There are many hints in the Qura’n which guides us through all the philosophical and ideological problems:

Verse 85 of Surah Isra says: “You have been given only a small portion of knowledge” It should not be that you start judging everything despite your limited knowledge and you doubt between the terms “I do not know” and “It does not exist” or that you take the calamities to be non-existence simply because you have no knowledge about them.

Verse 19 of Surah Nisaa is the declaration about the relationship between man and woman and we are asked to be polite even in case of disputes. It is being said, “It may be that you dislike a thing and God has put abundant grace in it.”

The same theme can be seen in verse 216 of Surah Baqarah that says, “Fighting (in the cause of God) is ordained for you and you find it unpleasant; it is possible that you a detest something which is good for you, and you love something which is bad for you; And God knows while you do not”

Even though the first verse speaks about man and woman and the second speaks about fighting against the enemy of God but the issues dealt by both of them are permanent decrees. It is said, that in many matters your ignorance prevents you from differentiating between the good and bad. So one should not judge an issue on superfluous knowledge. It is confirmed that the bitter events of life also come under the purview of the Qura’n’s permanent decrees.

The event of Moses meeting Khizr (The wandering Jew in the Bible) is a very important one in the Qura’n. It has many morals and one of them is related to our discussion or we can say one of the morals is our topic. Nothing should be taken for granted when God issues His commandment because sometimes the evident does not seem good at first sight but can only be understood after considerable reflection.

Beaching the boat which was the means of livelihood of the poor people ; killing a young lad who apparently did not seem to have done anything wrong or reconstructing a wall that was about to fall and that too in a city where the people were miserly and do not even welcome travelers or visitors. Each incident seems worse than the previous one.

All this work was done by Khizr and each time Moses lamented why it was done. Verse 71 of Surah Kahf clearly depicts the frustration of Moses and says, “Have you scuttled it to drown those in it. You have truly done a strange thing!” (1)

 In the second instance Moses loudly laments why an innocent was slain without any crime? Verse 74 of Surah Kahf says, “Have you killed an innocent who had not killed anyone? You have truly done a foul deed”

In the third instance Moses was surprised why Khizr rebuilt the fall free of cost and said he could have taken his labor charges if he wanted to and they would have made some money on this journey. Verse 77 of Surah Kahf says, “Had you wished you could have got some recompense for it!”

But Moses was sorry when Khizr who was a very wise person and the teacher of Moses at that time revealed the reasons for his deeds. He then understood the great cause behind those seemingly wrongful deeds.

The scuttling of the boat rendered it unusable for sometime but this saved this boat from being confiscated by the tyrant king who used to take away all good boats for himself.

An unfaithful, unbelieving, and cruel young man was killed to save his innocent and believing parents from his danger. The wall was repaired because underneath it was the treasure that belonged to two orphans. Khizr made it safe so that the orphans could take its benefit when they reached adulthood.

Khizr was a human being albeit a wise and knowledgeable one but his knowledge cannot be compared with God’s knowledge. The actions of Khizr seemingly were offensive and objectionable because the cause behind them was not evident and this made Moses speak out. He was truly satisfied when Khizr explained it briefly.

From these verses of the Qura’n we learn an established fact that the inequities that see in this world also have very positive effect which can be used as composite answers. So we should try to decipher the secret causes behind such things.

Qaruun (Korah) was a wealthy, vain and unjust person among the Bani Israel. His story also points to the same fact. One day he displayed his pomp (which included horses, slave girls, gold, silver and gems).

This impressed a group among the Jews that was materialistic. Verse 79 of Surah Qassas displays their feeling. It says, “Would that we had the like of what Korah has been given” but all this wealth of Korah was drowned with him. So we learn that behind all this splendor there was the impending punishment waiting for him. When they saw the end of Korah they said as says the verse 82 of Surah Qassas, “Had God not been gracious on us He would have let the earth swallow us too!”

With all the educative morals there is the point one should not take a decision about the good and the bad merely through the appearance of things. The thing which a person takes as good may have something evil lurking in it but had he known about it he would have tried to save himself. It prepares man through logical assertions to give a composite reply about such issues.

Verse 11 of Surah Nisaa deals with the issue to succession and on the first level speaks about the children, and parents. It says “Your father and your children you do not know which one of them is more beneficial for you” the relation with parents and children is the closest and people live together a whole life but the Qura’n says, “You people cannot believe that among the parents and children which was more important in your life and this why determining their succession is not your jurisdiction.

When the knowledge of man cannot determine something absolutely in such cases then how can he judge a very dangerous and serious issue about the creation of the universe and its incompatibilities? In short, this brief but composite answer is not being supported just by logical assumptions but also by the Qura’n. It tells man to restrain him from drawing logical conclusions and to keep silent in one’s tribulation but reflect deeply on them.

1. “Imr” is the term used for strange doing or very bad deeds