The Problem of Suffering in the Qur'an

John Bowker

doi:10.1017/S0034412500003589

The Problem of Suffering in the Qur'an

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008

John Bowker

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John Bowker: Affiliation:
Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

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In his recent book, Evil and the God of Love,1 Dr John Hick examined various Christian responses to the problem of evil. He traced two related, but in important respects different, paths of thought, which correspond to the two main ways in which the genesis or origin of evil have been understood: either as a capacity for goodness which has not yet been realised (with life, therefore, as a ‘vale of soul-making’), or as an original defect which has vitiated all subsequent life. The former is a ‘minority’ report, which Dr Hick called ‘Irenaean’, since the first person of renown to put it forward in reasonably articulate form was Irenaeus. The latter is the dominant, or majority, report, which Dr Hick called ‘Augustinian’, since Augustine's formulation of it became deeply and profoundly influential in subsequent Christian thought. The differences are not absolute, but the contrasts are clear: ‘Instead of the Augustinian view of life's trials as a divine punishment for Adam's sin, Irenaeus sees our world of mingled good and evil as a divinely appointed environment for man's development towards the perfection that represents the fulfillment of God's good purpose for him.’2

Type: Research Article
Information: Religious Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , April 1969 , pp. 183 - 202

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500003589 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

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^{page 183 note 1} (London, Macmillan, 1966).

^{page 183 note 2} Evil and the God of Love, p. 221.

^{page 183 note 3} See especially op. cit., p. 239.

^{page 183 note 4} Thus R. Pucetti felt able to begin his summary of Hick's position with the words: ‘Hick's particular instrumentalist approach…’ (Religious Studies, II, 1967), p. 258.

^{page 184 note 1} See my forthcoming book Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World (Cambridge, 1969)Google Scholar for a more detailed examination of this. Obviously, instrumentalism in Marxism is very different from what Christians have understood by the instrumental importance of suffering, but the connections are there. The mention of Marxism is a reminder of another, equally surprising, omission in Dr Hick's book, namely, the discussion of (or at least cross reference to) Eastern orthodoxy, particularly Russian Orthodoxy, with its quite distinctive developments of creative suffering.

^{page 185 note 1} Din.

^{page 185 note 2} xlii. 11 (13). References to the Qur'an are to Fluegel's edition; the numbers in brackets are the corresponding verses in the Egyptian edition.

^{page 186 note 1} i. 2 (3).

^{page 186 note 2} See further p. 191.

^{page 186 note 3} ‘ala kulli shayin qadir. This is a frequent refrain in the Qur'an, as will be seen in several of the quotations in this article.

^{page 187 note 1} xxxv. 1 f.

^{page 187 note 2} ii. 109 (115).

^{page 188 note 1} vi. 95.

^{page 188 note 2} Cf. also xxx. 53 (54); in xlii, 48 (49)f. the same theme is related to the problem of barrenness.

^{page 188 note 3} xxii. 5, 6. For another typical example see xl. 69 (67)f., which ends with the classic phrases: fa‘idha qada amran ’ fa'innama yaqulu lahu kun fayakunu, ‘When he decrees something, he simply says to it “Be”, and it is.’

^{page 188 note 4} iii. 25 (26).

^{page 189 note 1} xxix. 61–63.

^{page 189 note 2} See, e.g., vii 10–18 (11–19).

^{page 189 note 3} Or, ‘affliction’.

^{page 190 note 1} The point is made with even greater clarity in xi. 102 (100) ff.; cf. also the ‘parable of the city’ in xvi. 113 (112) f.

^{page 191 note 1} iii. 11 (13).

^{page 191 note 2} iii. 123 (128) f.

^{page 191 note 3} The defeat at Uhud was, in fact, analysed as a deserved punishment for over-confidence and for regretting that booty had not fallen easily into their hands, but even so not all the Muslims were guilty of that offence: see especially iii. 147 (153) f. The problem of indiscriminate suffering is raised elsewhere in the Qur'an, as, for example, in connection with the treaty of Hudaibiya: was it right to have made a treaty with the pagan enemies of God, or would it not have been better for the Muslims to have attacked Mecca and thus to have become the instruments of God's justice and punishment? On this, see especially xlviii. 25b.

^{page 192 note 1} xxiv. 60 (61): ‘There is no blemish in the blind, and there is no blemish in the lame, and there is no blemish in the sick…’ Cf. also xlviii. 17.

^{page 192 note 2} ii. 150 (155) f.

^{page 192 note 3} This at first sight rather casual phrase is in fact extremely important. It means that prosperity is as much a test as suffering: what is at stake is the way in which men behave in God's creation:

‘When trouble touches a man he cries out to us,

then when we bestow a favour on him from ourselves he says:

“This has been given me because of knowledge.”

Far from it, it is a trial,

but most of them do not realise.’ (xxxix. 50 (49)).

^{page 192 note 4} xxi.36(35).

^{page 192 note 5} ‘ala harfin: for several different applications of this phrase see Lane ad loc.

^{page 192 note 6} xxii. 11.

^{page 193 note 1} iii. 134 (140) f.

^{page 193 note 2} iii. 183 (186).

^{page 193 note 3} v. 95 (94).

^{page 194 note 1} xi. 12–14 (9–11). This ironic observation of human ficklessness is repeated frequently in the Qur'an—see especially xli. 49–51. For further examples see x. 13 (12), xvi. 55–57 (53–55), xxx. 32 (33) f., xxxix. 11 (8), lxx. 19–21.

