Why Did Allah (Mighty & Majestic) Make Some People Live in a Muslim Environment and Others in a Non-Muslim Environment?
Why Did Allah (Mighty & Majestic) Make Some People Live in a Muslim Environment and Others in a Non-Muslim Environment? What is the Wisdom in That? Could It Be Considered Injustice for a Person to be Raised in a Non-Muslim Environment Since He Has No Choice in the Matter?
We have explained previously the Great Attributes of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) and His Absolute Power, and that to Allah (Glorious & Exalted) belongs ultimate perfection in everything. We have also shown that the Attributes of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) and His Names are of the utmost perfection in balance and beauty.
As such, it is certain in the belief of every rational person, with a pure, good nature, that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is All-Wise. He (Glorious & Exalted) is described with Absolute, True Wisdom, proper to Him and Self-Existent, like the rest of His Attributes, for which He created His slaves, fashioned them perfectly, measured, then guided, made some blessed and some wretched, misguided and guided, withheld and gave, for He is the One Who designed the creation of all things according to the requirements of His Wisdom (Noble & Sublime).
The Wisdom of Allah (Glorious & Exalted) requires Complete, Comprehensive Knowledge, not preceded by ignorance. It requires Perfect Will, for He (Noble & Sublime) does what He wishes; no decree is blocked. Whatever He wills is, and whatever He does not will is not. This is in accordance with the requirements of His Wisdom (Glorious & Exalted), and it necessitates Absolute Power, in addition to the other Perfect Attributes of Allah (Glorious & Exalted).
Among the Names of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is al-Haqq—the Truth—for Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is the One Who causes truth to triumph and grants it victory. His is Pure Justice, for He (Glorious & Exalted) oppressed no one, not even to the weight of a mustard seed or less.
Among the Names of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) are: al-Rahman and al-Rahim—the Beneficent, the Merciful—for mercy is from the Attributes of Allah (Mighty & Majestic), which Complete Wisdom requires. Likewise among them are: Forbearance, Compassion, Gentleness, and Forgiveness, in addition to other Perfect Attributes of Allah (Noble & Sublime).
We would like to shed some light on the Perfect Attributes of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) in this section:
- Wisdom
- Knowledge
- Will & Purpose
- Justice
- Power (Ability)
- Mercy and Favor
We will now explain the answer to the first question in this section as follows:
Allah (Mighty & Majestic) created a realm of everlasting delight (Paradise) and He created a realm of permanent torment (the Hellfire). This is in accordance with His Will and Purpose (Glorious & Exalted). He has said, {Verily, His Command, when He intends a things, is only that He says to it, "Be!"—and it is!}[Ya-Sin 36: 82)] and {Verily, Allah does what He wills.}[Al-Hajj 22: 14]
Among the requirements of the Will and Purpose of Allah (Mighty & Majestic), is that He creates one creation for Heaven, where they will be blessed with eternal delight that never ends due to their faith and righteousness in the life of this world. Likewise, He creates a creation for the Fire, where they will experience everlasting torment, because of their disbelief, atheism, and corruption in their worldly lives. He says, {Verily! Allah does what He wills.}[Al-Hajj 22: 18], {And your Lord creates whatsoever He wills and chooses…}[Al-Qasas 28: 68]
Among the requirements of the Wisdom of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is that the righteous believers enter Paradise by His Mercy and Favor (Blessed & Exalted) and that the disbelievers, atheists, and evil-doers enter the Hellfire by his Justice (Noble & Sublime).
It is from the Wisdom of Allah (Glorious & Exalted) that He make this one Muslim, that one a disbeliever, and another an atheist, to test one by the other, for the life of this world is a realm of tests and challenges.
Examples of this are: the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the ruler and the slave. It is this way so that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) can test one by the other in this world of tests and challenges. In other words, the purpose is to try one by the other so that the righteous stand out from the wrong-doers, the noble from the wicked, and so on.
