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  1. Home
  2. Critical Examination of Islam
  3. What is the nature of God?
  4. What about all the bad things that happen?

What about all the bad things that happen?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved What is the nature of God?
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  • WakasW Offline
    WakasW Offline
    Wakas
    wrote on last edited by
    #27

    peace sister Elena,

    I only saw your post yesterday, sorry.

    If I understand you correctly, your point of contention is that bad things happen and God allows them to happen, and this is a problem.

    Firstly, the above position/point already assumes God exists. And you're right it would be a problem IF God did not correct this situation. However, we are told in AQ, God does correct this on the day of requital/obligation/due when our deeds are repaid. There is no injustice when the story is completed.

    If I may try an analogy... if you were an observer watching me standing over two hungry children fighting over a piece of bread, and I stopped them and took the piece of bread from them and you paused the scene right there and began to draw conclusions on what happened and if it was fair or not, you might think I took the bread for myself (i.e. something unfair) or something else... however, if you unpaused it and let the story complete, you may see me break the bread into two equal portions and return it to the children, each with their own share.
    Thus, if we go back to the original point, you are making your judgement on God as being unfair only halfway through the story. As I said before, if God exists, like your point of contention assumes, we should remember that this life is only part of the story, and there will be no injustice once the story is complete.

    I hope this was of help.

    All information is correct to the best of my knowledge only and thus should not be taken as a fact. One should always seek knowledge and verify for themselves when possible: 17:36, 20:114, 35:28, 49:6, 58:11.

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    • T Offline
      T Offline
      Tay
      wrote on last edited by
      #28

      Nice analogy bro.

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      • E Offline
        E Offline
        Elena
        wrote on last edited by
        #29

        Peace jonny_k,
        thanks for the link.

        Peace Wakas
        it's ok, it's me who is late!

        I agree with Tay, nice analogy, and clear. Nothing to oppose really, you trust on that end, when the story is completed, because of AQ.
        I see that end as a hope (of yours) not as something real. But I understand your approach.

        Thanks for the answers!

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        • WakasW Offline
          WakasW Offline
          Wakas
          wrote on last edited by
          #30

          peace elena,

          I'm not sure if I would say I believe it soley because of AQ but partly because of it.

          Also, of course it is not real, i.e. a fact (as this would invalidate this life/test), you used the word hope, AQ uses the term 'iman' meaning 'trust/belief'.

          All information is correct to the best of my knowledge only and thus should not be taken as a fact. One should always seek knowledge and verify for themselves when possible: 17:36, 20:114, 35:28, 49:6, 58:11.

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          • P Offline
            P Offline
            pvb
            wrote on last edited by
            #31

            Daud-19 - Does that mean there is no satan? We are the satan?

            Have you heard about paying it forward. What if it works in the opposite too. What if you start a whole chain of negative events just because you don't smile at someone as they walk pass you or you are a bit short with someone?

            We have the choice!!

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            • U Offline
              U Offline
              unknownuser
              wrote on last edited by
              #32

              What if you start a chain of negative events because you smile someone, they get happy and jump for joy, only to be flattened by the 203 Express Railway?

              You can't live by "What-if"s.

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              • P Offline
                P Offline
                pvb
                wrote on last edited by
                #33

                LOL!! too funny!

                what "if" not really part of my point- also means "let's say".

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                • L Offline
                  L Offline
                  L_Hu
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #34

                  Peace

                  No chaos no order. No evil no good. No pain no pleasure. No sadness no happyiness.

                  Lareb

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                  • N Offline
                    N Offline
                    nimnimak_11
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #35

                    Peace all

                    Something which i thought about a while ago was this.

                    happiness and unhappiness are the important things here with respect to reward and punishment (i think)

                    I wondered what happens to the happines of those who are brought up in poverty and the following came to me.

                    When a poor person finds shelter or food, it can/maby be the equivalent of a person with normal wealth winning the lottery.
                    That level of happiness which the poor MAY experience, could be more frequent than that of a person with nomral wealth. However the normal wealth person probably does not experience as much unhappieness as the poor person.

                    I wondered whether there is a balance somewhere with respect to the happiness and unhappiness of these individuals in different environments and circumstances.

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                    • D Offline
                      D Offline
                      Dotty
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #36

                      However the normal wealth person probably does not experience as much unhappieness as the poor person.

                      Salaam nimnimak,

                      In case of wealth this is probably true. Wealthy people can also be unhappy, which of course, has nothing to do with money.

                      Peace,
                      dotty

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                      • N Offline
                        N Offline
                        nimnimak_11
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #37

                        Salam Dotty

                        Do you not think that poor people can be happy? I think they may adapt to their situation although if it's very very bad they probabely wouldn't.

