Why God Allows Evil

From Islamic Perspective

Opposites like light and darkness, good and evil, strength and weakness are everywhere in our world. However, according to Islamic thought, these oppositions are never absolute. Only God (Allah) holds absolute qualities: perfect knowledge, perfect life, and perfect power. What we experience as knowledge or power here on Earth is just a faint echo of the real thing, something limited and imperfect because it's so far from the divine source. Take the idea of good and evil, for example. This is one of the hardest opposites for people to understand. Why does evil exist if God is good? The answer lies in the fact that absolute goodness belongs to God alone. What we call "evil" is really just the fading of goodness as it becomes more distant from its divine origin. In the world we live in, nothing is purely good or purely evil, everything is on a spectrum, relative, and changing. What feels like suffering to us may actually have a higher purpose from God’s perspective. From God’s point of view, everything in creation is working toward one goal: revealing the Hidden Treasure, which is a way of saying that the universe exists so God’s infinite attributes like Mercy, Justice, and Forgiveness can be made known. But here’s the thing: how could God show His Forgiveness if there were no mistakes? How could His Justice be seen if there were no wrongdoing? Even qualities like Vengeance are part of the divine picture. The full range of God’s creative power includes both the beautiful and the seemingly ugly both sweetness and sorrow.

Throughout all of time, nothing in the world is purely good or purely bad it all depends on the context and the person experiencing it. Something that serves as a path forward for one person might be a trap for someone else. What is poison to one may be healing to another. Take the snake, for example—its venom keeps it alive, but for humans, that same venom can be deadly. For sea creatures, the ocean is a paradise; for land animals, it can mean death. This is a powerful reminder: nothing God has created is meaningless, not His mercy, not His anger, not even deceit or honest advice. These things aren’t good or evil in and of themselves; their impact changes depending on the situation. This is why knowledge matters so much. It helps us understand how to see beyond surface appearances. Interestingly, ignorance also plays a role. If humans were made of pure knowledge with no ignorance at all, we might burn out and disappear, we wouldn’t be able to handle it. So, ignorance keeps us grounded and alive, while knowledge pulls us toward deeper awareness of God. Both are necessary. Just like night and day may seem like opposites, they actually work together to create time and rhythm in our lives. This is the secret of opposites: they look like they’re in conflict, but in reality, they serve a shared purpose. What we call “evil” often exists right next to what we call “good,” and sometimes the same action can be both, depending on the circumstances. Think of a man who is about to commit murder, but instead chooses to commit a lesser sin, like fornication. That act is still wrong, but compared to murder, it’s the lesser harm. In that situation, the “evil” has prevented something worse. So, you can’t fully separate good from evil. They exist in tension, but also in balance. Understanding this helps us see the world more clearly and helps us respond with wisdom rather than judgment.

This is exactly why we argue with the Zoroastrians. They say there are two gods—one who creates good and another who creates evil. But we challenge them: can you show us good without evil? You can’t. The two always come together, and that’s the point. Good and evil aren’t truly separate—they’re deeply intertwined. So, the idea that two different gods are responsible for each doesn’t make sense. There can’t be two creators, because all things—light and dark, beauty and horror—ultimately come from one Source. From God’s perspective, everything is part of a greater harmony, a perfect order. But from our limited human view, we divide things into good and bad. To us, things like prayer, honesty, and faith are good, while stealing, lying, and disbelief are bad. But in relation to God, even the things we call “bad” serve a purpose in the larger picture. They fit into His design. Think of a king’s kingdom. Inside it, you’ll find prisons and gallows, but also palaces and feasts. You’ll see robes of honor and instruments of execution. From the king’s perspective, all these things serve the kingdom. They all contribute to its order and function—they are all necessary. But if you’re just an ordinary citizen, a gallows isn’t the same as a robe of honor. They don’t feel the same, even though both are part of the king’s domain. So, if someone says, “Wait, if evil comes from God, doesn’t that make Him less generous or loving?”—the answer is no. Even what we call “evil” is part of God’s generosity. Imagine a painter. He doesn’t just paint beautiful portraits—he also paints frightening or grotesque images. The contrast shows the full range of his skill. If he could only paint beauty, his art would be limited. It’s the same with God. Creating both good and evil shows the perfection of His creative power. It’s not that God is “ugly” because He allows evil—it’s that even what we fear or reject reveals the depth of His wisdom and might. Evil doesn’t reduce God’s perfection. It actually reveals it. Just as the dark shadows in a painting make the light shine brighter, so too does evil highlight the beauty and power of the good. They are two sides of the same reality.

