It sucks that you can't answer such a simple question directly.
The fact is you know that according to the Qur'an Adam was meant to die. Just like most of the Muslim community accept that God created us to test us.
Either god created Adam to have a good life eternally
Or god created him to die and be tested.
Otherwise there is no other response in the Qur'an. Your other answer basically says we don't know.
It sucks that you cant understand an explanation. Really sucks.
At least you should have tried to understand and provide some sort of intellectual response. You come from your understanding of God, and expect your type of answer.
Theodicy
1. There is no easy answer
2. Are you willing to accept the answer
Why is there no easy answer?
God creates us, gives us free will, thus evil exists because we have free will. This evil comes behind us and we are tested so that if we live righteously we will go to heaven one day when we die - The average answer we get.
Then why should God create us at all? There is this God who sits outside our realm apparently according to many Islamic scholars and creates the universe for us to prove ourselves. Billions and billions of humans created to prove ourselves.
I don’t think so.
The problem with this subject is that honest exploration in the subject of theodicy is almost blasphemy, and you can be shunned. The biggest and most pertinent problem in this subject is we as individuals do not want to question the creation narrative given to us by our ancestors. We do not want to honestly question this idea that God created all good, Satan thing happened and we are all in this plight now, because we do not want to think that there could be much more to it. God has to be a supreme being outside our realm looking down upon us, that’s the problem.
Creation according to Islam as defined in the Quran is that God creates by will. Kun. This Kun is not like a divine being wades his wand and the universe came to exist. Kun is being part of creation itself.
There are many verses in the Quran that says “We made it happen”. E.g. We put a seal upon their hearts. That’s not the exact rendering of that. It means this has happened, that’s the Quranic language. That type of language is all over the Quran.
Why does suffering exist?
This is probably one of the most important questions, most difficult for religious proponents to answer. Why does an innocent child, never sinned, didn’t even have the time to think of sinning, suffer and die of cancer or a Tsunami? Is that the parent’s sin? No, sin is not inherited. Then why would a child suffer? The same goes to all humans.
How does a child come to this world with a disability? What did he do to receive such a dirty test? Is God that bad to test a human being with a disability? Or is that a test for everyone around him?
The Quran does not portray God as a being like Zeus. In fact its not God at all. God is the traditional English word with which we don’t have a choice but to refer to Allah. Allah means The Divinity. Al ilah. Like The Mother, she doesn’t need a name for you to know who your mom is. When you say the mother, you know. Thus Allah is not a name. It’s a description.
This concept of God is not one who sits far away and keeps looking at us like we are ants. He is part of this universe. Yes, it is a consciousness that’s within the whole creation. Now if you study ibn Arabis theory that’s akin to this you will see that he was called a heretic.
The problem with religions is that there is something called the mainstream, orthodoxy and heresy. Mainstream is generally controlled by the biggest sect. In the case of Islam, it’s the Sunnis. But they don’t realize that there are many more sects out there, and they believe they are Muslims too. Orthodoxy has Greek roots and basically means “correct belief”. Heresy in Greek simply means choice. So anyone who makes a choice to have a different view from the mainstream is a heretic. That’s why great minds like Avicenna were called heretics. So in short, anyone who makes a choice is a heretic and everyone who doesn’t make a choice and sticks to the mainstream is orthodox. This is the case with Christianity as well.
Thus it is a choice that one must make to understand this “Theodicy”.
Nature of God
Isnt it funny that you would see Muslims say that God is beyond understanding. Kufuwan, the word that means comparable in the chapter 112. There is nothing comparable, so you cant fathom God. Whats funny is that, after saying this, they say God is not part of creation, he is away from creation, outside creation etc.
If we cant ever think what God is like according to Surah Ikhlas, how could we describe him.
No! He cannot be understood. That’s what the Quran says.
But he is involved in creation. That’s what the Quran portrays vehemently. Every time the Quran says we made something happen. Kun fayakoon.
Shaithan
We have inherited Dogmas. One of them is always understanding Saithan as a being.
Shaithan means deviant. Allowing Shaithan to dwell in this universe is also allowing deviance. That is why we have meteorites landing on earth. Deviance, which is the way of the universe. If not for the ozone layer we will be smithereens. Why would there be a holocaust? How many children did hitler murder? Does God actually put us through such an atrocity to test us? How about the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Absurd.
Take a look at this verse.
67:5 - We have adorned the lower heaven with lamps, and We made it with projectiles against the devils; and We prepared for them the retribution of the blazing fire.
Can you see the word ‘devil’ up there? Its Shayatheeni, Shaythan. What is this projectiles against the devil? As if Devil is a being with flesh and bones and we throw stuff at him to hurt him or keep him away. That’s not what this verse means.
Its not projectiles. Its Rajm. Rajm means an offensive. A casting. A contending for superiority. Shayatheen is deviant. What does not follow the rules or normal course. Could easily mean foreign debris that enters the earths atmosphere, deviant. Azab means a torment. The ending of the verse says a torment of the blazing fire. Describes how the ozone layer takes care of deviant debris.
Thus Shaythan is not always a being. Thus God allowed deviance to live in creation. Which means people are deviant, nature itself can be deviant. Rebellious. Goes against normal laws. How could you explain the millions of children born with a disability while the parents or ancestors don’t have any? Medical mystery.
Creation
How come God took six Ayyams for creation? Why does the Quran need to say that it took six periods? That is to show that God does not create things like Dumbledore. It’s a process, a natural process. It took six epochs of time for the whole universe to come to existence the way we know it. And God was part of the creation and the act of creation. He does not get involved changing the course of nature. Because Shaithan or deviance exists.
