And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah's and to Him we shall surely return. Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course. (Holy Quran 2:155-157)
Innocent people die every day and many suffer tremendous pain before they die. Much of these deaths and sufferings are caused by those factors no innocent human being could be responsible for, such as earthquakes and floods. Now because God is capable of preventing innocent people from undergoing this suffering, why doesn’t He spare them? In particular, why doesn’t He in the very least spare the children?
Consider for example the many children who drown while swimming at the beach because they had the unfortunate circumstance of being caught in a rip that dragged them back out into the sea. Why wouldn’t God reverse this motion of the sea and thus bring them back to safety? If it is a test for the parents, is it fair for children to suffer by being the test subject?Why is it, if we were to cause a child to drown it would be cruel and unjust but if God does it He is still Compassionate and Just?
Whether we are theists or atheists, every thought provoking question about Allah such as the one above, is an invitation for us to gain nearness to Allah for it is every one of these thought provoking questions that provides an opportunity to realise His Greatness.
Part One: Realising the Justice of Allah by realising His Greatness
The wisdom behind pain and suffering is not only so that we may understand and appreciate the value of when we are healthy and happy, but there is also something more profound. That is, pain and suffering is the means for realising ultimate greatness and it is the access to such greatness that makes the path to it, one that is always fair and just.
To elaborate on this point, let us consider the concept of love. The human being is capable of the most extraordinary self sacrifice all in the name of love. For instance, a mother would not hesitate to leap in front of a speeding car so as to save her child from being hit and she will do it without the slightest hesitation, even if she knows her effort will be futile. This self sacrifice not only ascends one to a sublime character, but it demonstrates that the high price of pain, next to love, becomes all of a sudden worthless and it is this comparison that reveals how incredibly great love is. Now such greatness means that any self sacrifice in the name of this great thing called love, is always worth it and because it is worth it, there is never a question of whether love is unjust.
Keeping this example in mind, let us now draw our attention to Allah. Our understanding of Allah is that all His attributes are absolute. Thus when we say Allah is Great, we mean that He possesses the attribute of Greatness in its entirety. Or in other words, He is Absolutely Great.
The concept of this absolute greatness means that it has so be something to great, that there is no self sacrifice high enough to dissuade you from wanting to be with it. It has to be something so great, that just to spend a moment with it, is an infinite number of times more worth, than an infinite life time of pain and suffering. And after spending a moment with it, it has to be so great that there is no pain and suffering like the pain and suffering of being kept away from it. Can you imagine how great that something must be? It is only now, via the knowledge of pain and suffering can we begin to imagine how incredibly great that something is. And that greatness is none other than Allah.
Now some may argue that it is still not fair to have to go through any pain in order to reach something good, even if it is only temporary. This argument however is still yet to recognise what exactly is the concept of absolute greatness. To explain, if the price of hardship is too high, then we are no longer talking about that which is absolutely great because simply it is no longer absolutely priceless.
Thus we can see it is only when we discuss relative greatness that the problem of injustice arises. Meaning, to perform something in return for something else that does not adequately compensate, presents a situation that is not fair, a situation that is unjust. However, we are no longer talking about Allah when speaking of Him in the relative sense for as we have already established, His greatness is absolute. So any path to that which is absolutely great is a path that is absolutely priceless and so therefore it is a path that is duly compensated and so, it is a path that is inherently just.
Part Two: Justice can only be realised when the capable are challenged.
To receive a difficult test, is an esteemed honour for it is a reflection of the level of our capabilities, the more difficult the test, the more capable we are. For instance, imagine our skills and strengths in mathematics were analysed over the course of a defined period. After this period, we were given a test. Now imagine this test to be highly problematic, the kind of test that only those gifted in mathematics could have hope of solving. You would naturally be daunted by the test, yet at the same time you would feel a sense of empowerment knowing that you have the skills to pass such a challenging test. Now imagine you had the skills, but your professor never gave you the opportunity to implement them. Would that be fair?
Let us continue with this concept by imagining a life where we had the power to change every problem and hardship that surfaces. Life would offcourse end up being easy. However, by taking away this challenging component in our life, it would mean our extraordinary capabilities could never be realised. The consequences of this should not be underestimated.
If we return to our previous example and imagine we are given a test that does not reflect our capabilities, we may pass the test with flying colours, but we will never know our true worth. We would never be able to stimulate our minds and excel as human being’s which is only possible in such schools of adversity.
But lets be honest, most of us would not care of evolving into human being’s that are sublime in character and profound in wisdom if it meant we had to be challenged. Most of us would instead prefer a life of continuous ease and comfort. However, a life of ease and comfort sounds a lot like heaven, where we no longer have to struggle, where everything fits into place just how we like it to be. Yet such a life then would have no purpose as what is the point of a test if it does not test? It would merely just be a waste of time.
