"Love of Wisdom" assignment

A segment of my philosophy assignment that I just felt like sharing. Our task was to write a 10 page essay of our own philosophy.

My faith in my religion leads me to believe that there can be no doubt about God’s existence. The doctrine of Islam emphasizes the fact that there is only one divine being, Allah of which I fully believe in. Therefore, my viewpoint on God is highly influenced by the teachings of His religion and His decrees. I would like to state my thoughts regarding the presence of sufferings, sickness and evil in the world.

The adversity that one faces is the challenge of patience given by God. All of the distress and pain is actually a trial to test His creations whether they would seek His help or choose to seek assistance from other beings that they consider as divine. By asking for relief from other deities, one fails this vey important test and the person is considered as a non-believer. Furthermore, if one blames the hardships on God and complains incessantly about it, he or she is also unsuccessful in His test of patience. Patience is considered as the noblest virtue in Islam. God will always bring relief to His creations. His only request is for us to endure the destitution for a while prior to His assistance.

Atheists might argue that the presence of evil in the world proves that there is no such thing as a holy being for our concept of a God is one that exhibits good qualities. They argue that how an all-good celestial being can allow so much evil to roam the Earth. Hence, they come to the conclusion that God does not exist. For my part, I believe that humans are responsible for the evil in the world such as murders, massacres, wars, and the like. It is caused by the individual’s decision to commit the vile actions; thus, the person should be hold responsibility for bringing evil instead of God.

God has blessed humankind with the ability to think and the freedom to make their own judgements on how to conduct themselves on Earth. I feel that it is unjust to blame God for the existence of evil that is primarily caused by humans themselves. The atheists who take on that standpoint are implying that God should take away human’s depraved choices. But, if God does that then humans will lose the freedom that they strongly fight for. This thought is contradictory with God’s design of humankind. He created us with all the tools necessary for us to access our liberty in making choices. We have to decide what to make of those tools.
I am also aware of the other form of evil which is natural catastrophes. Non-believers claim that natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis are not caused by humans’ actions. My thoughts on this matter differ from them. Hurricanes occur due to climate changes that cause an imbalance of temperature on oceans’ surfaces. Earthquakes and tsunamis which are inter-related are triggered by glacial movements which are becoming more rapid due to global warming. It is also initiated by the increase in temperature of the earth’s molten magma. This molten magma causes the movement of the plates that brings about earthquakes. These ecological cataclysms began with global warming which is initiated by humans’ irresponsible developments.

To wrap up, I have no doubt of the existence of God nor do I hold Him responsible for the presence of evil in the world. The presence of evil does not negate my faith in God’s existence. God has the right to test us with harsh conditions for we are His creations. Any form of afflictions that befalls us is His way of analysing our tolerance and patience. Just like Socrates’ infamous quote “An examined life is not worth living”, we should approach the challenges of life with a positive attitude.