Why does Allah (SWT) allow evil to exist?
More specifically, the question is:
| Why does Allah (SWT) allow for acts of murder, genocide, theft, and all other types of evil to exist? If He is All-Powerful, should He not stop such evils from existing?
Short Answer:
Everything we encounter in our lives — the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the pleasures and the pains — are undoubtedly all aspects of our being tested in this life. It would therefore reduce the meaning of our test if the bad and the evil and the painful were to be removed, for that would make the Earth — which is meant to be our testing place — become a place similar to Paradise.
Full Answer:
As is appropriate for such a topic, let us begin with what Allah (SWT) says in the Quran (Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:56):
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
And in Surah Al-Mulk (67:2):
ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًۭا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.
It is imperative that we first question what is our purpose in this life. Many people get too caught up in worldly affairs — the good and the evil — often forgetting that this life is but a fleeting middle ground between our creation and the hereafter.
Our purpose is very clear and direct: to worship Allah (SWT) — and in so doing, following His Messenger and His Book — enjoining and promoting goodness, and abstaining from and directing others from evil — and by always keeping in mind that the ultimate goal of this life is only to earn Allah’s (SWT) Mercy on the Day of Judgement and be entered in His eternal Paradise.
Therefore, if this life is but a test, and we are here only to worship Him, then it makes logical sense that there needs to be things for us to be tested by. Each individual is given a test unique to them, but Allah (SWT) says in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:286):
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ
Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.
| So then why does Allah (SWT) allow murder and rape and genocide? Where is the test in that?
First of all, everything we will experience is part of our test. Getting married, for instance, is a very exciting and happy event in one’s life, and yet it is riddled with tests. Tests of patience, love, mercy, understanding, educating, and many others. And yet sometimes marriage can become the road to being tested with heartbreak, infidelity, abuse, anger, impatience, and other negative aspects.
So how do the good aspects act as aspects of a test? What will marriage do to you? Will you get so caught up in your marriage that you will forget Allah (SWT)? So often we see brothers and sisters that have spent months and years for Allah (SWT) to grant them the perfect partner, yet when that request is finally granted they rarely come to prayer. They remember Him in their times of need and forget Him in their times of happiness and abundance.
How about the test of being given an abundance of wealth. Will the wealth cause you to become filled with pride? How will you treat those around you that are less fortunate? Will you go around attributing your success to yourself, or will you attribute it to Allah (SWT)?
So it is important to understand that in everything in this life, there is a test. The successful are the ones who understand and see that, as many people live and die not even recognizing the tests that they were put through.
Now back to the question of murder and other such distasteful and disgusting acts — why? Once again, it is all a test.
In the moment where one becomes a murderer, he was being tested by ignoring the whisperings of Shaytaan. He was being tested by whether or he will give in to his blind anger or jealousy; tested by whether or not he will remember Allah (SWT) and leave the evil deed and repent — or if he will give in. And if he gives in and commits the atrocity — he has failed that test, and his punishment will be doled out to him whenever Allah (SWT) deems appropriate — unless he repents before then, and Allah (SWT) accepts his repentance.
As for the one who was murdered — let us take a look at what is narrated in Sahih Bukhari 5641 when the Prophet ﷺ says:
مَا يُصِيبُ الْمُسْلِمَ مِنْ نَصَبٍ وَلاَ وَصَبٍ وَلاَ هَمٍّ وَلاَ حُزْنٍ وَلاَ أَذًى وَلاَ غَمٍّ حَتَّى الشَّوْكَةِ يُشَاكُهَا، إِلاَّ كَفَّرَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ خَطَايَاهُ
"No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that."
And again in Sahih Bukhari 5645 the Prophet ﷺ says:
مَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُصِبْ مِنْهُ
"If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials."
And when the Prophet ﷺ says, as is narrated in Sunan Abi Dawud 4772 (Sahih | Al-Albani):
مَنْ قُتِلَ دُونَ مَالِهِ فَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ، وَمَنْ قُتِلَ دُونَ أَهْلِهِ أَوْ دُونَ دَمِهِ أَوْ دُونَ دِينِهِ فَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ
“He who is killed while protecting his property is a martyr, and he who is killed while defending his family, or his blood, or his religion is a martyr.”
And lastly, it is narrated in Sahih Muslim 1886 that the Prophet ﷺ said:
يُغْفَرُ لِلشَّهِيدِ كُلُّ ذَنْبٍ إِلاَّ الدَّيْنَ
All the sins of a Shahid (martyr) are forgiven except debt.
There are many more hadiths narrating even more categories of people that become martyrs upon death (ie. the pregnant woman passing away during childbirth). It is normal and understandable for the ones that are left behind to mourn, and to feel pangs of grief and sadness and heartbreak. Yet, was that individual’s death (assuming they passed in way of being a martyr) not the greatest mercy from Allah (SWT)? If anything, we should feel sadness and fear for ourselves, for no one has any idea when they will die, in what state they will die in, or where they will go after death.
In that sense, many murders and unjust deeds are perceived by us as terrible things (which they are — we are in no way whatsoever justifying the occurrence of evil deeds — rather we are trying to soothe the hearts of the ones surviving such painful incidents), but there also needs to be an acknowledgement of the other side of the coin. That Allah (SWT) will make the evil people be held accountable for their sins, and that He will (Insha’Allah) allow His Mercy to descend on the one whom we are left grieving for.
Every pain the Mu’min (Believer) feels in this life is an expiation of sins that they would have had to be held accountable for on the Day of Judgement. Believers that die back home (and everywhere obviously) through genocide or by defending their homes or their wealth or their families — and many other categories — are all, by the will of Allah (SWT) going back to their Lord as martyrs, being granted Jannah, Insha’Allah.
So… why does Allah (SWT) allow evil to exist? Sometimes to test the wrongdoer, sometimes to bless the victim, sometimes to test those of us left behind in mourning and remind us of our mortality.
An evil deed is an evil deed, that is not being questioned. But the consequences? Even evil deeds may have beautiful consequences (for the afflicted) if we stop for but a second and remember Allah (SWT), turn to Him, worship Him, and go back to His Book and the teachings of His Messenger. To do all of this would bring ease and peace to one’s heart, no matter what it is they are being tested with.
As for the one whom no evil comes to, and is not afflicted by any types of injustice, pain, doubt, fear, or hardships in this life — this person should be fearful of the Hereafter, for if none of their sins are being expiated in this life, only Allah (SWT) has knowledge of what awaits them after death.
Allah (SWT) allows both good and evil to exist, as they are both methods by which He will test His creation. Rather, let us focus as best we can on passing this test. If He grants you blessings, return to Him, thank Him, and continue to return to Him and pray. If He tests you with difficulties and hardships, return to Him, ask for strength, ask for ease, ask for Jannah, and have Yaqeen (certainty) that Allah (SWT) will grant you His Mercy if you are of the Mu’mineen, Insha’Allah.
