Short answer
God (﷾) allows suffering because this life is a test, not the reward. No pain a believer bears is wasted. The Qur'an says God (﷾) created death and life to test which of us is best in deed. Hardship tests our patience, and ease tests our thanks. We see only a small part of the picture, as the story of Moses and al-Khidr shows. Much suffering is done by people to people, because God (﷾) gave us a real choice. Animals are not forgotten either: the Qur'an says they too will be gathered to their Lord. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that even the prick of a thorn wipes away some of a believer's sins. And death does not close the account. On the Day of Judgment, when God (﷾) raises all people, every wrong is weighed, down to an atom's weight.
Full explanation
What the question takes for granted
The objection runs like this. A good God (﷾) would want to end suffering. An all-powerful God (﷾) could end it. Suffering exists. So God (﷾) is either not good, not all-powerful, or not there. This rests on a step that it never states. It assumes God (﷾) could have no good reason to allow suffering for a time. If He can have such reasons, even ones we cannot see, the argument fails. Even the Bible says, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, that God's (﷾) thoughts are not our thoughts. Islam then gives the reasons, from the Qur'an and from the Prophet (ﷺ).
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
A good God (﷾) would want to end suffering, an all-powerful God (﷾) could end it, and suffering exists.
So is God not good, not all-powerful, or not there?
That follows only if He could have no good reason to allow suffering for a time.
Has He given a reason?
Yes. He created death and life to test which of us is best in deed. Hardship tests patience, and ease tests thanks.
Why do people hurt people?
God (﷾) gave people a real choice. A test that no one could fail would not be a test at all.
What of the innocent who suffered?
Death does not close the account. Every wrong is weighed, down to an atom's weight.
Suffering is a test with a purpose, and every wrong will be put right.
This life is a test
The Qur'an says God (﷾) created death and life to test who is best in deed. It warns believers that they will be tested with fear, hunger and loss. It praises those who meet the test by saying "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return". It says no one is left alone merely for saying "We believe". It says the test comes through good as well as evil. Ease tests gratitude, as pain tests patience. In this life, patience and courage are shown in the face of hardship. Mercy and generosity are shown to people in need. A life with no hardship would give no chance to show them. The one who suffers is not a tool for others: his own patience is counted for him.
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-”
“Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return":- They are those on whom (Descend) blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.”
“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested?”
“Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial. to Us must ye return.”
We do not see the whole picture
The Qur'an says a person may dislike what is good for him and love what is bad for him. The reason is that God (﷾) knows and we do not. That verse was revealed about fighting. But its last words hold for every hardship. Some reply that if we cannot see God's (﷾) reasons, we cannot call anything wrong or try to stop it. That does not follow. Our duty comes from God's (﷾) command, not from guessing His plans. He commands us to relieve suffering, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said there is reward for kindness to every living thing. Others ask why God (﷾) does not tell each sufferer His reason. He has told us the reasons that matter most: this life is a test, and every wrong is put right.
“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) told of a thirsty man who drank from a well, then saw a dog licking mud from thirst. He climbed down again, filled his shoe with water and gave the dog a drink, and God thanked him and forgave him. Asked whether there is reward for kindness to animals, the Prophet said there is reward for kindness to every living thing.
Moses and al-Khidr
The Qur'an tells a story. Moses, a prophet of God (﷾), travels with a servant of God (﷾). A hadith, a recorded saying of the Prophet (ﷺ), names this servant al-Khidr. He damages a poor crew's boat, kills a boy, and rebuilds a wall for a town that refused them food. Moses objects each time, and by all he can see he is right. Then the reasons are given. A king was seizing every boat by force. The boy would have grieved his believing parents with rebellion and ingratitude. A treasure for two orphans lay under the wall. What looked like cruelty hid a mercy that Moses could not see. Al-Khidr says he did none of it of his own accord. He acted on God's (﷾) command. So the story does not allow anyone to harm others, and the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade the killing of children, even in war. It teaches the believer to trust God's (﷾) wisdom when he cannot see it. But it gives the reason for this one boy only. It tells no parent why his own child died, and it says nothing against any child. In a dream shown to him, the Prophet (ﷺ) saw children who had died young in a garden, in the care of Abraham.
