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The most common answer here will be:

Evil must be allowed to have free will.

This is simply not true. If we are speaking of an omnipotent God that created the entire universe and any extra dimensional space we can't observe, then couldn't Allah come up with something better? If not, and this was the only way free will could exist, then why have it when having it means horrible things will happen to your people? Babies being raped to death, mass genocide, beheading, starvation etc. Wouldn't a God that cared about his people realize that free will is not worth the mass destruction caused by the human race? Not to mention such atrocities as disease, which is not a necessary component for free will's existence, that also flourishes in this environment here on earth. What is its purpose? The questions asked here are rhetorical, the main question stands.

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    I didn't downvote you, but I can relate. The title wasn't proper. Question was addressing too many examples which is unnecessary(We got the point). Also, You provided an answer "the most common answer" part, which many users here disagree with. Lastly, Can you edit your question to make it less aggressive ?
    – Sohaeb
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 4:28

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In Islamic beliefs, the earth was created in order to test humans and reward them for their actions in the hereafter.

Qur'an 67:2

Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving

Obviously, creating death, also entails creating the instruments of death such as cancers, earthquakes and murders. In Islam, death is not viewed unfavourably - it is simply a passage. God didn't will for humans to live on this earth forever, as the earth is not really a permanent abode (imagine that you're a traveler on a long journey passing the night in an inn to continue your travel in the morning). It is the hereafter that is really the life, and that is where man will spend his eternity:

Qur'an 29:64

This life of the world is but a pastime and a game. Lo! the home of the Hereafter - that is Life, if they but knew.

Concerning free will, God has given man the freedom to exercise it, but has also given him the criterion to determine what is right or wrong through his messengers and through innate knowledge (for e.g. it's innate in man that murder and stealing are wrong). It is left to man to exercise that free will wisely,

Qur'an 76:3

Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.

In a nutshell, Muslims believe this life to be a test; bad things will happen (which we accept even if it could be quite traumatic at times); people will eventually die and they will return to God for their judgement.

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  • And the fact of the matter is that all observable evidence conflicts with the justifications that religious people put forth. It's quite simple, no loving, all powerful God would put mankind through such atrocities as the holocaust, mass genocide, starvation, murder, torture etc in order to "test" them. With the infinite amount of possible alternatives that an omnipotent God could come up with in order to test his creation, I doubt that such he would conclude that what we have is the best.
    – user3138766
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 17:54
  • @user3138766 That is correct. There are an infinite number of other possibilities, but God chose this one and there's nothing anyone can do about that. The Muslim approach is not to ask why, but to submit. Even if you don't believe in a god, you must accept that things don't happen according to your terms and there's a lot you don't and cannot understand. And that alone cannot be proof that God doesn't exist.
    – Seeker
    Commented May 15, 2014 at 15:20
  • @user3138766 It doesn't make any sense to YOU. Perhaps the best analogy I have is how certain things my parents did when I was a child just "doesn't make any sense", but which I came to understand when I grew up. The relationship b/w man and God is similar but more profound. Do you have 100% confidence in your own understanding and reasoning? If man is a creation, isn't it only logical that his creator would have a higher understanding than him?
    – Seeker
    Commented May 15, 2014 at 16:01

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