Even before He makes clear the believer from the disbeliever, the righteous from the evil-doer, and so on in the life of this world, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) has prior knowledge of who will be the righteous, good believers who He is pleased to grant His Paradise and realm of delight (Blessed & Exalted is He), and He knows who will be the disbelievers and evil-doers who will incur His Wrath (Noble & Sublime) upon themselves, so He made them for His Fire and realm of torment.
The Will of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) requires Absolute Power, so that He might do whatever He wishes and whatever He wills, in accordance with what His Wisdom (Glorious & Exalted) requires.
The Will of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) necessitates Complete and Comprehensive Knowledge, since he who does something without knowledge cannot be said to have intent or will, and Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is still the Creator of everything, and He does what He intends. Thus, He (Noble & Sublime) must necessarily be knowledgeable of everything, and we have established this previously.
Among that which proves logically the Perfect, Comprehensive Knowledge of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is:
A. That God the Creator must necessarily know what the hearts of His slaves contain: the good or evil, the belief or hypocrisy, the sincerity to Him (Noble & Sublime) in worship and interpersonal interaction, etc., or the ostentation and pretension, and so on.
B. That God the Creator must necessarily know the degree of humility His slaves feel toward Him (Noble & Sublime) during acts of worship and otherwise, so that He might reward them for it, favoring some over others. This is an affair of the heart, not something visible.
C. That God the Creator must necessarily know the multiplicity of His slaves' noble intentions when performing good deeds, as when a person has many good reasons for doing something good, hoping for a good reward or compensation, and an increase in closeness to Allah (Mighty & Majestic).
And other examples of this abound, as we have said before.
We will now explain the answer to the second question in this section as follows:
To begin, Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is the Truth; he does not wrong His slaves the weight of a mustard seed or less. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) is All-Aware of the hearts of the slaves He created. If there is good in the hearts of His slaves, it pleases Allah (Glorious & Exalted), so He guides them to goodness and faith and leads them to righteousness and guidance. And if He does not know goodness in their hearts, He does not guide them to faith and that which is pleasing to Allah (Mighty & Majestic).
To explain:
One of us might wonder, after the era of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has passed and that of his noble companions, why didn't Allah (Mighty & Majestic) put me in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) so that I might believe him, fight beside him, and champion His religion, Islam, so that I would be among the forerunners and the first to win the good pleasure of Allah (Mighty & Majestic)? Why wasn't I one of the companions of Allah's Messenger (pbuh)?
To answer this, we should explain that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) elected from His creation His prophet and messenger, Muhammad (pbuh), as a seal for the prophets and messengers. He chose for him companions (may Allah's Mercy be upon them), who were befitting for him and who were honored by his companionship (pbuh). Thus, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) chose the companions of Muhammad (may Allah's Mercy be upon them) for Muhammad (pbuh).
Allah Most High said, {…but Allah bestows His Grace to whom He wills of His slaves.}[Ibrahim 14: 11] and {He cannot be questioned as to what He does, while they will be questioned.}[Al-Anbiyaa' 21: 23]
The companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were the most devout of heart of this entire nation. They were also the deepest of knowledge, the least pretentious, and the straightest in guidance. They were a people chosen by Allah (Mighty & Majestic) to keep company with His prophet (pbuh) and to uphold His religion.
In truth, not many years passed, from the start of the Prophet Muhammad's mission (pbuh) and the belief of his companions in him, before this great religion—Islam—spread to every corner of the earth, and the banner of true monotheism—La ilaha illa Allah (There is no true god but Allah)—waved high, destroying underfoot all others, from the worship of false gods, idols, and tyrants beside Allah. The two greatest empires and superpowers at that time—Byzantium and Persia—were defeated at the hands of the Muslim who liberated them under the banner of true monotheism, for the Persians used to worship fire, and the Byzantines used to associate partners in worship with Allah Most High, ascribing to Him a son and worshipping the cross, and so on.
Thus, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were the best of all human beings after the prophets and messengers.
Then again, how does our questioner know, if he had lived during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), whether he would have been among his companions who supported him or among his enemies who fought and harmed him and were destroyed?