“So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. Said Moses: "Hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing hast thou done!" He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?" Moses said: "Rebuke me not for forgetting, nor grieve me by raising difficulties in my case." Then they proceeded: until, when they met a young man, he slew him. Moses said: "Hast thou slain an innocent person who had slain none? Truly a foul (unheard of) thing hast thou done!" He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?" (Moses) said: "If ever I ask thee about anything after this, keep me not in thy company: then wouldst thou have received (full) excuse from my side." Then they proceeded: until, when they came to the inhabitants of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused them hospitality. They found there a wall on the point of falling down, but he set it up straight. (Moses) said: "If thou hadst wished, surely thou couldst have exacted some recompense for it!"”
“"As for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water: I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized on every boat by force. "As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man). "So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct) and closer in affection. "As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was, beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their treasure - a mercy (and favour) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience."”
Ubayy ibn Ka'b reports the Prophet's (ﷺ) account of Moses travelling with al-Khidr to learn from him.
Samura ibn Jundub reports a long dream the Prophet (ﷺ) told his Companions. Two angels showed him, among other things, a very tall man in a garden with a great many children around him. They told him the man was Abraham, and the children were every child who died upon the fitra, the natural disposition God gave mankind. Some Muslims asked: and the children of the idolaters? He said: and the children of the idolaters.
Ibn Umar reports that a woman was found killed during one of the Prophet's (ﷺ) campaigns, and the Prophet forbade the killing of women and children.
Free choice makes wrong done by people possible
Much of the world's worst suffering is done by people to people. War is one example, and cruelty in the home is another. The Qur'an says God (﷾) showed man the way, whether he is grateful or ungrateful. It says whoever wills may believe, and whoever wills may reject. God (﷾) could have made people who were never able to do wrong. But this life is a test of who is best in deed. A test that no one could fail would not be a test at all. Some ask why God (﷾) did not make people who always freely choose good, as the people of Paradise will. Paradise comes after the test, not in place of it. Its people chose God (﷾) when they could have turned away.
“We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will).”
“Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!”
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-”
What about animals?
Animals suffer too, and they suffered long before any human lived. Islam does not say that an animal's pain is a test. It says other things. The Qur'an says every creature that walks or flies lives in communities like ours, and that all of them will be gathered to their Lord. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that on the Day of Judgment, when all are raised and judged, every right will be given back to its owner. Even a sheep with no horns will get its due from a sheep with horns. Reason adds a point of its own. Pain is a warning system that keeps living things alive. An animal that felt no pain would not learn to keep away from fire. People born unable to feel pain are often badly hurt without knowing it. This does not explain every single pain, and it is not offered as proof of God (﷾). It only shows that pain, as such, has a purpose, so we should be slow to call all of it pointless. An animal's pain can still be a test for the people who see it. The Prophet (ﷺ) told of a man forgiven for giving water to a thirsty dog. He also told of a woman who entered the Fire, that is Hell, because she kept a cat tied up without food. She had no right over that life. God (﷾) gave every creature its life, and He will give every right back.
“There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: on the Day of Resurrection every right will be given back to the one it belongs to, so that even the hornless sheep will take its due from the horned sheep.
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) told of a thirsty man who drank from a well, then saw a dog licking mud from thirst. He climbed down again, filled his shoe with water and gave the dog a drink, and God thanked him and forgave him. Asked whether there is reward for kindness to animals, the Prophet said there is reward for kindness to every living thing.
Ibn Umar reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said a woman entered the Fire because of a cat she kept tied up, neither feeding it nor letting it go to find its own food.
