on the occurrence of difficulties (Islam)
religion/philosophy/Islam
⇉why do bad things happen? Why does God allow it?
⇉why do bad things happen to people who do not deserve them?
The first question is asked because the humankind encounters suffering, death, disease, defects and loss. There is an inner quest for perfection and peace in the heart of the human and this question appears when those expectations are not met, and when other forces (including humans) bring about evil and destruction. It is clear, then, that the origins of human psychology are not earthly but that their origin is ‘Heavenly’ or Edenic.
Adam, the origin of all humans, first awoke and found consciousness in a place which was not like the earth and he, along with his partner Eve, lived a life which is much unlike the life that we live here. There is no original sin in Islam, but there is belief in the original thought. In the original psychological consciousness in which Adam and Even found themselves. And since we live on the earth, we are born with these hierarchy of needs which reflects an environment which not terrestrial, and not from this earth.
Adam and Eve did not want in Eden, they did not lack, and they did not fight, and nor did they encounter any imperfection before his encounter with Iblis or Shaytan. They did not need guidance except the ‘Aql (Intellect) which was part of their being. This was their origin and the locus for their first state of consciousness and it remained in their long-term memory and presented itself in their self-actualization.
Once Adam and Eve descended to the earth, they were bound to lose their way back to Eden and God said to them:
He said, ‘Get down both of you from it, all together, being enemies of one another! Yet, should any guidance come to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will not go astray, nor will they be miserable. (20:123)
The separation from their original home left them sad, despondent, and aware of the presence of a constant enemy.
God also said to them and their descendants (humankind):
وَلَنَبلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيءٍ مِنَ الخَوفِ وَالجوعِ وَنَقصٍ مِنَ الأَموالِ وَالأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَراتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصّابِرينَ]]
We will surely test you with a measure of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; and give good news to the patient]] 2:155
God promised fear, hunger, loss in wealth and property, death, and famine as part of the life on heart. He equipped humankind with strength, with the Intellect, with resilience, and with hope.
But that original consciousness remained, it was not taken away.
When bad things happen, when there is a defect and loss in our life, body, mind, family, or environment we are jarred and reminded that there is something which does not resonate with us on this world. Or rather, this world does not resonate with the expectations of our long-term collective memory of our origins.
But why does God allow this?
The Qur’an says:
وَإِذا أَنعَمنا عَلَى الإِنسانِ أَعرَضَ وَنَأىٰ بِجانِبِهِ وَإِذا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَذو دُعاءٍ عَريضٍ
When We bless man, he is disregardful and turns aside; but when an ill befalls him, he makes protracted supplications (41:51).
Evil is not Divine in origin. These defects do not come from God and do not occur in Him. He is free from all defects, perfect, complete, and absolute. But since our existence and substantiation is earthly and distant from God—or Other than Him—then we are subject to imperfections. Our existence, other than being borrowed, in imperfect and fallible (not sinful, but fallible).
Allah swt says:
It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope, and He produces the clouds heavy [with rain]. (13:12)
Hope remains. Hope is the anchor with which we stay stable on the path of return back to Allah swt. Hope is the torchlight which reminds us of the light from which we came and to which we shall return.
to be continued…
all Qur’an translations by Ali Quli Qarai https://al-quran.info