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                        • D Offline
                          D Offline
                          Dotty
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #38

                          Absolutely nimnimak.

                          There is happiness/sadness in every walk of life. Did I give you the impression that poor people cannot be happy? I did not mean to.

                          I bet there are a lot of poor people that can explain their happiness..... and I'm sure they appreciate things much more that ones born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Unfortunately, many times poor people have to work so hard just to get the smallest necessities. We should always be mindful of that.

                          peace
                          dotty

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                          • N Offline
                            N Offline
                            nimnimak_11
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #39

                            Absolutely nimnimak.

                            There is happiness/sadness in every walk of life. Did I give you the impression that poor people cannot be happy? I did not mean to.

                            I bet there are a lot of poor people that can explain their happiness..... and I'm sure they appreciate things much more that ones born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Unfortunately, many times poor people have to work so hard just to get the smallest necessities. We should always be mindful of that.

                            peace
                            dotty

                            I agree bravo
                            peace

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                            • P Offline
                              P Offline
                              palestina
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #40

                              So if people who commit crimes against humankind have free-choice, as you mentioned earlier, then what choices do the innocent have? Wouldn't they then be slaves with no choice?

                              just to get back to this quote - wouldnt the "choice" of the innocent be in how they choose to react/deal with their situation?

                              peace sister Elena,
                              if you were an observer watching me standing over two hungry children fighting over a piece of bread, and I stopped them and took the piece of bread from them and you paused the scene right there and began to draw conclusions on what happened and if it was fair or not, you might think I took the bread for myself (i.e. something unfair) or something else... however, if you unpaused it and let the story complete, you may see me break the bread into two equal portions and return it to the children, each with their own share.
                              Thus, if we go back to the original point, you are making your judgement on God as being unfair only halfway through the story. As I said before, if God exists, like your point of contention assumes, we should remember that this life is only part of the story, and there will be no injustice once the story is complete.

                              I hope this was of help.

                              This is very optimistic bro...... nice simple analogy )

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                              • D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Dotty
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #41

                                just to get back to this quote - wouldnt the "choice" of the innocent be in how they choose to react/deal with their situation?

                                Yes and no.

                                A small child who is sexually abused, let's say, may not even know HOW to react/deal.

                                In fact, it's a pretty sure bet they don't.

                                Peace

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                                • P Offline
                                  P Offline
                                  palestina
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #42

                                  True - but then the choice is theirs when they grow up perhaps?

                                  to be honest this plays alot on my mind - why does god allow it? Its like he created everything then took a step back to watch us self-destruct or something....

                                  I remember asking somehting similar a while ago about these bad things -

                                  God allows these to happen
                                  and God knows that some people will commit these horrible crimes but he created them anyways - why?
                                  and God knows he'll punish for these things - so why make those souls who are surely going to be going to "hell" in the first place? (does that make sense?)

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                                  • D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    Dotty
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #43

                                    True - but then the choice is theirs when they grow up perhaps?

                                    Perhaps.

                                    to be honest this plays alot on my mind - why does god allow it? Its like he created everything then took a step back to watch us self-destruct or something....

                                    I remember asking somehting similar a while ago about these bad things -

                                    God allows these to happen
                                    and God knows that some people will commit these horrible crimes but he created them anyways - why?
                                    and God knows he'll punish for these things - so why make those souls who are surely going to be going to "hell" in the first place? (does that make sense?)

                                    I did not respond to this right away because I wanted to think about it for a bit. I am still thinking...

                                    Peace

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                                    • A Offline
                                      A Offline
                                      Al_Araf
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #44

                                      salam dotty. you need to read the quran. these questions are already answered in the quran

                                      allah is the teacher.

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                                      • D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        Dotty
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #45

                                        Salaam ay,

                                        This example keeps coming to mind... a small child (say 5 years old) is brutally raped, beaten, tortured, and left for dead. The child survives to grow up and suffers horrible emotional trauma from the crime many years before. As an adult, he/she does experience some happiness, but there is no real freedom because the nightmares continue throughout his/her life.

                                        We cannot comprehend the reason, but God has a purpose for everything. What could a tiny child have possibly done to deserve this? I can only conclude that justice will triumph on the last day. May God give the highest rewards to those who survive this kind of horror without any fault of their own.

                                        Peace

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                                        • A Offline
                                          A Offline
                                          alan
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #46

                                          Perhaps the answer is there is no divine reason to an event like the one described,as there may be no divine?However ther are reasons of a more simple human nature type,which have to be understood and dealt with by individuals and society.

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