THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

In the eternal life after death God will judge everyone according to this record. This plan of divine will is based on two basic principles—monotheism, and justice. Monotheism holds man to worshipping one God alone, and not associating anyone or anything in this worship. Justice holds man to adhering completely to ethical principles in dealing with other creatures, including fellow human beings, and refraining from all kinds of injustice and oppression. Along with this, God informed man that, although he appeared to be free, he was fully accountable to Him. God has a complete record of man’s actions. In the eternal life after death God will judge everyone according to this record. One who exercised his freedom wrongly will be thrown into eternal hellfire. Adam died at a ripe old age. For a long period of time his people continued to adhere faithfully to the divine guidance. But later, degeneration set in. Polytheism replaced monotheism. People began to adopt the ways of injustice and oppression instead of justice and rectitude. After about one thousand years the perversion became allpervading and they were completely distanced from the path of the religion as shown by Adam. The Age of Perversion God subsequently sent Noah as His messenger. Noah was granted an exceptionally long life of nine hundred and fifty years. During this extended period, he continued to show people the right path, generation after generation. But only a few people heeded his words. The rest persisted in their sinful ways. Then, in accordance with the ways of God, a huge flood engulfed them by way of punishment. Noah and his small band of followers were saved in an ark, while all the rest were drowned. At that time, human population was probably concentrated only in the region of Asia known as Mesopotamia. The men and women saved in the wake of this flood settled afterwards in other parts of the world. Their race multiplied until it spread over the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. After the death of Noah, his people continued for a considerable time to adhere to the divine path shown by him. But again degeneration set in amongst later generations and they deviated from the path of monotheism and justice. God’s messengers—the Quran has mentioned twenty-six by name—continued to come for several thousand years.