Gods tests
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Peace ay,
But then why isnt it phrased that way in the Quran? Why is it "fear God" not "fear the consequences" or "fear Gods retribution" or something?
I think it is an idiomatic expression. Just like if I tell a kid to "fear your parents" and don't do this otherwise you will be grounded by them, I am not telling the kid to actually fear the parents, but to fear the grounding part.
I agree with Tay, that fear of retribution is for the "kids" among us. When one is spiritually more evolved, one does good deeds out of love for The God and one's fellow creation, and not because one is gonna get a candy or be spanked !!
Yes thats how i feel too! I guess noone will know WHY till its too late for us anyways! or maybe this was all explained to us before we came to earth? who knows! I have a hard time getting to grips with peoples suffering in this life, and then knowing that people will get punished in the afterlife! Why would God make us, to let us suffer? I read once that our punishment in the afterlife is a form of purification for us - so that we can move on and be closer to God, only after we have been through some suffering - maybe thats true - often the people who suffer most are more spiritual and accepting of their fates than those who have it easy.... is there some sort of connection? Does suffering make you more susceptible and sensitive to Gods love and mercy? I think there must be some sort of correlation... its like you can only know real happiness if you have been through sorrow - your emotions are somehow heightened perhaps... i dont know... just contemplating out loud thats all!
I think that the answer lies in the following verse
3372 We have offered the trust to the heavens and the Earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were fearful of it. But the human being accepted it; he was transgressing, ignorant.
I think when humans were created and given free choice, they were informed of all the possible consequences including the possible suffering in the earthly life and the life thereafter, and we all consented using our free choice. I think that we also were informed about the consequences of free choice and we accepted that also knowingly, so everything was an informed consent.
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Peace Tay,
You are right, I was only speculating and I am probably wrong, because now thinking about it, animals are more in tune with the system or nature or the laws of the god, more than humans, so they (the animals) should be sufering less.
But the human species have dominated all other animals..... so ???