Non-muslim friend asked me "Is Allah sadistic?" [closed]

Question

In Qur'an 2:30, Allah says:

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."

When I said this ayat to my friend, she asked me some question about God (Allah) which I have listed the questions below.

1. Allah has power over everything and knowledge about everything. If he knows everything before, why did Allah create humans who are so worst in living creature, doing injustice, rape, trafficking, etc?
2. If a girl is raped or trafficked (as a part of his test), does Allah wants her to maintain endurance [As we know it is the biggest problem for women]? Why should Allah create human and want to play with our life? Is Allah sadist?
3. Does Allah get satisfied after putting wrong-doer to hell? Instead, Allah should not have to create humans, Allah should be satisfied with Angel who are absolutely good.

Please provide the answer with the citations from Quran and Hadith

EDIT: Conversation about this topic alone went for one and half hours. But I could not answer these question. I know Allah has provided answers. Please help me.

Answer 1

First, let's take a look at one simple definition of sadist:

Sadist: a person who enjoys being cruel. (Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sadist)

So the question "Is Allah a sadist?" is the same as asking "Is Allah enjoys being cruel?"

Fortunately, we are NOT created for the "enjoyment" of Allah, but to become the representatives of Allah in maintaining and keeping the world a better place. This is what was stated at the beginning of Surah Al Baqarah verse 30 that is quoted in the question.

But why create something that will cause corruption and blood shed? Here's something I quoted from an online version of Tafsir Fi Zilal Al-Quran (Source: https://tafsirzilal.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/al-baqarah-eng.pdf)

The angels’ reply suggests that they were aware of man’s nature and disposition, either through some past experience on earth or special inspiration or direct information. Thus, they were able to surmise that he would spread corruption and shed blood on earth. Furthermore, by nature, angels can think only of absolute goodness and complete peace. Hence, they perceive that total dedication to the praise of God should be the sole and ultimate purpose of existence. They were already carrying out this purpose, extolling God’s praises and glorifying Him at all times.

The angels were not privy to God’s will and His purpose in setting up the earth and creating the various forms of life on it. They were not aware of God’s plan to have the earth developed, cultivated and enriched at the hands of man, His vicegerent there. It is true that man would commit corruption and shed blood, but even this apparently evil aspect of his function turns out to be for the best. It is a necessary consequence of perpetual progress and development, and the changes brought about by a ceaseless endeavour in pursuit of better and higher things in this world.

Indeed, the angels was not aware of Allah's purpose and plans (as are we). This matter is then settled in verse 31-33 of Surah Al Baqarah which states:

And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful." They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise." He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed." (Source: http://quran.com/2/31)

Regarding the three verses above, Tafsir Fi Zilal Al Qur'an (Source: https://tafsirzilal.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/al-baqarah-eng.pdf) has this to say:

The passage takes us right into the very scene in which we can see the angels in God’s presence, and witness how He entrusts man with the task of God’s vicegerent on earth. He has given man the great secret of knowledge and cognition, as well as the ability to assign names to persons and objects which serve as symbols denoting whatever they are assigned to, even though they are no more than sounds and words. The ability to know and name objects has had the most profound effect on man’s life on earth. We can only imagine what life would have been like without this communication tool to appreciate its value. Indeed, without it, human life and interaction would have been unthinkable, and there would have been no progress beyond a very primitive state.

From the above, we can clearly see that compared to angels, humans has the upper hand in the ability to represent Allah in this world. Even though we have this bad nature of causing corruption and blood shed, we still have the upper hand. Even though we have this bad nature of causing corruption and blood shed, Allah still made us His representatives in this world.

Indeed humans cause corruption and blood shed, but at the same time, it is also humans who is the source of many good, beautiful, and wonderful things in this world. I believe these good, beautiful, and wonderful things are the purpose of our creation. That is why to repay our good deeds, Allah promised us eternal life of 24/7 happiness.

In any case, Allah knows best. He's the only one that knows the true reason for our creation. One thing for sure, it's NOT for His enjoyment.

Answer 2

Another answer is to look from another point of view to understand that Allah is NOT a sadist. We come back to that one simple definition of sadist:

Sadist: a person who enjoys being cruel. (Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sadist)

Again, the question "Is Allah a sadist?" is the same as asking "Is Allah enjoys being cruel?"

In this case, let's start from Surah Al Baqarah verse 256 which states:

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing. (Source: http://quran.com/2/256)

That verse clearly states that we are given the CHOICE whether to obey or disobey Allah. If Allah enjoys being cruel, will He give us the choice to obey Him and being allowed to enter heaven? If Allah enjoys being cruel, will He give us the opportunity to do good deeds and receive happiness in return? If Allah enjoys being cruel, will He create heaven in the first place?

If Allah enjoys being cruel, we will definitely be thrown to hell so that we can all suffer for eternity. Not only that, Allah will make sure that we all find misery and suffering in our feeble life no matter how good we are as a person. That's a sadist. Fortunately, that's not Allah. He created us for a good reason that only He knows best.

(1) So why did Allah "create humans who are so worst in living creature, doing injustice, rape, trafficking"? Allah knows best. Besides, "worst in living creature" is just one side of the coin. There are humans who are so good at living, holding up justice, and never take advantage of other people that he could be considered better than angels due to the fact that angels don't have these tendencies at all. Will a sadist allow for such good humans to exist? Will a sadist allow for any humans to help others and avoid suffering? Fortunately, Allah is not a sadist.

