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Many people, especially those worn down by suffering and injustice, ask about Allah’s justice: if Allah exists and is just, why does He permit all this injustice? And why does He not punish tyrants the moment they commit wrong? This objection is both old and new. Believers throughout history have faced it when they saw tyrants such as Pharaoh, the Umayyads and others persist in their tyranny without swift retribution. The suffering, oppressed person is left bewildered: where is divine justice in all that is happening? Has Allah become heedless of what the wrongdoers do? Or is the delay in punishment proof, Allah forbid, that justice is absent or that there is no God at all? [CHECK: “God” kept here as the generic noun الإله in the sceptic’s question, not the name الله]
It is important to address these questions with honest reasoning and a compassionate spirit. A person wounded by injustice is not looking only for an intellectual answer, but for a meaning that calms the heart and connects it to a justice greater than human injustice. Belief in Allah does not mean denying that injustice and pain exist; it means trusting that this injustice has a wider context and a divine wisdom that may be hidden from us. In what follows we will set out the wisdom behind Allah’s delaying the punishment of wrongdoers, drawing on rational and Quranic evidence and on the narrations transmitted from the Ahl al-Bayt (the Household of the Prophet) (peace be upon them), to show that granting the wrongdoer respite is not heedlessness on Allah’s part, but part of His just way (sunna), and a mercy and wisdom that may become manifest with the passage of time or in the Hereafter.
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The Beauty of Evil
Does evil have a beautiful face? A journey that uncovers the secret of trials and their purposes, inspired by the book *Beyond Evil* (*Mā Warāʾ al-Sharr*) by Shaykh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī. [CHECK: confirm the established English title of the book, if one exists]
Divine Respite in the Quran: Mercy and Justice
The Holy Quran affirms that delaying the punishment of wrongdoers is not a sign of approval of them, but a respite granted with wisdom and mercy. The Exalted says: ﴿وَرَبُّكَ الْغَفُورُ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِۖ لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُمْ بِمَا كَسَبُوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ الْعَذَابَۚ بَلْ لَهُمْ مَوْعِدٌ لَنْ يَجِدُوا مِن دُونِهِ مَوْئِلًا﴾ “Your Lord is the All-Forgiving, Possessor of mercy. Were He to take them to task for what they have earned, He would hasten the punishment for them. Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no refuge.”
This verse shows clearly that Allah, through His forgiveness and mercy, does not hasten to punish His creatures despite their deserving it; for if He did, no one would remain on the face of the earth. The same meaning appears in His words: ﴿وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى﴾ “Were Allah to take people to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave upon it a single creature; but He defers them to an appointed term.”
If Allah destroyed every wrongdoer immediately, most of humanity would perish. His granting people respite is therefore a mercy that preserves the human race and an opportunity for repentance and reform.
The delay of punishment may be a divine opportunity for self-reckoning. Allah grants the sinner respite so that he might turn back from his error. The Quran has drawn attention to the appearance of the effects of corruption because of people’s wronging of themselves, in order to awaken them so that they might repent: ﴿ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِما كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ﴾ “Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what people’s hands have earned, that He may make them taste some of what they have done, so that they may return.”
That is, some general trials are a warning bell for the wrongdoer to turn back from his wrongdoing. Not hastening the punishment is a space for reform and a mercy from Allah before the seizing grows severe.
But this mercy does not mean the absence of justice. The Exalted says, reassuring the oppressed and warning the wrongdoers: ﴿وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظّالِمُونَۚ إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الْأَبْصَارُ﴾ “Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only defers them to a Day on which eyes will stare in horror.”
The delay is fixed to an appointed time from which they will not escape. On the Day of Reckoning, rights will be exacted in full and the scales of justice will be set up, so that every wrongdoer receives his recompense without escape. The postponement, then, is neither neglect nor acceptance of injustice, but part of the system by which the human being is tested, and a fruit of Allah’s names “the Patient” (al-Ṣabūr) and “the Forbearing” (al-Ḥalīm), who does not hasten to punish His servants.
