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milligal · 06-19-2007, 06:24 PM

'When you see a person who is sick poor and needy, you are being tested by him...' SO you're being tested to see if you'll respond,who is the sick, poor needy person being tested by and what did he do to derseve it?

There are two elements in your argument for god that you are missing: one is that god allows innocent children to suffer. Just like Job having all ten of his children killed by satan as a result of god allowing him to be tested. The result was, job was faithful and got another ten children. What about the first ten? What is it about religion that so easily casts aside the value of life in the face of god's will?

The other is that sometimes bad things happen because of accidents, or disease. Not because someone is ignoring god's will, or living a reckless life. Sometimes a baby is born with a birth defect that takes it's life, sometimes a very virtuous person gets in a car accident and dies. The fact is that the god you teach about allows people to suffer, people who are trying to do what's right-people who haven't even had a chance yet because they are newborn! This is an unanswerable question in light of god's supposed perfection and love.

I disagree with your statement and do not believe you have adequately explained why god permits suffering in any logical way. Religious theory is just another avenue for human beings to try to understand what goes on around them and hope there is some all-powerful being who is going to save the day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisterX

Indeed God is All-Powerful and He is able to do all things.

But then the question comes why do pain and sufferings exist in the world. We find sickness, old age and death. We see things that are ugly, people who are insane and foolish. There are storms, earthquakes, floods, draught and famine. We also see people commit sins, show disloyalty, unfaithfulness, greed and insincerity. We see people commit rapes, murders; they fight and make wars. We know all these and many more problems. There are evils caused by human beings and there are natural disasters. There are suffering for individuals and there are those that involve a large number of people.

But we also know that this is not the whole story. Besides all these negative things, we also see beauty, health, prosperity, life, birth, wisdom, intelligence, growth and progress. We also see goodness among people, faith, sincerity, charity, love and the spirit of sacrifice. We also see a lot of virtue and piety. It is wrong to see one side of the coin and not to see the other side. Any philosophy that concentrates on one aspect of the creation and denies or ignores the other side is partially true and partial truths are no truth at all.

It is also the fact that the element of good is more in the creation than the element of evil. We all see that there are more people who are healthy than those who are sick. There are more that eat well than those who starve.

There are more that lead decent life than those who commit crimes. Goodness is the rule and evil is the exception. Virtue is the norm and sin is the aberration. Generally trees bear fruits, the flowers bloom, the winds move smoothly.

But then the question is why does God allow these exceptions to the rules?

Let us ask this question to understand God's ways in His creation. Good, evil and whatever happens in this world happens byGod's Will. Only Allah knows fully His Will. We finite beings cannot grasp fully His infinite Will and Wisdom. He runs His universe the way He deems fit. God is Wise and everything that He does is right, just, good and fair.
There are several points that we should keep in our mind to understand this issue:

1. First of all, God did not make this world a permanent world. This is a temporary world and everything here has a time limit. When its times comes it will die, come to an end and finish. Neither the good things of this world are forever, nor the bad things eternal. We are here for a short time and we are being tested. Those who will pass this test will find an eternal world that is perfect and permanent. Those who will fail this test shall see the evil consequences of their sins and corruption.

2. God has placed a physical law and a moral law in this universe. He allows suffering to occur when one or more of these laws are broken. The physical law is based on cause and effect. Sickness comes if one does not take care of ones health or is exposed to infections. A car accident occurs when one is not alert, or drives in a careless manner, or if the cars are not checked, roads and freeways are not made and kept in right shape, or the traffic laws are not right or not properly enforced. Study of causes and effects is very important to facilitate safeguards. Even here we should keep in mind that God often saves us and He does not let us suffer from every negligence. How many times it happens that we are not careful and still we reach safely to our destinations. The way people drive in some cities, it is a miracle that more accidents do not happen and more people do not suffer.

The way we exceed the measures set by God and violate His laws of "cause and effect" is incredible. It is really by the mercy of God that we are saved.

But sometimes God does punish people because of their violations of His laws whether they are physical or moral. Many nations and communities were destroyed because of their sinful lifestyles.

3. Suffering can also be a test and trial for some people. God allows some people to suffer in order to test their patience and steadfastness. Even His Prophets and Messengers were made to suffer. Good people sometimes suffer but their sufferings heal others and bring goodness to their communities. People learn lessons from their good examples. Martyrs die for their faith, soldiers give their lives for their nations and this brings liberation and freedom for their people.

4. God sometimes allows some people to suffer to test others, how they react to them. When you see a person who is sick, poor and needy, then you are being tested by Him. God is there with that suffering person to test your charity and your faith.

So to summarize, we can say suffering occurs to teach us that we must adhere to God's natural and moral laws. It is sometimes to punish those who violate Allah's natural or moral laws. It is to test our faith in Him and to test our commitment to human values and charity. Whenever we encounter suffering we should ask ourselves, Have we broken any law of Allah? Let us study the cause of the problem and use the corrective methods. Could it be a punishment? Let us repent and ask forgiveness and reform our ways. Could it be a test and trial for us? Let us work hard to pass this test. Believers face the sufferings with prayers, repentance and good deeds. The non-believers face the sufferings with doubts and confusions. They blame God or make arguments against Him.