All Your Fault - 2

In the first part of this article, I introduced a verse from the Quran (4/79), which -according to the scholars- tells that all of the evil that happens to a person is due to their fault. Then, I explained in detail why this interpretation of the mentioned verse causes emotional and rational troubles. Here in the second episode, I want to do two things through a critical analysis of the mentioned verse. One, I want to discuss the root causes leading to the problematic interpretation. Two, I would like to arrive at an understanding of the same verse that is more compatible with reason and heart.

Before anything else, it is useful to see the context in which this verse sits. So, let's read it once again with the verses preceding and following it.

"Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, 'This is from Allah'; and if evil befalls them, they say, 'This is from you.' Say, 'All are from Allah.' So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?" (4/78) 

"What comes to you of good is from Allah , but what comes to you of evil is from yourself. And We have sent you to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as Witness." (4/79) 

"He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah ; but those who turn away - We have not sent you over them as a guardian." (4/80) 

"And they say, "[We pledge] obedience." But when they leave you, a group of them spend the night determining to do other than what you say. But Allah records what they plan by night. So leave them alone and rely upon Allah. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs." (4/81)

The first impression from reading these verses, even without a knowledge of deep Arabic language, is that God is talking directly to the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in these verses. This is indicated by the fact that the "you" in all these verses is in the 2nd singular form, be it in the words of the disbelievers or in the words of God. Then, the very first question to ask is "why would anyone make an interpretation regarding all of humanity in the middle of a talk that is involving the prophet directly and addressing the prophet directly." Unless this question is answered satisfactorily, the famous troublesome meaning can not be accepted as a valid one, let alone being used as a timeless lesson!

Of course, throughout the Quran, similar situations arise sometimes, and the believers are invited by God to take lessons from His dealing with the prophet (33/21). However, taking lessons requires a rational thought process that is consistent with the explicit pillars established in the Quran (4/82).

Second issue is that in 4/78, God implies that all events are from Him, be them good or bad in our perspective. But in the 4/79, according to the translations, He says that the good ones are from Him and the bad ones are from the prophet. This just doesn't make sense. So, it is necessary to look at the Arabic original. Not surprisingly, in 4/78, God uses "min indillah", whereas in 4/79 He uses "min Allah - min nafsik". These contrasting usages indicate a nuance between the meanings of these two verses. Perhaps, resolving this issue can help get rid of the rational and emotional complications caused by the traditional interpretation.

Now, let's think about the nuance mentioned in the above paragraph. The former usage in 4/78 refers to an ownership about the creation of all events and the design connecting them. The latter usage in 4/79, however, refers to a location or perspective. So here, God does not refer to a responsibility issue; rather, He refers to a perspective. Accordingly, everything and every event is created by God (4/78), but whether we consider them as good or bad is on us (4/79). When we believe in God and trust Him in no matter what happens, it is as if we see Him and feel a sense of belonging, which seeds and inculcates happiness. So, this notion has the potential to transform everything to "good" in our perspective, and is "through God". 

When this perspective is lost, on the other hand, that is when we feel that we are on our own in the face of life events, we psychologically become a "risk detector", and that converts life into a struggle against enemies. This evil state is due to our loss of connection to God in our thoughts and perceptions, hence the phrase "all evil from your self". However, when the person is enlightened with the knowledge of the future, including the afterlife, then they may change their view of the things.  

Applying this understanding to the case of the prophet explained in 4/78-81, we see the following. In 4/79, the prophet is told that the good in his view are reflective of the blessings of God, whereas the evil in his view is an artifact of his self, a situation due to being limited in time and space. That is, what looks like evil is only so due to the limited perspective of the self. This view is consistent with the verses we are studying, and is acceptable as a "lesson taught by God to the prophet", which can be generalized to all humans and be passed on to other generations as a timeless lesson.

You may think that we have resolved the complications due to the misinterpretation of the verses at hand. But there is yet another complication to be resolved, which can shake the conclusions we have made so far, if left untouched. As you may have realized, the analyses and comments presented above are not that revolutionary. They are not unknown to the Islamic scholars, either. Why, then, did they insist on preaching that "all evil is due to yourself" as a matter of actual responsibility rather than that of perspective?  

All Your Fault - 1

One of the Islamic teachings that bothered me emotionally and intellectually is that whatever good happens to you, it is from God, and whatever evil happens to you, it is from yourself. Those who adhere to it and spread it through their talks, sermons and articles reference a verse from the Quran that identically translates as such. Recently, though, I happened to be reading those verses, and it occurred to me that we could be doing a grave mistake by embracing that teaching as is and passing it on to others.