Allah (Mighty & Majestic) sent His prophets and messengers with proof, miracles, incontestable evidence, and irrefutable testimony, confirming his prophethood and the truth of his message and call:
A. To warn his people of the punishment of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) if they do not believe in Him (Noble & Sublime), follow His prophets and messengers, and live by His laws.
B. To bring his people glad tidings of reward and compensation, bliss and delight from Allah (Glorious & Exalted) if they believe in Him (Noble & Sublime), follow His prophets and messengers, and live by His laws (Noble & Sublime), in accordance with the Saying of Allah Most High, {Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers. And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise.}[Al-Nisaa' 4: 165]
Thus, Allah (Mighty & Majestic) establishes the proof against His creation by sending prophets and messengers to them to explain to them the truth that they might follow it, and to explain to them what is false so that they might stop it and leave it for good. This is from the Favor of Allah (Blessed & Exalted) and His Mercy toward His slaves.
As such, the people have no argument before Allah (Mighty & Majestic) that He did not send prophets and messengers to them to explain to them the way of truth and falsehood. Allah Most High said,
{And if We had destroyed them with a torment before this (the Quran), they would surely have said, "Our Lord! If only You had sent us a Messenger, we should certainly have followed Your Signs before we were humiliated and disgraced."}
[Taha 20: 134]
{Oh people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our messenger, making (things)clear unto you, after a break in (the series of) messengers, lest you say, "There came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner." But now has come unto you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner. And Allah is Able to do all things.}
[Al-Ma'idah 5: 19]
{We never punish until We have sent a messenger (to give warning).}
[Al-Israa' 17: 15]
It is from the Justice of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) that whoever is not reached by the proof from Allah Almighty—the Message—by sending prophets and messengers, such a person will not be taken and punished by Allah (Noble & Sublime), except after it has been established to him.
On that basis, whoever dies during a break (the period between the sending of prophets and messengers), the mentally incompetent person, the deaf who cannot hear what the prophets and messengers are calling him to, the children of disbelievers, and those in the same category, such people will be tried before Allah (Mighty & Majestic) on the Day of Judgment. So whoever obeys Allah (Mighty & Majestic) will win His good pleasure, Heaven and the realm of His delights, and whoever disobeys Him (Noble & Sublime) deserves His Anger upon him, His Fire, and the realm of His punishment.
This indicates that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) has full, vast, absolute, prior knowledge (not preceded by ignorance) of what His creation will do: either believing and following the prophets and messengers, or disbelieving and disobeying them.
He has full, vast, absolute, prior knowledge of what will be: the obedience or disobedience of the people who died during these breaks and the verdict that will be pronounced when they are tried on the Day of Judgment.
Thus, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) knows the fate of all of His creation. He knows whose fate will end up being in the realm of delight (Heaven) and who will end up in the realm of torment (Hell), and this He knows even before they were created.
However, it is from the Wisdom of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) that He sends prophets and messengers to His creation, that He sends down His Books unto them, and that He tries those whom the message of the prophets and messengers did not reach, in order to establish the proof against all people, so that they might not have any plea before Him (Noble & Sublime), in accordance with the Saying of the Most High, {Say, "With Allah is the perfect proof and argument; had He so willed, He would indeed have guided you all.}[Al-An`aam 6: 149]
It is our duty to know that Allah (Mighty & Majestic) created man to believe in Him (Noble & Sublime) and to worship Him exclusively. He granted him a rational mind to think about His signs, proving thereby His Existence, His Oneness, His Supreme Attributes, and His Absolute Power.
It is our duty to know that there is a difference between an ignorant person who was capable of seeking knowledge and knowing the truth, but then turned away, and an ignorant person who was not able to do so.
Whoever is capable of learning and finding out the truth has no excuse before Allah (Mighty & Majestic).
As for the ignorant person who is not capable of learning and finding out the truth, he falls into one of two categories:
A. He wants to be guided: He would love to be guided to the truth, but he is not able to do so, due to the absence of anyone to guide him. The verdict on such a person is the verdict of a person to whom the message of the prophets and messengers has not been conveyed.