Calling suffering evil needs a standard of good
The objection can be meant in two ways. It may test whether the believer's own beliefs hang together, and the sections above answer it in that form. Or the unbeliever may be saying that the world holds real evil. Then a further question comes up. Many atheist philosophers hold that right and wrong are real without God (﷾). But they must still say what makes cruelty truly wrong, and not just a fact of nature that hurts. Islam's answer is that the soul's Maker placed in it the knowledge of right and wrong.
“By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;-”
What the New Testament says
James, who wrote a letter in the New Testament, tells believers to count their trials as joy, because testing their faith makes them patient. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, writes that all things work together for good for those who love God (﷾). Christians read these verses as teaching that suffering is a trial with a purpose.
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Every wrong is put right
The complaint is strongest when it points to the innocent who suffered and the guilty who died in comfort. But that assumes death closes the account. The Qur'an says God (﷾) will set up scales of justice on the Day of Judgment, the day when all people are raised and judged. No soul will be wronged in the least. It also says that anyone who has done an atom's weight of good or evil will see it. So the child who died young and the victim whose killer was never caught will each have full justice.
“We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account.”
“Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.”
No pain of the believer is wasted
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that no tiredness, illness, grief or harm reaches a Muslim, not even the prick of a thorn. Each time, God (﷾) wipes away some of his sins by it. He also said that everything that happens to a believer is good for him. In ease he gives thanks, in hardship he is patient, and both are good for him. And the Qur'an promises that hardship never comes alone. With every difficulty there is relief.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abu Hurayra report that the Prophet (ﷺ) said no tiredness, illness, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress reaches a Muslim, not even the prick of a thorn, without Allah wiping away some of his sins because of it.
Suhayb reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said the affair of the believer is wonderful, for there is good for him in all of it, and this is so for no one but the believer: if something pleasing happens he gives thanks, and that is good for him; if hardship strikes he is patient, and that is good for him.
“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.”
Grief is not a lack of faith
When Ibrahim, the infant son of the Prophet (ﷺ), was dying, his eyes filled with tears. He said that the eyes weep and the heart grieves, but we say only what pleases our Lord. The prophet Jacob was parted from his son Joseph for years. He said that he complained of his sorrow only to God (﷾). Suffering does not by itself show that God (﷾) is angry with someone. The Qur'an tells how the prophet Job cried to his Lord in distress, and God (﷾) removed it as a mercy from Himself. A believer may weep and bring his complaint to God (﷾). What he does not do is turn away from Him.
Anas reports that the Prophet's (ﷺ) infant son Ibrahim was in his last breaths, and the Prophet's eyes filled with tears. Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf asked in surprise whether even he wept. He answered that this was mercy. Then he wept more and said that the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, but we say only what pleases our Lord, and that they were saddened by Ibrahim's parting.
“He said: "I only complain of my distraction and anguish to Allah, and I know from Allah that which ye know not”
“And (remember) Job, when He cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me, but Thou art the Most Merciful of those that are merciful." So We listened to him: We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his people to him, and doubled their number,- as a Grace from Ourselves, and a thing for commemoration, for all who serve Us.”
The strongest reply: the fawn in the fire
Rowe, "The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism" (1979)
Argues that a good and all-powerful God would prevent any suffering He could stop without losing a greater good or allowing an equal or worse evil. He imagines a fawn burned in a forest fire started by lightning, lying in agony for days before it dies, and holds that we have rational grounds to believe such suffering serves no such good, and so to believe that the God of traditional belief does not exist. He grants that a believer with stronger reasons to believe in God may reasonably reject his starting point, and calls this the theist's best reply. In the same paper he names his own view, that some believers are rational to believe in God, "friendly atheism".
Cited for
Neither free choice nor a test can explain a fawn burned in a fire that lightning started. No one chose it, and no one learns from it. We can see no good this pain serves, so it is reasonable to believe it serves none. And if some pain serves no good, there is no God who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful.