"What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil is from yourself." (4/79)

Two other verses that can be quoted in the same context are the following:

"And whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much." (42/30)

"Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those upon which my Lord has mercy." (12/53) 

Before going into the critical analysis of the interpretation of the referenced verses, let me first share why this notion of "all your fault" has troubled me. Think of the children in a poor country, where tribal wars have left many orphans, where environmental pollution is abundant due to the waste disposal by the wealthy developed countries. These children grow up deprived of a parental care, and are exposed to conditions that are going to cause major health defects in the long run. They are cut from the humain conditions that are more fit to the human dignity. It is obvious that these children are living in hell. Is this their fault? 

Think of a child, whose both parents have been fired from their jobs due to false accusations and are imprisoned unjustly. One of the parents, after being freed on parole, tries to find a job, but is severely and humiliatingly rejected everwhere. Following years of such hostility and the untouched status of the wrongdoers, this parent falls prey to chronic depression and commits suicide. The poor child, one parent lost in this way and the other in prison, is clearly in a miserable state. Is this that child's fault?

Examples can be extended even to the messengers of God and the first believers with them. Imagine the oppressions they have been put through. Can you say that they deserved that kind of evil treatment because of their own faults? 

These examples must have made my point clear. Anyone with a heart and human conscience would feel heartwrenched in the face of these misfortunes, and would not even think of blaming the victims in these examples. Then, naturally, you seek a rationally satisfactory answer. Maybe there is an explanation to the above-quoted verses that justifies these situations in ways we cannot comprehend. Or maybe the existing perspective is wrong and the lessons from the same verses could and should be completely different.

When you raise objections due to the logical consequences of this "all your fault" teaching, you see a host of explanations and defenses. Without any classification, they contain a combination of the following. After each one, I am going to write a few critical comments:

1. "This life is an examination and we have to be patient in the face of misfortunes. The challenges we face are atonement for our sins so that we may prosper in the afterlife." This explanation feeds from the notion that the misfortunes are due to your self and your actions, as indicated in 4/79 and in 42/30. However, two immediate objections c/an be due to the innocent people as I told in the above examples and due to another verse (8/25) that clearly warns against a misfortune that doesn't strike exclusively the wrongdoers. That is, God Himself says that even if you are not a wrongdoer, you can be hit by a misfortune. There are other verses to this end, as well. Furthermore, there are verses stating that God may not punish the evil acts promptly or can let it pass with impunity in this world (35/45). So, yes, this life is an examination and we have to be patient in the face of whatever befalls us (31/17). But this notion is not sufficient to clarify the complications raised due to the quoted verses. 

2. "Creating evil and earning evil are not the same. It is God who creates everything, but it is the humans that are responsible for the consequences of their actions." This same explanation is also given in context of discussions around the topic of destiny and free will. In and of itself, this explanation has some merit in that it points out the fact that we, humans, are not the center of the universe, and so things don't have to be optimized according to our comfort. In other words, God is not our servant; rather, He is the master of the creation, who is also considerate of us, humans. He set the rules of the game, and we are responsible of the consequences, be them in this world or in the hereafter. So much so good in context of the destiny and free will. However, as I explained in the first point, not everything that befalls us is directly linked to our willful actions, such as in the case of the children in the examples above.

3. "God actually is preparing those individuals for the future rewards both in this world and in the hereafter." This explanation carries a notion of compassion and wisdom, although their manifestations may be in forms that are not comely to our comfort. So, it points at the fact that you must trust your Lord no matter what befalls you, which is another meaning of having faith in God. Again, although this explanation has a merit in its own context, and can be backed up through verses from the Quran (e.g. 18/60-82), it does not really explain the explicit language in the above-mentioned verses that blames the individuals for the evils ailing them.

4. "Those misfortunes could be avoiding even worse situations that could potentially happen." In this life, sometimes we want to achieve certain things like wealth, fame, success, but we don't know whether such achievements would lead us away from God and make us forget about the examination that is this life. In this case, God, who is not bound by time, may not give us the results as we would like them or when we would like them. Rather, He may hold them until we mature in our faith so that when He grants the expected results, we can employ those achievements as instruments to commit good deeds. However, until that point in life, things would look rather ugly, since no matter what you do, it seems that you can't get anywhere in life. Still, though, it is possible that you are never allowed by God to get to that point of achievement in this life due to weaknesses in your character or faith, and the lack of expected results despite your concentrated and consistent actions becomes a challenge for you. If you are patient, God can reward you in the afterlife, but here, you see nothing. Both cases can be discussed in more detail, and this kind of explanation has got its own merit. Among the four points discussed here, perhaps this last one is the closest one to giving a satisfactory explanation, because you can feel that what seems to be evil in the short run can actually be a manifestation of grace in the long run. Still, though, how can you explain the situation of the children who have done nothing wrong?

Considering all of the above, what could be a rationally, and if possible emotionally, satisfactory explanation for this intriguing verse from the Quran?

"What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil is from yourself." (4/79)