Undestanding Suffering from a Muslim Point of View

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Can some of our friendly posters explain how Islam explains suffering? Why do we suffer? Is it a sign that we are not holy? Must there be suffering in the world? What is the Muslim view on sickness, disease, and other worldly suffering?
 
They are just natural things that happen and they test our faith.
 
So would Muslims agree that before the fall of Adam and Eve, there was no suffering in the world? That we have disease and death because of that first sin?
 
ralphinal said:
So would Muslims agree that before the fall of Adam and Eve, there was no suffering in the world? That we have disease and death because of that first sin?
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I came across this question in another forum. It has been answered by one of the sisters there and I’m partially reproducing it here
  1. Islamic thought holds “all of the above”. Sometimes, suffering and disaster afflicts people as a punishment for their sins (so that they will not have to be punished in the next world, but God will still have been just) or sometimes as a natural result of their sins (either physically - such as getting AIDS from being promiscuous - or spiritually, since we have many hadith that say that certain sins cause certain results - for example, cutting off relations with one’s family ties is said in hadith to reduce a person’s lifespan)
  2. Some misfortunes happen as a result of human injustice. For example, Imam 'Ali as.gif is quoted as saying that there would be no poverty were there no usurpers. This is part of the trial of the human race and will be redressed in the next world.
  3. Some misfortunes happen as a test, to see whether we are believers or to help us improve ourselves spiritually. We believe that the Prophets received the greatest trials, followed by the Imams, followed by the believers, and the greater your level of belief, the more difficult will be your tests in life.
  4. Some things happen because of natural law. For example, if you drink contaminated water and get cholera, that is a result of our actions.
  5. Of course, ultimately, everything happens with the permission of God, and, generally, He does not violate His natural law of the universe (although miracles can happen). Conversely, we can never know in this lifetime the exact reason why something happened or whether there was hidden wisdom in it or why He permitted it.
By all accounts, the world is a difficult place. I knew a doctor who went to Africa and went to go help people with AIDS and came back an atheist. But for sure, what we do believe as Muslims - and, specifically, Shi’a Muslims - is that God is inherently just, and eventually His justice will prevail, either in this world or in the next.
 
To Famdigy:

I have heard the Qu’ran compared with the person of Christ, with the book as a gift from heaven revealing God’s Will , more or less as we believe Jesus did in his person as the son of God. Is this, or something like it,. a fair statement of our belief about rhe Qu’ran?
 
ralphinal said:
So would Muslims agree that before the fall of Adam and Eve, there was no suffering in the world? That we have disease and death because of that first sin?
Click to expand...
Hi

If you mean a physical fall from Heaven, that never happened as per Quran.

Disease and death has no direct relationship with sin. A human has to be sometimes sick and he has to die also, whether he is sinful and or unsinful.Quran establishes no such direct relationship.

Thanks
 
famdigy said:
I came across this question in another forum. It has been answered by one of the sisters there and I’m partially reproducing it here
  1. Islamic thought holds “all of the above”. Sometimes, suffering and disaster afflicts people as a punishment for their sins (so that they will not have to be punished in the next world, but God will still have been just) or sometimes as a natural result of their sins (either physically - such as getting AIDS from being promiscuous - or spiritually, since we have many hadith that say that certain sins cause certain results - for example, cutting off relations with one’s family ties is said in hadith to reduce a person’s lifespan)
  2. Some misfortunes happen as a result of human injustice. For example, Imam 'Ali as.gif is quoted as saying that there would be no poverty were there no usurpers. This is part of the trial of the human race and will be redressed in the next world.
  3. Some misfortunes happen as a test, to see whether we are believers or to help us improve ourselves spiritually. We believe that the Prophets received the greatest trials, followed by the Imams, followed by the believers, and the greater your level of belief, the more difficult will be your tests in life.
  4. Some things happen because of natural law. For example, if you drink contaminated water and get cholera, that is a result of our actions.
  5. Of course, ultimately, everything happens with the permission of God, and, generally, He does not violate His natural law of the universe (although miracles can happen). Conversely, we can never know in this lifetime the exact reason why something happened or whether there was hidden wisdom in it or why He permitted it.
By all accounts, the world is a difficult place. I knew a doctor who went to Africa and went to go help people with AIDS and came back an atheist. But for sure, what we do believe as Muslims - and, specifically, Shi’a Muslims - is that God is inherently just, and eventually His justice will prevail, either in this world or in the next.
Click to expand...
Hi

I agree with you. There are many factors, some of them has been mentioned correctly by you.

Thanks
 
In order to understand the Muslim perspective on suffering, one needs to first explore the much larger question of the purpose of the creation of humankind according to Islam.

The following is an excerpt from a webpage:

Why did God create mankind?

"{Remember] when your Lord extracted from the loins of Adam’s children and their descendents and made them testify [saying] : ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yes, we testify to it.’ [This was] in case you say on the Day of Judgment: ‘We were unaware of this.’ Or you say: ‘It was our ancestors who worshiped others besides God and we are only their descendants. Will you then destroy us for what those liars did?’ " … The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 7, Verses 172-3

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) explained that when Allah created Adam (pbuh), He took from him a covenant at a place called Na’maan on the 9th day of the 12th month. He then extracted from Adam all of his descendants who would be born until the end of the world, generation after generation, and spread them out before Him to take a covenant from them also. He spoke to them, face to face, making them bear witness that He was their Lord.

Consequently, every human being is responsible for belief in God, which is imprinted on each and every soul. It is based on this inborn belief that Allah defined the purpose of humankind’s creation:
"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship" … The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 51, Verse 56

Thus, the essential purpose for which humankind was created is the worship of God and the term ‘worship’ here means not just to perform acts like prayer and fasting, but rather it means to consciously do all the things that pleases God like being kind to and helping others in need, taking care of other creations like trees and animals… and also to leave the things that He has forbidden.

However, the Almighty is not in need of human worship. He did not create human beings out of a need on His part. If not a single human worshiped God, it would not diminish His glory in any way, and if all mankind worshiped Him, it would not increase His glory in any way.

God is perfect. He alone exists without any needs. All created beings have needs. Consequently, it is humankind that needs to worship God.

The question concerning the purpose of mankind’s creation may be expanded to include the world in which they live. The question would then be, “Why did God create human beings in this world?” Again, the answer to this question can easily be found in the final revelation, Chapters al-Mulk and al-Kahf:
"[It is He] who created death and life to test which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving" … The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 67, Verse 2
"Surely I have created all that is on earth as its ornaments that I may test which of them is best in conduct." … The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 18, Verse 7

Thus, the purpose for the creation of human beings in this world is to test their conduct. This world of life and death, wealth and poverty, sickness and health, was created to sift out the righteous souls from the evil souls. The tests serve to confirm on the Day of Judgment that those going to hell deserve it and those going to paradise only got there by God’s grace.
 
My question is if the Quran supposedly teaches about suffering, why then do Muslims kill Christians all the time? Why must you kill in the name of Allah? Where is the compassion for suffering here?
 
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