B. He does not want to be guided: His self-talk does not address anything other than the falsehood he believes. There is no difference for him between being capable and not being capable. That is only for those who want guidance and wish to be guided.
In conclusion,
- Allah (Mighty & Majestic) does what He wills, and Allah (Glorious & Exalted) willed to create Heaven and Hell, and in His Wisdom (Noble & Sublime), He created good, believing people to go to Heaven and wicked, disbelieving people to go to Hell.
- Whoever goes to Heaven enters by the Favor of Allah Almighty and His Mercy, and whoever goes to Hell enters it by the Justice of Allah (Mighty & Majestic).
Man's pure, good nature causes him to believe in Allah Most High and His Oneness, and his straightforward, logical mind does not contradict this; rather it agrees with it completely, and we have demonstrated this previously.
The Wisdom of Allah (Noble & Sublime) necessitates the establishment of proof against His creation, by sending them prophets and messengers to make the truth clear and to point them toward it, and to make falsehood clear and to warn them of it, and by revealing the Divine Scriptures to His prophets and messengers.
- Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is All-Aware of the hearts of His slaves. Whoever He knows to have goodness in his heart and He wishes good for them, He grants him good things and guides him to truth and righteousness.
Whoever does not have goodness in his heart, and Allah Almighty does not wish good for him, Allah Almighty does not grant him good things by guiding him and making him successful.
- People in the life of this world have the choice between belief and disbelief, obedience and disobedience, between righteousness and wickedness. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) has not forced them into belief or denial and disbelief. He has not forced them to obey or disobey. That is because this world is the realm of trial, testing, and challenge. So, whoever believes in Allah (Glorious & Exalted) and obeys Him has passed the challenge and succeeded in the test, but whoever disbelieves and disobeys has failed the challenge and the test.
From all we have mentioned, it then becomes clear to us that:
Allah (Mighty & Majestic) sends the disbelievers and evil-doers to the Fire and the realm of His punishment, because he had the choice between faith and disbelief, between obedience and disobedience. Allah Almighty did not force him to deny or disbelieve. Allah Almighty did not force him to disobey and do evil things.
It also becomes clear that: Allah (Mighty & Majestic) was not unjust to the disbeliever when He placed him in a disbelieving environment, since:
1. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) gave the disbeliever the choice either: to choose the path of guidance and believe in his God and Creator, His Oneness, His Supreme Attributes and Absolute Power, following His prophets and messengers, or to remain in his disbelief, corruption, and disobedience, following his pride, vain desire, and trivial passions.
2. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) did not conceal the truth from the disbeliever; rather, He made the truth ever visible and audible, and his initially pure human nature with which Allah (Mighty & Majestic) created him points to the Existence of God the Creator and His Oneness, for every child is born with this pure, good nature. Also, the straightforward, rational mind that Allah Almighty granted man agrees with this pure, good nature, and both of them together testify to the Existence of Allah Almighty (Glorious & Exalted) and His Oneness.
Allah (Mighty & Majestic) sent to the disbeliever, prophets and messengers to call him to believe in Him (Noble & Sublime), to obey Him, and to follow His prophets and messengers.
But this disbeliever, idol-worshipper, and atheist preferred falsehood over the truth, following his pride, insolence, whims, and trivial passions, even though, if he believed and followed the truth, he would have had double the reward and compensation, as Favor from Allah Almighty.
If Allah (Glorious & Exalted) did not guide the disbeliever to faith and righteousness, that does not mean that He kept from the disbeliever his due.
That is because guidance belongs to Allah (Mighty & Majestic); He grants it to whomever He pleases, and bestows His Mercy on whomever He pleases among His slaves.
Allah Most High says, {Allah guides to His Light whom He wills.}[Al-Noor 24: 35]
The Most High says, {That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is the Owner of Mighty Grace.}[Al-Jumuah 62: 4]
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) knows best who will accept His guidance.
