Dear David,
Your question reminds me of the old Mutazalite/Asharite [Free will vs.
Predestination] debate. There is a story associated with al-Asharite's
breaking away from his Mutazalite teacher. You can read it hear:
al-Ashari posed to his teacher the cases of three brothers whose
fates or final destinations were totally different. The first brother
lived and died as a believer. The second brother lived and died as a
non-believer or an infidel. The third brother died when he was still
small or minor.
The first brother was going to the Paradise because he chose to become
the faithful or the believer and he did the good deeds. So the case of
first brother was in line with the Mutazilite concept of free will and
the Mutazilite concept of God's doing the better and the best things
for human beings. God surely rewards the believer with the good and
better life in the Paradise. In this case, the first brother is in the
Paradise because of his good faith and good deeds.
The second brother is going to be in the Hell because he chose to
disbelieve and did the evil deeds. He is in Hell because of his choice
and free will. He chose and did the evil faith and deeds and the
unavoidable consequence of his choice is the Hell in the hereafter.
For the second brother, al-Asharite asked his teacher, what was the
better or best thing that God did to him? God permitted the second
brother to live and die as an infidel and then to be in the Hell. His
teacher replied that God punishes the second brother because he
chooses the evil faith and deeds in his life in this world. God is
just and His justice makes Him punish the wrong doer and reward the
good doer.
The third brother is neither in the Paradise nor in the Hell because
he did not have enough time to become a believer like his first
brother or to become an infidel like his second brother. Again, al-
Ashari asked his teacher, what was the better and best thing that God
did to the third brother? His teacher replied that God knows the best
for him to die when he was still small or minor because if the third
brother were to grow up, he would become an infidel or a non-believer
like his second brother. Hence, it is better for the third brother to
die when he was still small or minor.
Al-Ashari said that why did God prolong the life of the second brother
even though God knows that he grew up and old and died as an infidel?
Being an infidel is not good for the second brother. If the Mutazilite
concept of God's doing the better and the best things for human beings
was true, as the Mutaziltes claimed, there would be no single infidel
living in this world since an infidel is not good to live in this
world. In the hereafter, an infidel is going to be in the Hell. God
must make all human beings believers because the final rewards for the
believers are surely the Paradise in the hereafter, if the Mutazilite
concept of God's doing the better and the best things for human beings
is an acceptable and reliable concept. In reality, infidels or non-
believers are more than believers living in this world. Hence, the
Mutazilite concept of God's doing the better and the best things for
human beings does not agree with human history in this world.
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_____________
Ultimately these are imponderables, we cannot know the answers any
more than we can understand God's unknowable essence. What we do know
is His will for us as revealed through His Manifestations. And that is
what we are responsible for.
warmest, Susan
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