Why does Allah allow suffering and evil in the world?

Source: islamonline.net

By: Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi

Indeed Allah is All-Powerful (Al-`Aziz) and He is able to do all things (Allahu ‘ala kuli shayin qadir). The Quran has mentioned this hundreds of times. It is also mentioned in the Quran that Allah is the Creator and He is the Best Creator. Glory be to Allah, the best Creator. (Al-Mu’minoon: 14)
But then the question comes why do pain and sufferings exist in the world. We find sickness, old age and death. We see things that are ugly, people who are insane and foolish. There are storms, earthquakes, floods, draught and famine. We also see people commit sins, show disloyalty, unfaithfulness, greed and insincerity. We see people commit rapes, murders; they fight and make wars. We know all these and many more problems. There are evils caused by human beings and there are natural disasters. There are suffering for individuals and there are those that involve a large number of people.

But we also know that this is not the whole story. Besides all these negative things, we also see beauty, health, prosperity, life, birth, wisdom, intelligence, growth and progress. We also see goodness among people, faith, sincerity, charity, love and the spirit of sacrifice. We also see a lot of virtue and piety. It is wrong to see one side of the coin and not to see the other side. Any philosophy that concentrates on one aspect of the creation and denies or ignores the other side is partially true and partial truths are no truth at all.

Quran Reflections: Worship of the Heart

By: Jinan Bastaki

Source: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/

“Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do.” [Qur’an 29:45]

Reciting this verse of Qur’an always makes me stop and reflect on my prayer.  Allah subhananhu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) tells us that “as-Salaah” – the prayer – that we perform five times a day prohibits immorality and wrongdoing. So I ask myself, when was the last time my prayer had a significant effect on my actions outside of prayer?

Every act of worship has an internal element, an external form and a lasting effect after the action itself ends. The internal element of prayer – the worship of the heart – is khushoo’(devotion). It is to connect with every aspect of the prayer and thereby connect to Allah, being in deep conversation with Him. Fiqh covers the external form of prayer. And if those two are sound, or at the very least, we make an effort to make them sound, the effects will be lasting.

If we attend an inspirational talk, we leave feeling inspired. If we were really touched, we want to act upon the knowledge we gained and truly change. The inspiration might fade after a while, but the initial effect was there.

Prayer comes five times a day to give us that inspiration. It comes to remind us of what this is about ultimately. And if we truly connect, we will find that simply coming out of the prayer puts us in a state that keeps us away from immorality and wrongdoing. Because after connecting to the heavens, how can we come back to the earth to ruin it?

Ritual Prayer: Its Meaning and Manner

By: Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

Source: http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/

Prayer is one of the central elements of Islamic practice and worship. Indeed, it is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam and, along with the testimony of faith, the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting the month of Ramadan and paying the poor tax, forms the essential framework of religious life for Muslims. More than that, the observance of the ritual prayer forms the framework of each Muslim’s day, from the pre-dawn morning prayer to the night prayer that precedes sleep.