The response
This page does not say the fawn's pain is a test, or the result of anyone's choice. Rowe's step is from "we see no reason" to "there probably is none". That step works only if we would expect to see the reason, were there one. With a God who knows all, we would not expect that. Rowe himself granted that a believer with good reasons to believe in God (﷾) may reasonably reject his starting point. And the fawn is not forgotten. Animals are gathered to their Lord, and His mercy is far greater than any we see.
Where it lands — Not seeing a reason is evidence of none only if we should expect to see it, and with God (﷾) we should not. Rowe granted that a believer with good reasons for God (﷾) may reasonably reject his starting point.
Perspectives
Buddhist
Suffering needs no God to explain it. Craving causes it, and the Buddha's answer is to end craving and to meet others' pain with boundless compassion.
The Buddha's first sermon explains suffering by craving, so there is no question of why a God allows it.
Rebuttal
Craving explains much of the pain we bring on ourselves. It does not explain a child born sick. The Pali texts trace that to the child's own deeds in a past life that the child cannot remember.
Buddhism answers suffering with compassion for all beings, as a mother would protect her only child.
Rebuttal
The same texts say no being can be found, only suffering that comes and goes, and that 'being' is just a name, as 'chariot' is. But compassion needs someone to love. The Qur'an says God (﷾) created each person, and that saving one life is like saving all mankind.
Secular
The amount and kind of suffering in the world is hard to fit with a God who is both all-good and all-powerful. This is most true of animals that suffer unseen, where no one can learn from it. It makes more sense, they say, if there is no such God.
The philosopher William Rowe argued that a good and all-powerful God would stop any suffering He could. The only exception is suffering He could not stop without losing a greater good, or allowing an equal or worse evil. His example is an imagined fawn, burned in a forest fire started by lightning, lying in agony for days. We see no good this serves, so Rowe held that it is reasonable to believe there is none. He concluded that it is reasonable to believe the God of traditional belief does not exist.
Rebuttal
Grant that we see no reason. That shows little, since we should not expect to see every reason of One who knows all. Rowe himself granted that a believer with good reasons to believe in God (﷾) may reasonably reject his starting point.
Animals suffered and died for hundreds of millions of years before any human lived. So their pain cannot be a test for humans. In 1860 Charles Darwin wrote that he could not believe a good and all-powerful God had designed wasps that feed inside living caterpillars.
Rebuttal
Islam does not say every animal's pain is a test, whether for humans or for the animal. The test is the reason it gives for human suffering. Of animals, the Qur'an says they live in communities, and will be gathered to their Lord. A wasp is not cruel. And the same nature holds the mercy that makes a mare lift her hoof away from her foal. In the same letter, Darwin said he could not be content to conclude that the universe is the result of brute force.
Christian
Trials test and strengthen faith, and God works all things together for good for those who love Him.
James teaches that the testing of faith produces patience, so trials should be counted as joy.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that hardship is a test, and the Qur'an praises those who meet it with patience. But a believer's own trials are only part of the question. The Qur'an goes on to animals, which are gathered to their Lord, and to every wrong, which is weighed.
Paul writes that all things work together for good for those who love God.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that good comes to the believer out of hardship, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said so. But Paul also teaches that death passed to all through one man's sin. The Qur'an says no soul bears another's burden, so no child is punished for Adam's sin.
Hindu: each soul reaps its own deeds
Vedanta teaches that the Lord is not cruel when people suffer. He gives each soul the results of its own past deeds, and the cycle of births has no beginning.
The Lord cannot be blamed for unfairness or cruelty, because He takes account of each soul's good and bad deeds. In the same way rain falls alike on every seed.
Rebuttal
That moves the question back without answering it. Each deed came from an earlier birth, and Shankara says the round has no beginning, so no first deed ever explains the first pain. A newborn suffers for deeds it cannot remember. The Qur'an gives one life as a test, and a full account at its end, where no soul bears another's burden.