But more to the point, such a life would never be fair because if we are denied the chance of realising our capabilities, then we would be cheated out of the chance to achieve something greater for ourselves. So not only would such a life be a waste of time, it would b inherently unjust as well.
Part Three: The necessity for the ignorant to be objective in order for justice to prevail.
The concept behind the saying, ‘you are innocent until proven guilty’, is born out of the fact that we are ignorant. It is because of this ignorance that we are compelled to refrain from making any rash judgments because we simply do not know the full story. We can see here the great importance objectivity has in our life for if we were to make rash judgements without first considering the evidence, it would mean our judgement would not be just and so the truth would never be known.
Allow us to consider the example of a man who lived his entire life as desert nomad. One day for the first time, this man saw in the distance a city and in the city there was a bull dozer tearing down beautiful buildings. What would he think? He would naturally perceive the bull dozer as carrying out a senseless act of destruction. Yet he would be completely ignorant of the engineering plans behind the destruction, a destruction that will eventually result in the creation of another more beautiful building. But to this desert nomad, the only thing he would conclude is that it is an unjust act and if he could stop it he would.
However, what if it came to his attention that the same bull dozer that was tearing down the buildings was the same bull dozer that helped create those beautiful buildings? Would it now be fair on his part to continue to condemn the act as being unjust? Rather, with this information, he would be aware of two critical points.
He would first be aware of his own ignorance, in particular his ignorance regarding the bull dozer. In turn he would be aware the bull dozer can no longer be considered as an instrument of injustice after realising the beauty it had helped create. With these two factors combined he would conclude that there must be a greater wisdom being played out that he was not aware of.
So we can see in this example how easily we beings of finite knowledge can think that we know the reality of the events surrounding us, yet the reality is far from what we think it is.
Yet life and we as human beings are designed in such a way, that it is only with the fertile mind of objectivity, can justice blossom. This is a testament to the Justice of Allah, for no author of such a system, can ever be unjust.
said...
In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful.
These are indeed words of wisdom. It shows that whoever arrived at this reflected carefully and properly. This article mashallah, is very interesting and is based on an important issue because it is capable of improving peoples lives.
The part where the author writes that a person should not look at a hard test(greater suffering) negatively rather they should look at it positively and tell themselves that "allhamdullilah allah is testing me according to my understanding and according to my level of Iman" reminds me of the verse in the Quran towards the end of Surah Baqara where Allah says, "WE will not burden anyone with a trail more than what they connot handle"
Another importtant point mentioned in this article is whenthe author writes that if someone asks themselves why they have to suffer and go through pain that means they are not looking at Allah as a being that is infinite rather they are looking at Allah as a being that is Finite. What is understood here, is that a person who sacrifices something claimmig that it is for gaining the pleasure of Allah, and that while performing such sacrifice thinks their sacrifice to be great is in reality not doing their sacrifice for gaining the pleasure of Allah. Why? because he is comparing his sacrifice and putting his sacrifice on the same level as God/ but God is infinite and nothing can be compared to Him, so who ever that individual is making a sacrifice for, is someone other than God or in other words that person is making a sacrifice for a Finite thing.
What else is also interesting is when the author uses the analogy of the "bulldozers and the nomad". This analogy shows us that a person will look at a suffering negatively "if" he loves himself(pride). What does that mean? this needs some more explaining. Basically (person A) complains about himself and his problems and says because of the suffering there is no God. suppose (Person A) lost his child. Because of the loss (Person A) feels sad and depressed and complains. Notice that (Person A) probably when observing another parent loose his/her child, (person A) didn't feel as bad as when he lost his child. Why? because suffering is looked at negatively only when it becomes personal. Only When "I" suffer it is bad. when other people suffer why isnt it as bad? because it is personal. It is pride.
So in reality there is nothing negative. the only time it will be nehative is when we make it negative. Allah does not make tihings negative. He(Allah) makes positive things only.
Where do we learn all this from? We learn this from what transpired on Ashura and what happened right after that event.
After Ashura, in the court of yazid, Yazid asked Bibi Zaynab (a.s) what had happened to her brother? And Bibi Zaynab(a.s) said "I see nothing but good that happened." This tells us that suffering is never bad..it is good. Did Imaam Hussein (a.s) ever complain to Allah because his 9 month baby dies by a three prong Arrow? no, he never complained.
the companions said we will be willing to sacrifice ourselves even a thousand times for the pleasure of Allah. wHy? they did not see their loss as something personal, after all everything comes from Allah,not form themselves, and EVERYTHING will go back to Allah, because thats where it belongs, so why bother or feel any greif. "Allah is our protector"?"