One might also ponder another question concerning someone who dies a disbeliever at the beginning of his life, right after puberty:
Would it be considered injustice for someone like this who died a disbeliever at the beginning of his life, right after puberty, because Allah (Mighty & Majestic) did not prolong his life so that he could meet up with the believers after repenting from his disbelief later in life?
First of all, we repeat in brief: Allah (Mighty & Majestic) gave the disbeliever a choice between the path of guidance or remaining on his disbelief. He did not force him or compel him to do anything.
Also, Allah (Mighty & Majestic) did not conceal the truth from the disbeliever as we have explained.
Allah (Mighty & Majestic) sent the prophets and messengers to call the people to Him (Noble & Sublime), to explain to them the way of truth from all others.
Secondly, Allah Almighty has said, {Truly! Allah wrongs not mankind in aught; but mankind wrong themselves.}[Yunus 10: 44]
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is not unjust to anyone; people are the ones who wrong themselves, for they were supposed to believe in what the prophets and messengers came with. They should have learned that the life they are living now would come to an end—that it was just the realm of trials and tests. They should have learned that their lives herein were not for play and frivolity, or forbidden luxury and estrangement from the religion. This they should have learned from what Allah's prophets and messengers came with.
They should have hurried to please their God and Creator. They should have hurried to follow the truth and abandon falsehood.
Because they turned away from all of that and did not pay attention to it, this is from their injustice to themselves; it is not injustice on the part of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) toward them.
Secondly, Allah Most High says, {Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous, All-Aware.}[Al-Mulk 67: 14]
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is All-Aware of the Unseen; He knows what was and what will be. To Him (Glorious & Exalted) belongs Absolute Perfection in His Knowledge and in His Attributes and Actions.
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) knows that such people who die as disbelievers in their early adolescence do not deserve His Mercy and Guidance (Noble & Sublime).
Allah (Glorious & Exalted), in His Perfect, Absolute Knowledge (which is not preceded by ignorance), preordained that such people who die in disbelief in early adolescence would not have believed or been guided, even if their lives had been extended, many, many times over.
For example:
We might find—among those who live in disbelief, wickedness, and disobedience—that they frequently call for truth and the abandonment of the falsehood their lives are based on, yet we find that they do not submit to the truth; they do not respond to it, even when they live long lives. They follow their desires and trivial passions, knowing full well that what they are doing is wrong.
To testify to this fact, take the example of Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who used to defend the Prophet (pbuh) and know his truthfulness. The Prophet (pbuh) invited him time and time again. Even until he was on the verge of death, the Prophet (pbuh) entered in upon him and said, "Oh uncle! Say La ilaha illa Allah (There is no true god but Allah)—a word by which I might argue for you before Allah." Some of the pagans who were with Abu Talib said, "Oh Abu Talib! Do you turn away from the religion of (your father) Abdul-Muttalib?" And the pagans who were around him took to speaking to him, until he uttered his last words: "Rather, (I will remain) on the religion of Abdul-Muttalib."
Another example: We find many of those who claim to be Muslims reject the obligation of the prayer. They do not pray until they reach a miserable old age—the final stage of life—until they die in that state, Allah forbid! They do this even though they have always heard the call to prayer at every time period. They heard the Quran and the saying, "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Great!) during the prayer through the loudspeakers in the mosque. They were called by preachers and warners, time and time again, to establish the prayer and perform it.
And there are many more examples like these.
Therefore, the eternity that the disbelievers and atheists will spend in the Fire of Hell, despite the short period of time they lived in the life of this world, is from the Justice of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) upon them, and His Knowledge of their hearts, for their lack of faith, and for not following the truth, even if they would live forever in this world.
Allah Most High has said, {Then, verily, We know best those who are most worthy of being burnt therein.}[Maryam 19: 70]
In other words, Allah (Mighty & Majestic) knows best who deserves to enter the Fire and endure its heat.
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) knows best the hearts of His slaves. He knows best those who would become guided, righteous believers if their lives were prolonged and they got to perform good deeds all that time. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) would not be unjust to him; rather, He would guide him, and grant him success in faith, goodness, and righteousness.
