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)