15]And this person who was just feeling so arrogant has been humbled and has an opportunity to return to Allah with humility. Or maybe a person spends their life not doing much, not learning Islam, not praying, not fasting, and their family member dies. This can really remind someone of their own mortality.

[00:03:30]It could get them back to praying, back to improving themselves, back to repenting because they know that at any moment they could die, they could get cancer or whatever. And if you are someone who struggles with prayer, why not try just to pray? You've probably heard of it by now. And there's a good reason for that. It's just a really good prayer app. It can block your apps when it's time to pray. It gives you three notifications per prayer. The prayer times are just good and accurate. Like it has every single prayer time calculation. It also shows you when midnight and sunrise are. So you don't have to worry about, you know, whether you missed faj or there's also a fajger alarm that doesn't turn off until you've scanned your prayer map. I mean, there's like a million features. So guys, don't underestimate the importance of prayer.

[00:04:05]If you don't pray, you're missing out on rewards in the afterlife and in this life. You're going to feel so much better when you start praying. And leaving the salah is one of the most dangerous things you can do. So, check my link in the description. Anyways, bad things happening always have a wisdom to them. For example, a person's car might break down before going to work. And he thinks that this is a bad thing because he has to pay for repairs. Maybe he'll get fired for not coming in, etc. But what he doesn't know is that if he had gone to work, he might have gotten in a crash or maybe something bad could have happened at work, etc. Allah protects you without you even knowing. We never see the full picture and every possible thing could happen. And a great example of this is the story of Mus and from surah al basically Musa Alisam was asked who is the most knowledgeable of the people and he said I am but Allah said no there is a man who has knowledge that you do not have and he is at the junction of the two seas. So Musa Alisam went to travel there along with one of his companions. After a while he arrived at the junction of the two seas and he met sorry guys I'm not great with that letter. Anyways Musa asked him to teach him what Allah has taught him. But warned him that he would not be able to be patient with him because he will see things that he doesn't have knowledge of and he won't be able to handle it. But then Musa said, "You will find me patient inshallah." So they went on their way and firstly they boarded a boat of some poor sailors who offered to give them a free ride. But shortly after Hedr made a small hole in the boat and damaged it and of course Musa became very angry because they were just given a free ride and he made a hole in the boat. But Herrer reminded him that he said he wouldn't question it. And so Musa apologized and said that he forgot.

[00:05:30]Then they came across a young boy who was playing and Hedrar killed him seemingly for no reason. And of course, Musa became angry again because he just killed an innocent kid. Hedrar again reminded him that he shouldn't question him and Musa apologized again. Finally, they arrived at a town and the people refused to host them. But then found a wall that was about to collapse and he repaired it for completely free. Despite these people refusing them hospitality and Musa said that he could have at least charged them for it, he didn't understand. Hedrar then said that this is where we will part ways and he explained to Musa why he did those things. The reason why he made a hole in the boat is because there was a king who was seizing every good boat by force. So Hedther slightly damaged the boat so that the king wouldn't take it. He was actually protecting the sailors. And the reason why Hther killed the boy was because the boy was destined to grow up in sin and disbelief and he was destined to drag his parents into transgression and even disbelief. So Allah willed to take him and to replace him with a child who is more pure. Hedra's killing was actually a mercy to the parents. And the reason why he fixed the wall for the people who refused him hospitality is because the wall actually belonged to two orphan boys. And under the wall was some buried treasure that their father left them. If the wall had collapsed, then the people would have been able to take the treasure before the boys could grow up. So Hiddra was actually guarding the inheritance of these orphans. So yes, he did do these seemingly bad and confusing things, but they all led to a greater purpose. Of course, that does not mean that you should ever do bad things for the greater good in Islam.

[00:06:51]You can't just kill some kid because he might grow up to be bad and you can't do any kind of sin for the greater good in Islam. But this story is different because Hiddra was not acting out of his own accord. He acted by Allah's command and Allah's command is always correct.

