Good and Evil

[Munni Find all posts View Profile Close Munni]

4.79 "Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee, is from Allah. but whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul."

If anyone would kindly elaborate/explain on this ayah I would greatly appreciate it. I would like to know how trials from Allah are to be interpreted as...meaning are they a result of the evil from our own souls or are they not supposed to be looked upon evil happenings, but simply trials? If they are supposed to be seen as simply trials, how do we differentiate a "goodly" trial from something thats possibly the result of the evil from our own souls? Some assumptions are being made here, however in light of this, please elaborate. If you have references, that would be beneficial. If I make no sense I apologize and an explanation of the ayah will do just fine. Thank you!

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Learn to love yourself, then learn to love one-another

[Adnan Ahmed Find all posts View Profile Close Adnan Ahmed]

I wish i could pretend to be a great Islamic scholar, but im not. I find however, that Good and Evil are very complicated concepts. They are rarely clear cut black and white, they usually over lap, and its hard to distinguish the two. My feeling is that good and evil is a matter of oppinion, whats good for one is evil for another.

[Hasnain Find all posts View Profile Close Hasnain]

Salaam sister Munni,

Salaam

>>4.79 "Whatever good, (O man!) happens to >>thee, is from Allah. but whatever evil >>happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul."

The final revelation has been revealed and the Religion of Allaah is complete with all its rules and regulations. The truth and guidance is clear and the misguidance and falsehood is clear. Thus even with this clarity of good and evil, if we decide to ignore the guidance of Islaam, then any calamity that befalls us will be due to our own selves because we have chosen not to follow Allaah's commands and instead have chosen to follow another path which shall lead to evil - something our own hands have earned.

However, if we decide to follow Allaah's way, then this path can only lead us to success and good, because we have truly submitted and surrendered to Allaah - subhaan wa ta'aala - by obeying Him alone.

Trials and tribulations come in two forms: 1) tests from Allaah; and 2) punishments from Allaah.

Generally speaking, for the Prophet's of Allaah (peace be upon then all) and the pious, then they come under the first category as they are obedient servants to Allaah and never transgress. For those who clearly disobey Allaah's commands and transgress their bounds such as, for example, the people of Lot and Noah, then they fall into the second category of people and their trials and tribulations come in the form of punishment. Whereas for the rest of us, then depending upon our eemaan and the level to which we practice our Religion, trials and tribulations can come in either of the two forms. If we are aware that we are indulging or engaging in evil acts, then it can come in the form of punishments. However, many a time we do not know whether we are being punished or tested. The obedient Muslim would always question his/her actions if he/she faces a test and would repent to Allaah – subhaan wa ta’aala – in case he/she erred and at the same time would be patient, as trials and tribulations of all kinds are tests to see how we respond. The best response is to repent, ask Allaah to make your affairs easy, and be patient. Just as the group of people came to Hasan al-Basaree (reheemahuAllaah) seeking his advice to rebel against the oppressive leader, and the Shaikh replied: “I see not to fight him. If this is a punishment from Allaah, then you will not be able to remove it with your swords. If this is a trial from Allaah, then be patient until Allaah’s judgement comes – and He is the best of judges.”

So many a time we do not know whether it is a test or a punishment, thus we should repent for our sins, optimistically ask Allaah to guide us successfully through the trial and at the same time be patient and at the very least content with whatever Allaah – subhaan wa ta’aala - has decreed.

... and He – the Most High – knows best.

WasSalaam

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"No leaf falls except that He knows of it, and no rain drop forms except that He has willed it."

[Aishaaa1 Find all posts View Profile Close Aishaaa1]

im not a scholar or nothin, but what i get out of it is that we are the real evil, that whatever bad thing we do, we CHOOSE to do, that evil is us.

[Indian_Muslim Find all posts View Profile Close Indian_Muslim]

Originally posted by Munni:
4.79 "Whatever good, (O man!) happens to thee, is from Allah. but whatever evil happens to thee, is from thy (own) soul."

I would like to know how trials from Allah are to be interpreted as...
If they are supposed to be seen as simply trials, how do we differentiate a "goodly" trial from something thats possibly the result of the evil from our own souls?

Assalaam u 'Alaikum

I'm no Islamic Scholar, not even barely close (It takes a lot of hard work to be an Islamic Scholar, for example, to be able to interpret the Qur'an, you need to have a knowledge of 15 fields).

But if I remember correctly, If some distress or calamity seizes you and you repent and turn to Allah and your Imaan increases and you become a better Muslim, then it is a trial.

But if you do not repent to Allah, and your Imaan does not increase, then it's a punishment.

This is what I remember, and If I've gone wrong anywhere, please correct me.

Allah is Paak, free from Faults, He is Holy (Al-Quddoos) - And at one place in the Qur'an Allah says that he does not oppress (Zulm) his slaves by even a microscopic amount. (not the exact words).

He is Ar-Rahman (The Most Kind), Ar-Raheem (The Most Merciful), Ar-Raoof (Who treats you Mildly), Al-Barr (Who bestows Favors (Ehsaan)) and Al-Wadood (The Loving).

So you see, Allah is far from treating his slaves with Injustice.

According to a hadeeth, No one , No one, deserves to go to Paradise on the basis of his actions (a'maal) but it is only through Allah's mercy that anyone will enter Paradise.

Think about it this way. Allah is all-Powerful, Nothing stops Him from doing what He wants. But still He is full of mercy toward His slaves. Inspite of His Power, He does not treat his slaves with Injustice.

There is no court you could have gone to if Allah treated you with Injustice (Na-'oodhubillah).

When we feel mercy for someone, it is atleast partly because we hope that we never fall in such a situation as the other person. So, to make ourselves feel good, we help the other person, to assure ourselves that if we ever end up in such a position, there would be someone to help us.


But for Allah, there is nothing compelling Him to show mercy to His slaves. Nothing can challenge His power. But inspite of that, He is full of Mercy for His slaves, so much so that His love for a person is 70 times more than the love of the person's mother for him.

All that I'm trying to say is that these things only point toward the fact that all evil that happens to us, is only because of ourselves and it is JUSTIFIED. No matter, how much you feel otherwise, it is justified. And only when you turn to Allah, and accept that the calamities that befell are justified, and that you are totally at Allah's disposal, and it is Only Him who can help you, would you find peace.

For example, in the Qur'an you'll find the story of a young boy whose parents were pious people. But that boy was killed, because Allah knew that the boy would become a Kafir later on and be a source of distress to his parents. So, many a times, we do not understand the great wisdom behind many things that happen to us.



[This message has been edited by Indian_Muslim (edited March 18, 2002).]

[Munni Find all posts View Profile Close Munni]

Jazak'Allah khairum all.

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Learn to love yourself, then learn to love one-another