The Way of Istidrāj: When Respite Is a Punishment for the Wrongdoer
On the other hand, Allah the Exalted has warned that granting the wrongdoer respite may be a kind of hidden punishment called istidrāj (gradual drawing-on to ruin). Istidrāj means that blessings are lavished upon the wrongdoer despite his sins, so that he thinks his condition is good, while in reality he is being led towards a greater punishment that will come upon him unawares. The Exalted says: ﴿وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَروا أَنَّما نُمْلِي لَهُمْ خَيْرٌ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْۚ إِنَّما نُمْلِي لَهُمْ لِيَزْدادُوا إِثْمًاۚ وَلَهُمْ عَذابٌ مُهينٌ﴾ “Let not those who disbelieve think that Our granting them respite is good for themselves. We only grant them respite so that they may increase in sin, and for them is a humiliating punishment.”
Some tyrants think that Allah’s lengthening of their lives and expanding of their provision is a sign of His pleasure, but in reality it is a respite (imlāʾ) that lets their sins accumulate until they deserve a more severe and humiliating punishment in the end. It is reported that Imam ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā (peace be upon him) said: «واللهِ ما عَذَّبَهُمُ اللهُ بشيءٍ أشدَّ من الإملاء» “By Allah, Allah has not punished them with anything more severe than respite.”
That is, the wrongdoer has not been punished with anything like Allah’s granting him respite and extending to him provision and opportunities while he continues in his tyranny. Respite in itself may be the most severe kind of punishment, when the wrongdoer is left to persist until he falls into the pit of his own destruction by his own hand.
The narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have explained the meaning of istidrāj clearly. Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the meaning of “istidrāj”, and he said: «هو العبدُ يُذنبُ الذنبَ، فيُمْلى له ويُجَدَّدُ له عندها النِّعَم، فتُلهِيهِ عن الاستغفار من الذنوب، فهو مُستدرَجٌ من حيثُ لا يعلم» “It is the servant who commits a sin, and he is granted respite, and blessings are renewed for him at that point, so that they distract him from seeking forgiveness for his sins; thus he is being drawn on from where he does not know.”
So you see the wrongdoer going ever deeper into sin while Allah lavishes worldly blessings upon him, and he is deceived and loses any sense of needing to repent. In another hadith: «إذا رأيتَ اللهَ عزَّ وجلَّ يُعطي العبدَ من الدنيا على معاصيه ما يُحبّ، فإنما هو استدراج» “If you see Allah, Mighty and Majestic, giving a servant what he loves of this world despite his sins, it is only istidrāj.”
That is, it is a sign of a divine stratagem against the wrongdoer that seizes him unawares. The Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī (peace be upon him), said words to this effect: يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِذَا رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ سُبْحَانَهُ يُتَابِعُ عَلَيْكَ نِعَمَهُ وَ أَنْتَ تَعْصِيهِ فَاحْذَرْهُ “O son of Adam, when you see your Lord, Glorified is He, bestowing His blessings upon you one after another while you disobey Him, then beware of Him.”
How many a wrongdoer living in luxury has thought that Allah had forgotten his crimes! By Allah, He has not forgotten; rather, the trap has been set for him and he has been given respite, so that when He seizes him He does not let him escape! The Prophet (Allah bless him and his family) confirmed this meaning when he said: «إنّ الله ليُملي للظالم حتى إذا أخذه لم يُفلِته» “Allah indeed grants respite to the wrongdoer until, when He seizes him, He does not let him escape.”
The length of the interval is no safety for the wrongdoer; rather, it makes the punishment fall upon him all the more violently when the time comes.
وَرَبُّكَ الْغَفُورُ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُمْ بِمَا كَسَبُوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ الْعَذَابَ “Your Lord is the All-Forgiving, Possessor of mercy. Were He to take them to task for what they have earned, He would hasten the punishment for them.”
