Islam & Suffering (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B)
Revision Note
Allah as Compassionate and the Existence of Suffering
Evil and suffering exist in the world
Evil can be separated into two types
Moral Evil is caused by the actions of people to one another
Natural Evil is suffering caused by natural causes, such as earthquakes and droughts
The existence of evil poses a challenge to believers in a benevolent God, such as Muslims
It can be hard to reconcile Allah’s benevolence with the amount of suffering in the world
The opening of the Qur’an states that Allah is merciful:
‘In the name of Allah, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy. Praise belongs to God, Lord of all the Worlds, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy, Master of the Day of Judgement.’ (Qur’an 1:1-7)
As this verse shows, Muslims believe God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (all-loving)
Therefore evil should not exist
Because evil does exist, it leads to several possibilities:
God is not powerful enough to stop evil
God does not know that it is happening
God does not love us enough to want to stop the evil
This problem is known as the Inconsistent Triad and atheists use this to question whether God exists
It can also cause some Muslims to question their faith in Allah
The Issues Raised by Suffering for Muslims
The issues with suffering that may cause Muslims to reject Allah or question their faith include
The Inconsistent Triad:
An omnipotent (all-powerful) God would not allow evil and suffering to exist in the world
Where there is suffering, a benevolent (loving) God would care enough about humans to stop it
An omniscient (all-knowing) God would be aware of the amount of suffering and would know how to stop it
Yet there is plenty of suffering throughout the world
The design argument:
The amount of evil seems to outweigh the amount of good in the world
This could cause people to think that the design argument is not valid - the world has not been designed by Allah
These issues can cause some Muslims to question or even reject their faith in Allah
Worked Example
Explain two reasons why evil and suffering may cause a problem for Muslims and their understanding of Allah
(4 marks)
One reason why evil and suffering may cause a problem for Muslims and their understanding of Allah is that it challenges the idea that Allah is omnipotent because if he was, he would have the power to stop the suffering (2 marks)
Another reason is that it challenges the idea of Allah as omnibenevolent because a loving God would care about his creation and would want to stop the suffering (2 marks)
Examiner Tips and Tricks
The problem of evil and suffering is one of the trickiest issues facing believers of all faiths. Look at the next page on solutions to the problem of suffering to see how Muslims have come up with ideas to counter some of the issues raised here.
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