Abstract
AbstractViewing hardship through the Western tradition of theodicy, Western theologians and philosophers sometimes approach their Muslim neighbors with questions about the Islamic perspective on suffering. But merely by asking about “suffering,” these Western friends already project a theological category foreign to most Muslims, particularly those from a non-Western background. In order for Christian and post-Christian Westerners to understand the Islamic approach to hardship, they must first learn to distinguish between affliction and suffering. This requires a careful look at the creation narratives each tradition tells: for example, does God initiate human affliction? And what does the answer to this question say about the nature of affliction, if God is also good? Answering these queries helps one to distinguish Christian and Islamic responses to catastrophe, pain, and even violence. Furthermore, examining the koranic reply may redirect Western persons to teachings within the biblical tradition, which Christians often overlook or avoid. The instrumental role of affliction is relatively unpopular in the West, but dialogue with Islam uncovers the fact that it is a concept neither alien nor unimportant to biblical teaching. In fact, God’s repurposing of affliction is vital to Christian doctrine. Dialogue with Islam may help to recover this Christian lesson.
Highlights
Viewing hardship through the Western tradition of theodicy, Western theologians and philosophers sometimes approach their Muslim neighbors with questions about the Islamic perspective on suffering
In order for Christian and post-Christian Westerners to understand the Islamic approach to hardship, they must first learn to distinguish between affliction and suffering
This requires a careful look at the creation narratives each tradition tells: for example, does God initiate human affliction? And what does the answer to this question say about the nature of affliction, if God is good? Answering these queries helps one to distinguish Christian and Islamic responses to catastrophe, pain, and even violence
Summary
The Islamic response to affliction is consistently submissive because Muslims believe that God’s authoritative relationship to such experiences remains constant. They assume that their own God is of love and of life, whereas “Allah” is of judgment and of death.[33] These attempts at demarcation grotesquely misrepresent Islam; they betray Christianity. The strong Western assumption – a cultural instinct – that human individuals or communities can independently determine which experiences are good and which evil did not develop until the Enlightenment (Keller, Walking With God, 64–109; Taylor, Secular Age, 539–93) It is more post-Christian than it is Christian. Merciful God of life, who is simultaneously no stranger to judgment and death Based on their conviction that God is confronting evil in the world, Christians rightly reject the notion that all affliction comes from him (cf Jn 10.10). Jesus elects to become life for all who believe (1 Cor 1.18ff)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