^{page 194 note 2} ‘Those who left their homes and were driven out of them, and were harmed in my cause, and fought and were killed, I will certainly cover over their evil deeds, and I will bring them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath as a reward from God; and with God is the best of rewards.’ iii. 194 f. (195); cf. also xxii. 57–61 (58–62).

^{page 194 note 3} ‘Let those who fight in the cause of God sell the life of the present world for that of the next world. And whoever fights in the cause of God, whether he is killed or victorious, soon we will give him a great reward.’ iv. 76 (74); cf. also ix. 20, xxii. 57 (58).

^{page 194 note 4} See the references above.

^{page 194 note 5} See, e.g., v. 57 (52).

^{page 194 note 6} This is said of the Jews in v. 69 (64). Cf. also xlii. 34–37.

^{page 194 note 7} ix. 50.

^{page 194 note 8} iii. 47 (54); see also viii. 30.

^{page 195 note 1} xxiii. 77–79 (75–77). For an historically-based example, see xliii. 47 (48).

^{page 195 note 2} xxv. 22 (20).

^{page 195 note 3} ix. 14.

^{page 195 note 4} ii. 150 (155) f.

^{page 196 note 1} For typical examples see xi. 117 (115), xvi. 127 (126)b, xlvi. 34 (35), I. 38 (39), lii. 48.

^{page 196 note 2} vii. 199 (200).

^{page 196 note 3} alMuslimun.

^{page 196 note 4} See, e.g., lvii. 22 f., xvi. 73 (71), iii. 150 (156).

^{page 196 note 5} iii. 104 (108).

^{page 196 note 6} ii. 286.

^{page 196 note 7} xvii. 16 (15)a. This, too, can be expressed in terms of the hard response of dissociation:

‘That was a nation which has passed away:

to it what it has earned, to you what you have earned,

and you will not be questioned concerning the things they did.’ ii. 135 (141).

^{page 197 note 1} xxix. 53 f.

^{page 197 note 2} ii. 108 (114)b, et al. For an exact statement of this see xli. 15 (16).

^{page 197 note 3} See, e.g., ii. 74 (80) f.

^{page 197 note 4} In naturalistic terms, ‘He is the one who sends down rain after men have despaired of it, and spreads his mercy widely. He is the protector, worthy of praise.’ (xliii. 27). In more specific terms: ‘Do you not know that to God belongs authority over the heavens and the earth? He punishes whom he wills and forgives whom he wills, and God has power over every single thing.’ (v. 44) (40)). That God has warned all men in language they can understand is one of the main themes of the Qu'ran. He has always done this in the past through prophets sent to every people, though this has often had little effect except in hardening the hearts of the wicked (see especially ii. 1–6 (2–7), which describes an experience comparable to that described in Is. vi. 9–13—verses which were used to describe the effects of Jesus' teaching. See also xxvi. 208 f., xviii. 52–8). This can be seen exactly in the continuation of a verse quoted above (p. 197). Having said that each soul bears its own burden and cannot relieve another it concludes: ‘But we never punish until we have sent an apostle’ (xvii. 16b). The responsibility of a prophet is simply to warn: ‘Your duty is proclaiming, ours is reckoning.’ (xiii. 40; see also iv. 65 f., vi. 51, 69 (70), xxv. 21 (22), x1. 14–19 (18).

^{page 197 note 5} So, for example, in the prayer which concludes S. ii: ‘O our Lord, do not burden us beyond what we have strength to bear. Forgive us and pardon us—you are our protector, so help us against those who disbelieve.’

^{page 199 note 1} There are, of course, many examples of Muhammad's compassion in hadith.

^{page 199 note 2} Although sometimes the active response appears in isolation: see, e.g., ii. 211 (215), iv. 40–44 (36–40).

^{page 199 note 3} ii. 172 (177).

^{page 199 note 4} xxvii. 62 (61).

^{page 199 note 5} For details, see my article, ‘Intercession in the Qur'an and the Jewish Tradition’, J.S.S., XI, 1966, pp. 69–82.Google Scholar In xlviii. 11 there is a warning to the desert Arabs not to rely on intercession, but ii. 286 provides an example of prayer that God will hold back too severe a burden. The difference is prayer within the faith and prayer without.

^{page 199 note 6} Is. xIv. 7. The theme of God as the creator of ‘weal and woe’ is frequently repeated. Among many examples see especially liii. 44 (43) f (tears and laughter, life and death), lvii. 1–6.

^{page 200 note 1} I.e., river water and sea water are not the same, but they both serve essential purposes within the whole design of God.

^{page 200 note 2} xxxv. 13 (12), 20–21 (21–22). See also xxv. 55 (53).

^{page 200 note 3} See p. 189 above of Iblis, and see also xix. 86–89 (83–86).

^{page 200 note 4} ii. 148 (153) f.

^{page 201 note 1} v. 30–34 (27–31). Vs. 35 (31) goes on to make a direct application to the laws given to the children of Israel governing murder and legal killing.

^{page 201 note 2} Gen. iv. 9.

^{page 202 note 1} The Call of the Minaret, p. 295.

^{page 202 note 2} Sirat Rasul Allah, ed. Wustenfeld, F., p. 325.Google Scholar

^{page 202 note 3} Mk. xv. 33; Mt. xxviii. 45; Lk. xxiii. 44. For the darkness in John, see the discussion in my forthcoming book on the problem of suffering in religions of the world.

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The Problem of Suffering in the Qur'an

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