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In one of his writings*, Mr Katz has stated that the various statements in the Qur’an regarding the origin of the Calamity are mutually contradictory. Mr Katz’s opinion is based on the following verses of the Qur’an: 4:78; 4:79; 38:41. Wherever you are death will find you out even if you are in towers built up strong and high! If some good befalls them they say: ‘This is from Allah’; but if evil, they say: ‘This is from you’ [O Prophet]. Say: ‘All things are from Allah’. But what has come to these people that they fail to understand a single fact? (4:78) Whatever good, [O man!] happens to you, is from Allah; But whatever evil happens to you, is from your [own] soul. And We have sent you as a Messenger to [instruct] mankind. And enough is Allah for a witness. (4:79) Commemorate our Servant Job. Behold he cried to his Lord: ‘The Evil One has afflicted me with distress and suffering!’ (38:41) From the first verse, Mr Katz has understood that according to the Qur’an the source of both good as well as evil happenings in human life is Allah. From the second verse, Mr. Katz has perceived that, contrary to the first verse, it says that all good happenings in human life are from Allah but all evil happenings are from man himself. From the third verse Mr. Katz has construed that according to the Qur’an the source of evil happenings in man’s life is the devil or Satan. Comparing the first two verses, Mr Katz writes: Evil things are without doubt a subset of ‘all things’, and if ‘all things are from Allah’, then the evil things are from Allah as well, and the author of the Qur’an can’t pass the guilt on and blame others as done in verse 79. It is interesting that Muhammad would contradict himself within two consecutive verses and then write three verses later that discrepancy is a sign that it is not from God. But this topic isn’t over with just yet. And then, comparing all three verses, Mr. Katz writes: Now we have a third party joining the contest for responsibility. Is evil from ourselves? Is it from Satan? Or is it from Allah? Any two of them contradict each other, but in particular do the first two (4:79, 38:41) contradict the third (4:78) as Allah claimed all things are from Himself.
In my opinion, if the verses are seen
in the correct perspective, particularly with reference to their context,
their style, their words and their source the apparent contradiction pointed
out by Mr Katz shall automatically stand resolved.
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking: ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom. One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan: ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD: ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’ Then the LORD said to Satan: ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.’ The LORD said to Satan: ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:1-13) After this, according to the Bible, Satan attacked Job (sws) by destroying his belongings. His children were killed, his oxen, donkeys and camels were stolen, his sheep destroyed, many of his servants were slaughtered. Even at this catastrophe Job (sws), according to the Bible, fell to the ground in worship and called out to his Lord: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. (Job 1:21) The Bible further states: In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:22) At this point, the Bible says: On another day, the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan: ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD: ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’ Then the LORD said to Satan: ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.’ ‘Skin for skin!’ Satan replied. ‘A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.’ The LORD said to Satan: ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him: ‘Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He replied: ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:1-10) The Qur’an, as has been stated
earlier, does not give the details of the sufferings of Job (sws), but
as is pretty obvious from the details given from the excerpts of the Bible,
these sufferings were inflicted on Job (sws) by Satan. Although Satan inflicted
these sufferings on Job (sws) with the permission of God, which means that
it would not have been wrong if Job (sws) had ascribed these sufferings
as a test from God Himself.
Courtesy: Understanding Islam (http://www.understanding-islam.com/articles/quran/iefsooa.htm)
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*. See http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/i025.html |