Why Does Allah Allow Suffering and Evil in the World?
Q1. I was wondering if you could possibly help me resolve some conflicting issues. If God is all-powerful, He must be able to prevent evil. If God is all good, He must want to prevent evil. But evil (and suffering) exist. How is it possible for God to be both all-powerful and all-good and still allow a world in which evil and suffering exist? A 1. Indeed Allah is All-powerful (al-Aziz) and He is able to do all things (‘ala kull sha’in qadir). The Qur’an has mentioned this hundreds of times. It is also mentioned in the Qur’an that Allah is the Creator and He is the Best Creator. “Glory be to Allah, the best Creator.” (al-Mu’minun 23:14) 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, murde
