God was Responsible for Wars and Destruction. So How Can He Be Merciful? | The Muslim Blog

Some people will deny God by claiming that He was responsible for wars and other horrific events, so He cannot be merciful. But there's more to this issue. Let's examine this claim closer.

The problem is simply that humans don’t know. They don’t know but they think they know, so they draw conclusions based on what they know. It is like drawing a conclusion about the size of an iceberg based on the part of it that is exposed above water. The rest is unaccounted for. But what does an iceberg have to do with God and conclusions people draw about Him? Let me refer you to a verse from the Holy Qur’an:

(https://quran.com/30/41)

We can see a few important concepts in this verse. I may not be a scholar, but I can understand English, and the English translation seems clear enough*. Just looking at the English translation we can see a few things:

1.        The corruption that has appeared happened because of what people did. Think about it. Generally, God gives people blessings and chances, but people respond by disbelieving in Him, by disobeying Him, and by doing evil acts. So let me ask you: is it not their fault?

2.        The negative things let those people taste some of what they did. You can imagine for all wrongdoings there must be a punishment. For example, if I steal something or commit a crime, I will likely be sent to jail or receive a fine. Similarly, when people commit crimes, they ought to deserve a punishment. So these negative things that happen might really be a well deserved punishment. We don’t now that they don’t deserve a punishment to judge God himself and say He is being unfair for punishing them.

3.        And these things might make them return to the right path. Some of the things that happen might actually have a benefit we don’t see. These events might have numerous good sides to them. Maybe some we won’t even see until the next life, even though they are there. Hence we only see the tip of the iceberg.

There is a repetitive pattern here. As humans, we don’t see the full picture. We don’t see if these people did something to deserve a punishment and we don’t see whether there is a hidden benefit in what happened, quite frankly because it may not be evident in this life! As humans, limited in knowledge and vision, we have no right to judge God or His judgment. To do so would be absurd. 

How can we make a conclusion about the mass of an iceberg if we only see the tip? It's time to stop denying God with simplistic logic.

Honestly, just think about it with an open mind. Try it.

*I am not a certified psychologist or religious authority, I am simply presenting data which I found from other sources and otherwise, and if something is incorrect in any manner I do not claim it to be correct.

*Disclaimer: The author does not claim to be perfect, and the advice listed in The Muslim Blog or on The Muslim Talk facebook/instagram pages is advice to the author as much as it is to anyone else :)

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