[00:07:03]But the main message of this story is that Musa Alisam who was a prophet misjudged each thing he saw because he only saw the surface and these things were commands from Allah. So no matter what happens, each thing that happens good or bad has some kind of greater meaning. Maybe something worse was prevented. Maybe a sequence of events happens that leads to something great.

[00:07:21]Whatever. And even if it isn't settled here, it will be in the afterlife. Maybe this bad thing that happened causes someone's sins to be forgiven or it caused someone to enter Jenna. Whatever.

[00:07:30]So whenever you see bad things happening around you, maybe your friend got fired, maybe there was an earthquake, maybe someone you know died, etc. These things are of course bad. You know, people suffer. But at the end of the day, everything is the way it is because Allah has a plan for every single thing in this world. And this is what the story of teaches us. And you may be someone who's going through something bad and you might be saying, you know, I don't deserve this. Did I do something wrong? Is Allah punishing me? And no, usually this is not the case. It isn't always your fault. In fact, Allah tests those who he loves. And the people who were tested the most were the prophets.

[00:08:02]And AUB is one of the best examples of this. By the way, if you look under this video, some of you guys will have this feature called hype. It basically just means that the algorithm shows my video to more people. So, if you see it, then, you know, give it a press. And while you're there, you might as well like and subscribe. Anyways, Aayub or in English Job was a very good man. He was actually a prophet from Ibrahim's lineage and we know that Allah called him an excellent servant who constantly turned back to Allah and he was quite well off. He had a big family, good health, he had lots of money. Life was great until suddenly all of his risk was stripped away from him. He lost his property. He lost his children. He lost his health. He became very ill. Now in the Christian depiction, while he did show some endurance and patience, Job actually became very angry at God. The book of Job says that he accused God of destroying the wicked and the blameless and he demanded that God shows himself and explains. But in reality, this did not happen. In fact, Aub's reaction was the opposite. He said, "Sayan has touched me with hardship and torment."

[00:08:59]He also said, "Hm has touched me and you are the most merciful of the merciful."

[00:09:03]Allah then told him to strike the ground with his foot and a spring gushed out.

[00:09:07]He then bathed in it and drank and Allah cured his illness. And for his patience, all of his risk was returned to him. his wealth, his property, his health and all of his provision returned to him. So firstly, this story teaches us that trials don't always come as a result of sin. They do sometimes, but usually they don't. Even the best of people, you know, everyone in this world is afflicted with trials. And this is usually, among other things, a test of your patience. Like I said, everything that happens in your life is a test. If you get blessings, you either use them well and lawfully and be generous or you forget Allah and lose your humility. And if you're afflicted with trials, you either blame Allah and forget him or you patiently endure it and increase in the remembrance of Allah. This story also teaches us that if something bad happens to a believer, we will be compensated.

[00:09:51]In this story, Aayub got compensation in this life, but generally speaking, you're going to get it in the afterlife.

[00:09:57]The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that no distress afflicts a Muslim except that Allah expedates some of his sins for that. And so, this is actually the best argument against the problem of evil. The fact that everything will be settled in the afterlife. The people who are wronged will be compensated and the oppressors will be held to account. The thing is with the problem of evil is that it assumes that this life is all that there is or at least it gives life too much importance. The thing is that while 80 or so years here feels like a long time, the afterlife is literally eternity. Just the day of judgment itself will be 50,000 years. Once you die, it's over. That's it. You can't do anything else here. You're going to look back at your life and realize that it all came and went so quickly. Allah will even ask, "How long did you stay on earth for?" And the people will say a day or part of a day. You will not be thinking about the bad things that happened to you. You won't be thinking about how the world wronged you so much.

[00:10:46]You will be thinking about your deeds.

[00:10:48]What good you did and what bad you abstained from. The reason I mention this is that it puts into perspective that this life compared to the afterlife is small. What we feel here is ultimately meaningless. What matters is how we react to different situations.

[00:11:01]And I'm not telling you to become some callous psychopath who doesn't care about your parents dying or whatever, but you should have some detachment from this dunya. And be aware of the fact that no matter what happens, we are here to strive towards a greater purpose. And this hadith here is a great example of this. A disbeliever with the best life, the most luxury, riches, and everything will be dipped into hell for one moment.

