Why does God allow so many innocent children die in Africa every day?

By • Feb 9th, 2011 • Category: Questions and Answers

Q: If God is Just and Compassionate, why does He allow so many innocent children die in Africa every day due to malnutrition and starvation? What have these helpless kids done to deserve this horrible fate?

A: We cannot blame God for malnutrition and starvation around the world. God has created sufficient resources on planet earth to sustain our livelihood. There is no shortage of resources to produce the necessary food stuff to feed the world’s population. Malnutrition is a byproduct of poverty; and poverty is caused by unequal distribution of income and wealth. So, malnutrition is not due to insufficient resources (God-made), but rather unequal distribution (man-made).

It was God’s destiny for the humankind to have ‘will’, and to manage their affairs rationally and justly. As such, we cannot expect God to micro-manage the human affairs. If God were to take care of the individual and social affairs of humankind, then humans would be reduced to robots (creatures with no choice and responsibility). God’s destiny for the human race was for us to have ‘will’, so we can make choices (individually and collectively as a society). Unfortunately, we often make bad choices- with terrible consequences for ourselves and others.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “there is a sufficiency in the world for man’s needs, but not for man’s greed.” It is man’s greed that creates so much misery and hardship for the vulnerable social classes.

‘Justice’ is the bedrock of social values in Islam. God mandates Muslims to fight for social justice, and to eradicate unequal distribution of wealth and resources so there will not be poverty, malnutrition and hunger.

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