This is why God creates both believers and unbelievers—both are part of His plan. Faith and disbelief might seem like opposites to us, but both ultimately point back to God. The difference lies in how they respond: the believer willingly submits to God out of love and longing for Him, while the unbeliever still submits—just not by choice. Even in denial or rebellion, the unbeliever is still within God’s domain, just responding in a different way. A Muslim once said to a judge, “If God is truly all-powerful, then why doesn’t He just make this world perfect—free of harm, suffering, or loss? Why can’t He turn our winters into spring, our grief into joy, our pain into peace? He’s the One who creates beauty out of thorns and life out of dust. Why would it be hard for Him to make everything last forever, to stop death from touching what He gave life to?” And the judge answered with wisdom: “If there were no pain, no ugliness, no evil or hardship—then what would patience mean? What would courage be? How could someone be called ‘brave’ if there was nothing to fear, or ‘wise’ if there were no wrong paths to avoid? If there were no struggles, no temptations, no inner battles with ego or desire—then what would sincerity, strength, or generosity even look like? Without trials, there would be no way to recognize virtue. Rustam (A legendary Persian hero from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh), Hamzah may God be pleased with him, and a catamite would all be the same. Knowledge and wisdom would be useless and abolished. Knowledge and wisdom exist to distinguish the right from the wrong. If everything were right, wisdom would be unnecessary." God wills both good and evil, but He only approves of the good.

Commands only make sense when the action being asked for is something the person would not naturally want to do. For example, you wouldn't say, "Eat sweet treats, oh hungry person!" because that’s just a kind offer, not a command. Similarly, you wouldn't say, "Don’t eat stones or thorns!" because no one wants to do that anyway, so it wouldn't be a true prohibition. In the same way, for a command to do something good, or a prohibition against evil, there must be an "ego" or desire within a person that naturally inclines them towards what is bad. Without this ego, there would be no need for commands or prohibitions. So, to will the existence of such an ego is to will the possibility of evil. But that doesn’t mean God approves of evil. If He did, He wouldn't have commanded the good. Think of it like this: when a teacher wants to educate a student, the teacher wants the student to be ignorant—because education is only needed when there’s ignorance. However, the teacher doesn’t approve of that ignorance. The goal is to overcome it with knowledge. Similarly, a doctor needs people to be sick in order to treat them. But the doctor doesn't approve of sickness, otherwise, they wouldn't be trying to cure it. God's will works in a similar way. He allows evil to exist as a consequence of the "ego" He created, but He does not approve of it. Our critics might argue that God doesn’t will evil at all, but that’s illogical. If God didn’t will the existence of the ego, which has desires for evil, then there would be no need for commands or prohibitions. And if God approved of evil, He wouldn’t have commanded good in the first place. So, while evil exists as a part of His plan, it’s never willed for its own sake.

Some people might argue: “If God wants only what is good, and stopping evil is good, then why doesn’t He stop evil altogether?” But here’s the thing—you can’t stop evil unless it exists in the first place. In other words, the very act of overcoming or avoiding evil only makes sense because evil is present in the world. Others might say: “If God wants people to have faith, why does unbelief exist?” But again, faith only becomes meaningful when someone has had the choice to disbelieve first. You can’t truly believe unless you’ve had the freedom and capacity to doubt. In this way, even things we think of as negative—like doubt or suffering—are part of a larger purpose: they make the good things real and valuable. Now, it’s important to understand this: willing evil for evil’s own sake is wrong. But if something painful or difficult is allowed to happen in order to bring about a greater good, then it’s not wrong—it has a purpose. This is often called an existential dilemma: why does evil exist if God is good? Rumi responds by turning our attention inward. He says: Don’t focus on how hard life is—how little money there is, or how scary the world feels. Instead, ask yourself why, even with all this bitterness, you’re still deeply attached to life. This attachment itself is a sign that there’s something bigger at play. Rumi continues: Hardship, hunger, and sorrow are actually forms of mercy in disguise. The grand empires of this world, like Marv and Balkh, are forms of divine vengeance. Why? Because losing God or forgetting Him is worse than any physical suffering. Marv and Balkh were once rich, powerful cities—symbols of worldly success and beauty. But they fell. Their rise and fall are a reminder that outward greatness means nothing if the soul is asleep. Worldly pain comes and goes, but being disconnected from your spiritual self and your Creator is a deeper, lasting loss.

God created the universe with the purpose of revealing His "Hidden Treasure." This Hidden Treasure represents the unlimited potential of His attributes. In order for the world to continue existing, most people cannot fully know the truth about everything. They need to be busy with things that will help God's attributes come to life in the world. Because of this, God allows certain things to exist that might seem strange or unexpected. These things aren’t important on their own, but they serve a greater purpose in His ultimate plan. For example, God allows forgetfulness and a lack of awareness of Him in the world. To maintain this state of "forgetfulness," God keeps most humans from seeing the full truth of reality. In the Qur'an, Rumi refers to this idea with verses like: "They worked deception, and God worked deception, and God is the best of deceivers" (3:54). ومكروا ومكر الله والله خير الماكرين" (آل عمران: 54). This means that, sometimes, humans are kept in the dark or deceived, but it's all part of a larger plan. God allows these veils over people's hearts and minds to help guide them toward a deeper truth. This "veil" or "deception" is not inherently evil; in fact, it's necessary for the full manifestation of divine truth. Just like light cannot fully show itself without darkness, the full beauty of goodness can’t be fully realized without the existence of evil. In this way, God uses these veils and moments of forgetfulness to guide people toward a deeper understanding of Him.