Jain: karma, with no one sending it
Jainism teaches that all suffering is the fruit of the soul's own karma. No God sends it, and no one can share it or bear it for another.
No one shares another's suffering, because karma follows the one who did the deed. No one escapes the results of his own actions.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that no one bears another's burden. But a newborn's pain cannot come from its own deeds in this life. So karma has to reach back to lives no one remembers, which means paying a debt without knowing what it is for. The Qur'an says life itself is a test of who does best. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said that even the prick of a thorn wipes away some of a believer's sins.
Shinto: misfortune is impurity to be cleansed
In Shinto, sickness and disaster count as tsumi and kegare, kinds of uncleanness. Cleansing rites called harae clear them away, so that life can go on in harmony with the kami, the spirits.
Sickness and calamity are a kind of impurity, and purification rites can wash them away.
Rebuttal
Sickness is not a stain on the soul but a trial, and patience in it is rewarded. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that even the prick of a thorn wipes away some of a believer's sins. The Qur'an gives good news to those who say, when disaster strikes: to Allah (﷾) we belong, and to Him we return.
Daoist: Heaven and earth are not kind
The Tao Te Ching says Heaven and earth do not act out of any wish to be kind. They treat all things like straw dogs, which are used in a rite and then thrown away. Suffering is part of the turning of things, and should be met calmly.
Heaven and earth do not act out of any wish to be kind. They treat all things as straw dogs.
Rebuttal
If Heaven and earth have no wish to be kind, then no one hears the one who suffers, and patience has no reward. The Qur'an says the opposite. God (﷾) tests people with bad and with good. He gives good news to the patient. And all return to Him, where not even an atom's weight of good is lost.
Confucian: keep to virtue and stand in awe of Heaven
Confucius met danger and hardship by holding on to goodness. A person of good character stands in awe of what Heaven commands. He trusts that Heaven, which gave him his goodness, will not let enemies destroy it.
A person of good character stands in awe of what Heaven commands. Heaven gave him his goodness, so what can his enemies do to him?
Rebuttal
Then Confucius already trusted that Heaven sees and protects the good. Islam says so too, and says more. Hardship is a test from God (﷾), patience in it is rewarded, and every wrong is weighed on the Day of Judgment. The Analects does not say what happens to a good person who dies wronged. The Qur'an does.
Chinese tradition: misfortune from neglected spirits
In Chinese popular religion, sickness and bad luck may come from hungry spirits who have no one to feed them. Families offer them paper money, food and incense to keep them content. They pray at temples for good luck.
Misfortune can come from spirits who are not cared for, so offerings and temple prayers keep it away.
Rebuttal
Nothing harms anyone except by God's (﷾) leave, so it is to Him that we should turn. The Qur'an says that if Allah (﷾) touches you with harm, no one can remove it but Him. And it teaches people to seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn from the evil of what He created.
The Islamic perspective
Suffering does not show that God (﷾) is absent. This life is a test and not the reward. We see only part of the picture. No pain of the believer is wasted, as the Prophet (ﷺ) taught. And every wrong is set right on the Day of Judgment.
The argument from suffering takes something for granted without showing it. It assumes God (﷾) could have no good reason to allow suffering for a time.
The Qur'an states that God (﷾) created death and life to test who is best in deed. It says the test comes by hardship and by good.
The story of Moses and al-Khidr teaches that events which look cruel can hide a mercy we cannot see.
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said even the prick of a thorn wipes away some of a believer's sins.
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said everything that befalls a believer is good for him, through gratitude or patience.
Every injustice is weighed on the Day of Judgment, down to an atom's weight.
Real moral choice requires that people be able to choose evil, which accounts for suffering people cause each other.
The Qur'an says animals live in communities like ours and will be gathered to their Lord. The Prophet (ﷺ) said every right will be given back, even between animals.
Calling suffering objectively evil appeals to a standard of good that unbelief struggles to ground.