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Moral Evil

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This article is about Moral Evil. For the general problem of evil and natural evil, see Problem of evil and Natural evil.

Moral Evil (Arabic: الشرور الأخلاقي), in contrast to Natural Evil (which arises from natural causes),[1] refers to morally reprehensible and voluntary actions, such as murder and theft, that inflict suffering upon others.[2] The existence of evil in the world poses one of the most significant theological challenges for religious belief systems,[3] raising profound questions concerning the existence of God in the face of such suffering. Atheists frequently cite the presence of moral evil as evidence against the existence of a just and benevolent God,[4] whereas religious adherents strive to reconcile the apparent inconsistency between the reality of evil and the divine nature.[5]

Muslim theologians maintain that the existence of moral evil does not contradict God's attributes, as such evils are fundamentally rooted in human free agency. According to this view, God endowed humanity with intellect and free will to enable the autonomous choice between good and evil.[6] This capacity for self-determination allows human beings to achieve an exalted spiritual station, potentially rendering their righteous deeds superior to those of angels.[7] Conversely, it also grants them the capacity to commit heinous acts. Were God to intervene and unilaterally prevent such choices, it would negate the very essence of human free will.[8] In the Hadith of Tawhid al-Mufaddal, transmitted by Mufaddal b. Umar from Imam al-Sadiq (a), human free will is invoked as the primary justification for moral evil, highlighting that this autonomy is the defining characteristic elevating human beings above animals.[9]

From this perspective, God did not create "evil people"; rather, He created autonomous beings who may misuse their free will to commit evil.[10] Within this theological framework, the world serves as a crucible for the interplay between good and evil, offering an environment necessary for human spiritual growth and divine testing.[11] Consequently, the presence of oppression and immorality acts as a catalyst for cultivating essential virtues, such as patience and the righteous struggle against injustice.[12] As articulated by the philosopher Mulla Sadra, without the existence of hardened and cruel hearts, seekers of truth would be unable to achieve their spiritual perfection.[13] Furthermore, Islamic mystics argue that the existence of evil is an ontological necessity for the manifestation and realization of specific Divine Names and Attributes,[14] including The Avenger (al-Muntaqim), The Subduer (al-Jabbar), and The Forgiver (al-Ghaffar).[15]

In Shi'a narrations, the presence of worldly tyranny is intrinsically linked to divine compensation for suffering and inequality, which will be exacted either in this world or the Hereafter.[16] Imami and Mu'tazili theologians have utilized rational arguments, along with citations from Qur'anic verses and prophetic narrations, to assert that God will ultimately restore the rights of the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable.[17] This compensatory mechanism ensures that the reality of moral evil remains fully compatible with belief in a perfectly just God.[18] In the social and political spheres, moral evil is mitigated through the promulgation of laws and the establishment of authoritative bodies to enforce them. In his exegesis of Qur'an 2:213, Allama Tabataba'i posits that the primary purpose of divine religions is to regulate and curb the inherent human propensity to exploit others for personal gain (istikhdam).[19]

Another philosophical approach to the problem of evil posits a privative theory, asserting that evil lacks independent ontological existence and is merely a deficiency or the absence of good.[20] According to this paradigm, immoral human acts stem directly from a void of virtuous characteristics within the individual.[21] For instance, adultery is deemed reprehensible because it signifies the absence of the virtue of chastity. Thus, moral evils are not created entities emanating from God, but rather arise from existential deficiencies.[22] It should be noted, however, that prominent scholars such as Morteza Motahhari have critiqued this strictly privative explanation as philosophically insufficient.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Khātamī, Farhang-i 'ilm-i kalām, p. 137; Khusrawpanāh, Kalām-i jadīd, p. 34; Ṭāhirī, Dars-hāyī az kalām-i jadīd, p. 468.
  2. ↑ Khātamī, Farhang-i 'ilm-i kalām, p. 137; Khusrawpanāh, Kalām-i jadīd, p. 33; Ṭāhirī, Dars-hāyī az kalām-i jadīd, p. 468.
  3. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Khudā wa mas'ala-yi shar, pp. 9-10.
  4. ↑ See: Mackie, J.L, The Miracle of Theism, pp. 155-156.
  5. ↑ Peterson, 'Aql wa i'tiqād-i dīnī, pp. 178-179.
  6. ↑ Khusrawpanāh, Kalām-i jadīd, p. 34.
  7. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bih shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), pp. 146-147.
  8. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bi shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), pp. 158-160.
  9. ↑ See: Mufaḍḍal b. 'Umar, Tawḥīd al-Mufaḍḍal, p. 173.
  10. ↑ Qadardān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bih shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), pp. 149-152.
  11. ↑ Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Āmūzish-i falsafa, vol. 2, pp. 519-524.
  12. ↑ Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Āmūzish-i falsafa, vol. 2, p. 525; Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bih shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), pp. 93-94.
  13. ↑ Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, Sharḥ Uṣūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 407.
  14. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmū'a-yi āthār-i Ustād Shahīd Muṭahharī, vol. 13, p. 288.
  15. ↑ Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, Sharḥ Uṣūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 408.
  16. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Khudā wa mas'ala-yi shar, p. 242.
  17. ↑ See: Ibn Nawbakht, al-Yāqūt fī 'ilm al-kalām, pp. 49-50; al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, Jumal al-'ilm wa l-'amal, p. 35; Ṭūsī, al-Iqtiṣād, p. 143; Qāḍī 'Abd al-Jabbār, al-Mughnī' , vol. 11, p. 387.
  18. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bih shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), p. 152.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabā'ī, al-Mīzān, vol. 2, pp. 124-125.
  20. ↑ Ḥasanzāda Mushkānī, Naqd wa barrasī-yi rāh-ḥall-i 'adamī-ingārī-yi māhiyyat-i shurūr..., p. 77.
  21. ↑ Ibn Sīnā, al-Ilāhiyyāt min kitāb al-Shifā', p. 455; Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, al-Ḥikma al-muta'āliya, vol. 7, pp. 104-105.
  22. ↑ Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, Pāsukh bih shubuhāt-i kalāmī (Justice), p. 147.
  23. ↑ Muṭahharī, 'Adl-i Ilāhī, p. 134.

References

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