(2) Then "why should Allah create human and want to play with our life?" Which part of our lives is Allah playing with? We are the ones who are playing with the lives of other. That means, we should also be the ones to stop ourselves and other people from playing with the live of others. With the help from Allah, good deeds will prevail. It's just that we need to work hard so that our prayers for help will be granted by Allah. Will a sadist grant prayers and help good doers? Fortunately, Allah is not a sadist.

(3) In any case, "does Allah get satisfied after putting wrong-doer to hell?" Why should the Most Merciful get pleasure from punishing His creation? Doesn't Allah opens the door to repentance all the way to our last breath? Will a sadist give the opportunity to repent and receive mercy? Fortunately, Allah is not a sadist.

PS:
I deliberately add this as a separate answer due to its length and different approach to the question.

Answer 3

Allah has power over everything and knowledge about everything. If he knows everything before, why did Allah create humans who are so worst in living creature, doing injustice, rape, trafficking, etc?

This is one of the major questions mostly every non-believer, even believers will ask and this is a great question that all Muslims should be able to answer with confidence. Whether the asker accepts the answer or not is up to them. I am in no way an Islam or Quran expert but I was asked this question many times by Atheists, Christians and Muslims and I will try to answer once more the best I can, hopefully it will give you some guidance.

The first requirement of belief is to accept. Not to make sense of it, but to accept. Whether you try to make sense of it or not is up to you, but there are references in Quran about using our minds and about reading/thinking, so, trying to make sense of it is definitely recommended but not to the extent to refute it if it doesn't make sense, as it will make you a non-believer.

While the perfect case will be to read, understand and make sense of everything in Quran, it is possible that no human may be able to make sense of some of the things in it till the Judgment day. What I mean is that when we read/learn something in Quran that doesn't make sense "to us", we still believe in it and accept it as the word of Allah and do not question it as we know that what we don't know, surely Allah knows. There are many verses about Allah knowing everything, but as an example, you can see Surah 76 - Verse 30.

So, In Islam, our belief is to accept that Allah is the creator of everything and Its existence comes from Itself (Surah 39 - Verse 62 and Surah 112). Allah created humans and jinn to worship It (Surah 51 - Verse 56). This means that we are created to be and live the way Allah wanted, not necessarily the way it makes sense to us or the way we want.

Once we accept that, it becomes easier to accept everything else in Quran and how Allah organized the universe, this world and this life.

In Islam, we also believe that there will be a Judgment day (Surah 78 - Verse 17). For a judgment to happen, there needs to be a test/trial and evaluation. That our life is nothing but a test, a preparation for the Judgment day and afterlife is mentioned in Quran in many verses (2:49, 2:155, 3:186, 7:168, 21:35, 29:2-3 and some others). Also check 29:64.

That humans are doing terrible things, that there is a lot of pain, hunger, suffering, injustice in this world is part of the test. If it was all-happy, all-perfect, there wouldn't be a test. Heaven is all-happy, all-perfect, and to earn it we must pass the test. Those who fail the test will most probably go to Hell. And once the judgment is done and everyone is distributed fairly (Surah 21 - Verse 47), nobody will claim there has been an injustice, not even a mother who lost her 3 kids in an accident, or a girl who was raped by a man for years or someone who has no sight or someone who spent his life with sins. Good or bad, everyone will realize the truth of Allah, admit their right or wrong doings and accept their fate.

One final comment about this question: While our lives and time is in flow for us from our past to our future, our perception of time and flow of universe is different than Allah's perception as It is who created it. My understanding from Quran (any verse that portrays the Judgment day) is that everything has already happened and the information about everything is logged by Allah. Allah's knowledge comes from that. But for us, we are still in the flow and we have no idea what comes next. We are given the free will and we become a good or bad person not because Allah knows it, but Allah knows it because we became a good or bad person at the end, it is just not finalized for us as we are still going through the test.

If a girl is raped or trafficked (as a part of his test), does Allah wants her to maintain endurance [As we know it is the biggest problem for women]? Why should Allah create human and want to play with our life? Is Allah sadist?

I believe my above answer also answers this question but to add a few things:

Allah tests us and wants us to endure, to show patience (2:45, 2:153, 3:15-17, 3:146 and many others), no matter how difficult it is (2:286), and reward us accordingly (9:72) if we pass the test. One should always remember that a harder thing can always happen to them no matter what situation they are in.

Allah didn't create humans or the universe to play with them (44:38-39 and 21:17).

Does Allah get satisfied after putting wrong-doer to hell? Instead, Allah should not have to create humans, Allah should be satisfied with Angel who are absolutely good.

When you are talking about The Creator, you don't say "should", that is, unless you are trying to "create" your own creator. As emphasized at the beginning of my answer, Allah does as It wants, not as Its creation wants or as Its creation thinks It should.

Allah doesn't want anyone to end in Hell, that's why It continuously sent prophets, books, warnings, lessons (3:108). It is humans who don't care where they will end, hence some of them will end in Hell and while probably all of them will regret for spending their lives non-believing and sinning (78:40), not any of them will think it is unjust. May Allah protect us all from Hell and the hardship of the Judgment day.

Brother or Sister, provide the answers (those who make sense to you) to your friend, but do not try to convince her as you can't, unless Allah wishes (6:111). Even the prophets didn't have the ability to convince people that didn't want to believe, not even their family members (Nuh's son, Ibrahim's father, Lut's wife, etc.).

There is the truth (Quran and everything in the universe that leads us to Allah), whether they accept it or not is up to them.

P.S. I didn't and won't include links to Surahs or Verses because it is up to the user to read Quran in whichever language and translation they want.