Religious Attitudes to Suffering and Causing Suffering to Others (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Religious attitudes to suffering

• Suffering is an unfortunate reality for all people at some point in life

  • It can be caused by natural events, such as illness or natural disasters, such as earthquakes and droughts

  • It can also be caused by the actions and behaviour of other people

• Whatever the cause, both Christians and Muslims believe they have a duty not to ignore the suffering of others, but to help those who suffer

• They must also avoid causing suffering to others

Christian attitudes to suffering

• Christians believe that they have a duty to help others who are suffering

• This is because they follow the teaching and example of Jesus, who helped anyone he came across who was suffering

  • For example, Jesus healed

    • a blind man called Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52)

    • a leper (Mark 1:40–45)

    • a man called Lazarus who he raised from the dead (John 11:1-44)

  • Jesus taught that those who helped those who are suffering are serving God in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:34-36)

• The Bible even teaches that good can come from suffering

  • Suffering can help people to become stronger and cope with more hardship

  • Suffering can help people develop qualities which will ultimately make them better Christians, such as care, compassion and empathy

  • Paul, an early Christian leader who had suffered persecution from the Roman authorities because of his faith, wrote about this to the Romans:

_{Helen Keller holding a magnolia, c. 1920 is licensed under CC BY 4.0}

• One example of a person who followed this approach to suffering was Christian writer and activist Helen Keller who became deaf and blind when she was still a baby, but said: 

Muslim attitudes to suffering

• Muslims believe that Allah is aware of and allows suffering and that it is part of his plan for humans, even though we do not understand it

• Suffering is a test of faith and character

• God would not allow suffering greater than a person can endure

• Some forms of suffering are caused by people giving into the temptation of Iblis (the devil) 

• The Qur’an teaches about coping with suffering by saying

Religious attitudes to causing suffering to others

Why does a loving God allow suffering?

• Many people question why a loving God who cares about his creation would allow his people to suffer

  • It implies that God either is not powerful enough to prevent suffering or that he is not loving enough to stop it from happening

• Both Christians and Muslims would respond that people have been given free will to choose how to behave

  • They have also been given guidance and teaching about how to use their free will responsibly

• Much suffering is caused by humans misusing free will to hurt others

  • Both Christians and Muslims believe it is not fair to blame God for this

  • Instead, Christians and Muslims must seek to minimise the suffering of others and never cause suffering themselves

Christian attitudes to causing suffering to others

• Christians are against causing suffering to others

• Jesus taught his followers to ‘love your neighbour’ and this would involve causing no suffering

• Jesus spoke out against violence, even in self-defence 

  • When Jesus was arrested, one of his disciples cut an ear off one of the guards who was arresting him

  • Jesus healed the guard

• However, no human is perfect and if they cause suffering they need to be sorry for what they have done

Muslim attitudes to causing suffering to others

• Muslims are against causing suffering to others

• The Ummah is about caring for others

• The Hadith teaches:

• Humans aren’t perfect and might cause suffering by accident

  • They should repair any damage caused

• Allah is merciful and will forgive those who are truly sorry, just as he forgave Adam and Hawwa (Eve) when they ate the forbidden fruit in Jannah (Paradise)