format_quote Originally Posted by
qoheleth
1) If all things happen because Allah wills it, then even terrible atrocities (like child abuse, war, rape, or disease) are to be attributed to God? I am not sure I understand how Muslims view evil in the world if all things come from Allah... can anyone explain? Am I correct in understanding that Islam rejects the Fall of Judaism and Christianity?
According to Islamic theology, this life is meant to be a test. It is a drop in an ocean compared to the life of the next world. Every single little aspect of life is a test. Allah will try people from childhood till old age.
We are not here to have fun or build a happy life. People will be thoroughly tested and shaken. The more beloved a person is to Allah, the more he is tested. Experiencing hardship wipes away sin so such a person would meet Allah on the day of judgement with less sins on his scale.
However, it is said that Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear. So that's why people who commit suicide are punished in hell because they gave up on the mercy of Allah, despite having been given the ability to cope with the test they were given.
It goes without saying that the rewards for being severely tested in this world are extremely great in the hearafter.
If a child under the age of accountability dies, he goes straight to jannah. A blind person is not held accountable either. So this (apparent) unfairness is fully compensated.
An important principle that needs to be understood is that Allah is Most Wise. This means there is always a purpose behind everything that happens. Good or bad. As an example, a person might be on his way to a once-in-lifetime tryout session for football but he could trip over something and fall requiring an immediate hospital check-up. At the check-up, the doctors might find this person has a serious illness that if left unchecked would result in that person dying soon. I hope you can now see the wisdom behind that guy tripping in the first place? He may have missed his football practice, but is able to take precautions against the unknown serious illness.
In this way, there is always a reason for everything to happen. Divine wisdom is always at work. A boy's parents could die in an earthquake and leave him behind to be raised by the local mosque run orphanage, exposing him to Islamic knowledge and inculcating in him the yearning to become a great Islamic scholar with the desire to change the world.
A victim of paedophilia could later grow up and dedicate his life to helping other victims of paedophilia come to terms with their experience. Had he not been a victim, those others would not have had the help coming to them.
I hope these examples are enough to show that we shouldn't think only of the short term effects. Islam means to submit. What does that mean? It means to resign yourself to Allah's will. You accept the conditions Allah places on you while acknowledging that there is benefit in whatever has happened becasue Allah is indeed Most Wise.
Allah is also Most Just. Therefore, every single unjust act that has ever been committed by a human will be brought to account on the day of judgement. So an unrepentant and unforgiven paedophile would be punished very severely in the fire of hell compared with eternal bliss for the victim if he remained steadfast in his life. There's the justice.