[00:11:22]And he will be asked, "Did you get any blessings in this world?" And he will say, "By Allah, no." And a believer with the most miserable life will be dipped into Jenna for one moment. And he will say that he never felt any distress.

[00:11:34]Things may feel big now and they definitely are in a way but compared to the it is all nothing. So please be patient through your trials. Trust in Allah and notice every test in life.

[00:11:45]Allah is always watching and the angels are writing our deeds. So watch how you react to the bad things and to the good things that happen in life. Anyways, I hope I've cleared this doubt so far and you know that trials are often tests to see how you react. And you know that many trials have wisdom behind them that we just don't know about. And you know that no matter what bad befalls a believer, he will be compensated for it in the afterlife because Allah is the most merciful and the most generous. But I know some of you will still say, well, sure, things may have wisdoms behind them and we may be compensated for things in the afterlife, but you claim that Allah is good. How can cancer and genocide and natural disasters exist with an all powerful and good God? And yes, these things exist. The pain is real and we dislike suffering. And all of us can innately feel in our hearts that suffering is bad. But calling these things evil only works if evil as a concept is an objective fact about the world. But in the atheistic framework, morality just comes from, you know, evolution or from culture. Perceiving things as bad is just a mechanism for survival. But that doesn't make these things objectively bad without a just creator who grounds what is good and what is bad. We're all just atoms bouncing around and bad things are just a configuration of atoms that you don't like. So as an atheist, you cannot say that morality is objective. If it is, then it has to have a transcendent anchor, a necessary being. And in that case, you would have to believe in God.

[00:13:02]But if you say that morality is subjective, then evil or bad things are just your opinion. And you can't really use them as an argument against God.

[00:13:10]It's just a complaint. You don't like how he's running the world. But of course, Allah is al-melik, the king. He rules the heavens and the earth with complete knowledge and wisdom, not according to our preferences because Allah knows best, right? And yet some people will still say, well, I'm not claiming that morality is objective. I'm just saying that your own framework is contradictory. You say that Allah is good yet evil exists. And if you're thinking that, dude, just watch the video again because like I said, bad things are trials. They have wisdom. And the believers who experience these trials will be compensated. Now, if I somehow didn't convince you, here's the thing. Using the problem of evil as a reason to disbelieve in God actually puts you in a much worse position. We have just established that as a believer, all of the pain and trials that you have experienced in this world will be accounted for, and you will be compensated for it. All you need to do is believe in Allah with pureed. Worship him as he should be worshiped. Abstain from bad deeds and be patient through your trial. And that is the path to heaven. Once you reach it, you will forget ever having experienced anything bad here. Whereas if you decide to disbelieve in God just because you know it doesn't make sense to you, you're going to end up in hell. And not only that, you're going to live a life believing that we're all just atoms bouncing around and there is no justice.

[00:14:18]You're going to live a life believing that once Epstein dies, he's going to end up in the same place as his victims.

[00:14:23]What a fulfilling life. And the thing is with the problem of evil is that I don't really think it's that much of a reason to disbelieve in God. I think it's more of an excuse. You know, people look for a reason to disbelieve in God. And obviously, this is a big one. So, they just go with it. But like I said, Allah can be good to his creation and be all knowing and be all powerful while still allowing us to be put through trials because in the grand scheme of things, the pain or pleasure that we may feel in this life is meaningless compared to the afterlife. Anyways, that was the video.

[00:14:49]Once again, if you have any questions, feel free to support me on my Patreon, to join my Discord server. Really a great place if you want to seek more knowledge, make some friends, get your questions answered, etc. Big shout out again to Just Pray for sponsoring this video. It genuinely is a great app and it helps me a lot. It's been helping me for like a year, especially the three notifications per prayer. I really recommend it. And if you want to see more videos, click this one or this one.

[00:15:10]And with that said, may Allah bless you all.