The Divine Wisdom in Creating People Differently.Part1

Why did God create us with different levels of provision and intelligence, lifestyle and physiology? Why does He allow hardship and poverty amidst ease and luxury? Such questions, besides relating to Destiny, also have some bearing on understanding the Divine way of acting.

We Must Try To Know God. Before discussing this issue, we should point out that all such questions arise from not knowing the Divine Being. If we had as much desire to learn everything about God as we do about a movie star or a sports figure, if we had access to the necessary resources from which we could learn something about our Master, if we studied the Book of the Universe according to the criteria established by the Qur’an, and if we followed the principles preached by the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, to establish a true life—if we did all of this, we could discern the immaterial dimension of things and events through the prism of our conscience. If we could reach that level, we would not need to ask such questions. But as long as science isolates itself from religion and healthy meditation is replaced by mechanical life and mass information, we will continue to ask such questions and find it hard to know our Creator.

God Controls Everything and Does as He Wishes. Consider our claims of ownership and control over what we regard as our property. What share do we have in producing the food we consume? Each morsel of food requires the existence of the entire universe. Given this, and if we can claim ownership and control over our private property in which we have so little share, why should God, the Creator and unique Owner of the universe and all of its contents, not have complete control of His property?

God Almighty’s Names Have Different Manifestations. The Name All-Providing supplies beings with what they need to live, the Name All-Healing enables patients to recover, and the Name All-Answering comes to the aid of the needy. He warns the heedless with His Name All-Distressing, and relieves the distressed with His Name All-Relieving. If we study the manifestations of God’s Names, we can see the beauty in the variety they bring about in the universe, and understand the wisdom underlying the differences in creation. God makes Himself known by manifesting His Names. For example, flowers smile at us as the result of the manifestation of His Names originating in His Grace, while natural catastrophes remind us of His Wrath as the manifestation of His Names originating in His Majesty.

Everything Is God’s Blessing. We cannot question God Almighty for what He gives or does not give. Remember that God did not create you as a lifeless element, a plant or an animal, but as a human being. Also, just as there always are people who are wealthier and healthier than you, there also are people who are poorer and sicker than you. So, with respect to wealth and health, consider those who are poorer and sicker than you. With respect to honesty and morality, learning and altruism, truthfulness and generosity, and so on, emulate those who are better than you.

Suppose a rich person gives three destitute people an apartment, a large detached house, and a palace, respectively. Does the one who is given an apartment have the right to ask the rich person why he was not given a detached house or a palace? Should he not, rather, thank his benefactor for the apartment? Similarly, all that we have is from God. Thus, whether we are rich or poor, sound or disabled, healthy or sick, we are obliged to thank God.

We Plant Here and Harvest in the Hereafter. This world is an arena of trial, a place where we seek to acquire the state appropriate for the other life. This is not easy. Like a tailor designing the best possible suit for a client by cutting and stitching the material and then having the client try it on, God Almighty causes us to “turn about” in diverse conditions to “shape” us for the afterlife.

We are like raw minerals that have to be refined. Just as there are many types of minerals, our social life requires that we have different levels of intelligence, physical strength, and sensitivity. Depending upon the final product desired, whether gold or diamonds, coal or copper, different (and more exacting and demanding) processes and methods must be applied to the raw mineral. Similarly, each of us may need a different test, trial, or training to be refined and reach our destined final level of attainment. This means that God subjects each of us to different levels of suffering and affliction to elevate us to a state appropriate for the other world.

This world is also the realm of trouble. When God warned Adam not to eat of the forbidden tree, He reminded him:

Adam, surely this [Satan] is an enemy to you and your wife. So let him not expel you both from the Garden, so that you are unprosperous. It is assuredly given to you neither to hunger therein nor to go naked, neither to thirst therein, nor to suffer the sun. (20:117–19)