This question is the very base of every religion. Let us see if Islam is able to give any satisfactory answer to it or not.
The person in the video asked Zakir Naik:
- Allah said in the Quran that he put humans to the test, and as a result, the MAJORITY of mankind will fail, and will land in hell, and will suffer eternal punishment.
- But why should Allah do that? This proves only this thing that Allah is sadistic, who 'intentionally' created and then put humans to a test, despite knowing that the majority of them will suffer eternally in hellfire.
Zakir Naik came up with this excuse:
- It was not Allah who put humans to a test, but it was humans themselves who chose a test for themselves.
- And we humans were FOOLS who made that choice.
- Thus, Allah cannot be held responsible for this choice of humans.
The First Proof by Zakir Naik:
Then Zakir Naik presented the following verse as his proof:
Quran 7:172:
And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware."
So, this verse claims that:
- Allah took the promise (to accept him as Lord and to worship him alone) from all humans before their BIRTH.
- Then they were made to forget this promise when they were sent into this world.
- And then they will be reminded of this promise again, only after their death.
Therefore, the question is, whatever happened before the birth, or whatever will happen after the death, why Allah is taking a TEST on its basis in this world?
It would have only become a TEST if Allah had appeared in this LIFE to all humans, and then he would have put humans to a test that whoever “intentionally” disobeys him, then he should be put in eternal fire.
For example, according to the Islamic story, Allah appeared to Iblees (i.e. Lucifer/Satan). And Iblees was not caused to forget Allah, but still he “intentionally” disobeyed Allah. In such a case, one can understand why Iblees will be put in hell.
But the case of humans is totally different from Iblees, and it has absolutely no justification:
- There are thousands of people who are born into non-Muslim families. And Allah never appeared to them openly as it appeared to Iblees. Thus, under the influence of their families, 99.99% of these people never accepted Allah and remained non-Muslims.
- And millions of non-Muslims TRUTHFULLY try to find out the real God, but Islam has so many problematic and controversial and anti-humanity teachings, that they had to reject Islam due to their 'True Intentions'.
What to talk about non-Muslims, there are millions of ex-Muslims who were firmly believing and practising Muslims. But they also felt the pain of Humanity. When they tried to find God with true hearts, then their search took them to the conclusion that there exists no Allah in the heavens, and Muhammad was making revelations on his own. Thus, they left Islam and Allah.
Islam claims:
إنما الأعمال بالنيات
(Verily, the reward of deeds depends on the intentions)
But here we see a clear contradiction. Instead of being judged on the basis of my “True Intentions”, I am called an APOSTATE. And Islam wants me to be killed in this life, and then Allah put me in eternal hellfire, neglecting all the good deeds that I did for mankind. These are Double Standards and injustice.
PS:
Please also understand the reason Muhammad had to claim the revelation of this verse 7:172.
It is not only today people ask the questions of why Allah created us, and why put us to a test, but the people of Muhammad's era were also asking the same questions to Muhammad.
Thus, Muhammad tried to answer these 2 questions, by using his own arguments, in the form of revelation. Let us see the next verses so that it becomes clear to us:
[Quran, Chapter 7, Verses 172 to 178]
And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware." Or you may say, “It is our ancestors who first ascribed partners (to Allah) and we were (their) children after them; so will You destroy us on account of the deeds of the followers of falsehood (i.e. our ancestors)?” ... Whomever Allah guides – only he is on the right path; and whomever He sends astray – it is they who are the losers. And indeed We have created many jinns and men for hell; they have hearts in which their is no understanding; and the eyes they do not see with; and the ears they do not hear with;
Muhammad was only a human, and thus we can easily see here faults in Muhammad's arguments, i.e:
- If it is Allah himself who guides few to the right path, and others to the wrong path, then why those humans are going to be punished who were sent to the wrong path by Allah himself?
- And when Allah claims that indeed he predestined that MOST of the humans and jinns will suffer under eternal hellfire, then why did he create and put them to a test, except that he is sadistic?
Please also note that this is a Meccan Surah when a huge majority rejected Muhammad as a prophet, and only a few believed him. This is the main reason why Muhammad/Allah claimed that the majority of people are the fuel of hellfire.
The Second Proof by Zakir Naik:
Then Zakir Naik presented the following verse about a test, and claimed that humans were themselves fools for agreeing to take this test:
Quran 33:72:
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا ٱلْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱلْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا
We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and were afraid of doing so; but man carried it. Surely he is a tyrant and ignorant.
We can see that Muhammad is again trying to give a justification for why humans were put to a test. But the problem is, again this argument proves that Allah is himself a culprit, instead of humans, while:
- Why humans agreed to carry this trust?
- According to this verse, it is Allah himself who created humans as Tyrants and Ignorant (i.e. fools in the words of Zakir Naik)
- Therefore, if it was the work of Allah himself to create humans as tyrants and ignorant, then the real culprit is again Allah. And humans are not at fault here, and thus they should not be unjustly punished for this.
This shows the 'absolute failure' of Muhammad to bring a single logical argument for putting humans to the test, despite knowing that their huge majority will land in hell and will suffer the fire for eternity. How can making humans ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا tyrant and ignorant save Allah from the allegation of being sadistic?
And the jinns are not even the “Best of Creations اشرفُ المخلوقات”, and their majority too will still land in the hellfire for eternity.
Quran 7.179:
وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ
And indeed We have created majority of jinns and men for hell
Poor jinns.