Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!bes From: soudan@iitmax.iit.edu (Bassel Soudan) Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam Subject: Re: Questions regarding Israel Message-ID: <1990Nov1.205826.13245@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 1 Nov 90 20:58:26 GMT Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 65 Approved: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu In article <1990Oct24.214836.7874@nntp-server.caltech.edu> bes@tybalt.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi) writes: >Unfortunately, there is a lot of evil in this world that neither >Moslems nor others have been able prevent, no matter how hard they >have tried. That doesn't at all mean that, God forbid, it's God >who wills such evil and that therefore pious people should submit >to the evil. > >Behnam Sadeghi In the article he wrote a lot of other stuff that is not really what I had a problem with. What I have a problem with is a trend that I have seen going on in this group. The trend is when people start debating whether evil occurs by the will of God. To all of you who are reading this I have one question : Since we all believe that God is Al-mighty and that he has complete control over the universe and every thing in it, do you REALLY think that some- thing can happen against the will of God???? If your answer is yes and you can prove it, then what prevents some- thing else from happenning against the will of God? That means (God forbid) that God does not know what is going on or that he does not have complete control over what is going on. I ask everyone of you to ask himself this same question (I may have not done such a good job of stating it, but you know what I am talking about.) NOTHING IN THIS WORLD HAPPENS WITHOUT THE WILL AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. (PERIOD) The question why would God permit evil to happen has a couple of answers that I can think of right now. 1- We all know that God tests those who believe in him. His tests can be in any thing. The existance of the state of Israel is such a test. God is testing those who believe in him and he is trying to see how much do they believe him when he tells them that if they fight for him to remove evil and injustice he will be with them, send them his help, and reward them ever lasting heavens in the here after. When one of us is faced with a problem (no matter how small or how large) he should always think "this is a test from God for me and I have to excell in it so that God would reward me with what he had promissed me." Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said that if God loves a person he will test him/her. Why? because he wants to make sure (and he knows) that this person truely believes in him and loves him. 2- The second answer is that as prophet Mohammad said once, God will make the good pay for their sins in this life so that when they get to the here after there is nothing more for them to make up. Muslims recieve their punishment in this life and their reward latter, while others recieve their pleasures now and when it is time for them to meet their creator, there won't be anything for them except all the evil that they have committed so they get punished for it. I don't want to carry this any longer, but I hope that before we sit and start writting articles back and forth, we make sure that the ideas about God are clear in our own minds before we try to axplain them to others. I am very glad that this discussion has beem started on this group so that we can finally have something to look forward to whenever we login to this machine. Also this discussion can help all of us (me at the beginning of the list) to shake the dust of of our minds and start thinking about this life we live again. And can help instruct those of us (like me) not well schooled in the facts of Islam about this great religion of ours. I bid you all peace and happiness and I wish I did not offend anybody on this net with what I wrote and ask that If you disagree to tell me about it. Bassel