And we all know, that what they(Ahlul Bayt) went through was the hardest of all trails and tribulations. wHy? because their status and postion in Allahs sight was high, and that test was well suited for them, infact it was an honor for then"subhanallah". The way Ahlul Bayt reacted shows that if the Ahlul Bayt (a,s) did not complain why should we complain?
said...
Asalam Waleikum,
Very thought provoking post, Alhumdullilah.
Thankyou for that. I have a question regarding our role in all of this, now i may be able to explain my own suffering by telling myself that this is my struggle in the path of Allah (swt), but how do we explain the many people around the world, who do not have the access to enlighten their minds and bring some peace to themselves? To them suffering is just that; alot of pain..I would be grateful if you could share anything on this too.
Another point is that when we begin to see suffering as a nesseccary existant in the world, is it not possible that the urge to remove it might decrease within us? What is our role in committing ourselves to reducing poverty, etc. if it is infact a sort of blessing from Allah (swt)..
Im sorry, reads like a confused post to me, InshaAllah your able to understand what i mean :o)
Wasalam
Revolutionary said...
salam alaykum,
in reply to first comment:
great insight there thank u so much for taking the time to share.
that verse u mentioned, "We will not burden anyone with a trail more than what they cannot bare" is really comforting for it gives u new found strength that regardless of what position your in, there is hope to find inner contentment, that spiritually atleast you will be ok.
in reply to second comment:
let me just first of all say these are great questions you posed. thank u so much for sharing.
and yes u made perfect sense.
"now i may be able to explain my own suffering by telling myself that this is my struggle in the path of Allah (swt), but how do we explain the many people around the world, who do not have the access to enlighten their minds and bring some peace to themselves? To them suffering is just that; alot of pain..I would be grateful if you could share anything on this too."
i would say that perhaps enlightened minds are not even required in order to react to pain how we should. perhaps its something innate in all of us regardless what level of understanding.
for instance, many find comfort in resorting to God when going thru pain, it becomes a coping mechanism. whether it be hope for rescue, or comfort in the thought that the hereafter will be better, or comfort that Allah will avenge any cruelty committed against them.
now some may not all see it that way, so what do we say? i would say what is the alternative? if there was no God then that would be depressing, there is nothing to hope for nothing to look forward to.
so way we can see how the belief in God provides hope and comfort. its a natural progression that does not require any in depth philosophical analysis.
what do u think?
ill try to attempt ur second question..
perhaps its a win win, we say alhamdulillah always, we should strive to better our situation because that is our duty, but if we experience pain it is our duty to say alhamdulillah as worshipping Allah is easy when everything goes our way but worshipping Allah when things dont go our way is no not so easy. Allah is seperating the pretenders from the believers.
hope i was of some help. very interesting questions u raised. i have no doubt there is so much to say on this so forgive me for not giving it justice.
let me know what u think.
said...
Asalam Waleikum,
Thankyou v.much for your reply! yes i agree, in the sense that all of us, regardless of educational background or level of thinking have it ingrained to cling onto a Higher Reality for hope. and Allah(swt) has endowed man with the best survival instincts so each person does cope to his/her own ability :o) im feeling a little embittered & disturbed by the current situation in Iraq & rest of the ME region.
for the second part, i am currently reading a chapter on Divine Justice, in Ayatullah Mutahiri's Man & Universe, where he says that the world is a perfect system. it cannot be any other way, it is just and perfect.
So once we understand that (im still trying to), we also know that our role within this perfect system is to attain our own perfection. And in order to attain it, we have a duty to others & ourselves, which includes alleviating suffering, because compassion is a huge part of our spiritual progress.
so it is a balance between understanding that the world on a macro level is a perfectly functioning system that does not need ANY improvement, but within it there are evils caused due to man's own free will, which must be combatted, internally through Jihad al Akbar and externally. so as you said in both ways we must say Alhumdullilah, because praise be to Him for the countless bounties, a single breath to begin with, and Alhumdullilah for the evils to combat, since the struggle is infact what makes us human.
May Allah bless you for your efforts! InshaAllah we are all able to understand and know Allah(swt) better
Wasalam wr wb
Revolutionary said...
salam alaykum
i have heard great things about this book Divine Justice, InshaAllah i will get my hands on it soon.
i think ur not alone in ur feelings regarding iraq and the middle east. but i think much of the injustice occuring there is alot of our own doing.
you mentioned jihad al akbar and i think what your saying here is spot on, our success or lack there of in this jihad greatly determines not only our view on Divine Justice but also the conditions in which we live.
very insightful comments you made thank u for sharing them.