Trial and Purification: A Test for the Oppressed and an Elevation of Their Rank
Besides being an opportunity for the wrongdoer, the delay of punishment is a trial for the believers and a purification (tamḥīṣ) of their souls. In the believing view, the life of this world is an abode of testing and trial, and Allah has decreed that the existence of injustice be one of the hardest trials testing a person’s faith and patience. The Exalted said: ﴿أَحَسِبَ ٱلنَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوٓا۟ أَن يَقُولُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ﴾ “Do people think that they will be left alone because they say, ‘We believe,’ and will not be tested?”
Here fitna means testing. Among Allah’s decrees is that reformers and righteous people are tried by the injustice of tyrants, so that the wicked may be distinguished from the good and the patience of the patient and the faith of the believers made manifest. Hardships polish souls and reveal people’s true metal; without them, the claim to faith would remain cheap and easy.
The noble hadiths have confirmed this meaning. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and his family) said: «أشدُّ الناسِ بلاءً الأنبياء، ثمّ الأمثل فالأمثل» “The people most severely tried are the prophets, then those next best, then those next best.”
The prophets, who are the most beloved of creation to Allah, were the most exposed to the injustice and denial of their peoples; after them come the saints (awliyāʾ), then the Imams, then the sincere. The greater a person’s faith and mission, the greater his test and trial. It is narrated that Imam Abū Jaʿfar al-Bāqir (peace be upon him) said: «إنّ الله تعالى إذا أحبّ عبدًا غَتَّهُ بالبلاء غَتًّا، وثَجَّهُ بالبلاء ثَجًّا» “When Allah the Exalted loves a servant, He plunges him into trial and pours trial upon him in torrents.”
– that is, He immerses him in afflictions completely – and that is a sign of love, not of anger. In the continuation of the ḥadīth qudsī (a divine saying conveyed by the Prophet), Allah addresses His afflicted servant: «…فإذا دعاه قال: لبيك عبدي! لئن عجّلتُ لك ما سألتَ إني على ذلك لقادر، ولئن ادّخرتُ لك (أي تأخرتُ بالإجابة) فما ادّخرتُ لك فهو خيرٌ لك» “…When he calls upon Him, He says: ‘Here I am, My servant! If I hasten for you what you asked, I am able to do so; and if I store it away for you (i.e., I delay the answer), then what I have stored away for you is better for you.’”
What great consolation this is! Allah hears the supplication of the oppressed and is able to hasten relief for him, but He knows that the delay holds a greater wisdom and a good He has stored away for him. This good may be an elevation of his rank in the Hereafter that can only be attained through patience, or an expiation of his sins, or the establishment of the proof against the wrongdoers.
Another aspect of the philosophy of trial is the purification and sifting of the ranks of the believers. Through trial, the one who is truthful in faith is distinguished from the one in whose heart there is sickness or doubt. It is reported in the tradition that trials refine the believers as gold is refined in fire, so that they emerge purer in faith and firmer in resolve. Often the injustice of tyrants has led to the rising of the oppressed, the strengthening of their resolve and the unity of their ranks in support of the truth. Ordeal may give birth to grace, as happened at Karbala, where the outrageous injustice of the Umayyads led to the awakening of the community and the revival of the spirit of justice and sacrifice. Allah may allow injustice to reach a certain extent not so that the wrongdoer may profit, but so that the conscience of humanity may be stirred and the greatest virtues drawn out from the hearts of the oppressed and the righteous. In this way «لِيَمِيزَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَبِيثَ مِنَ ٱلطَّيِّبِ» “that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good”
and the truth appears in its most splendid form, joined to the patience and steadfastness of its people.
Nor should we forget the expiatory dimension of trial: the patience of the oppressed in affliction raises his rank and erases his misdeeds. It is reported from the Prophet (Allah bless him and his family) that no fatigue, illness (waṣab, i.e., sickness), worry or grief befalls the believer, even a thorn that pricks him, but that Allah expiates some of his sins thereby. How much more, then, the affliction of injustice, the loss of loved ones, or displacement! Through the patience of such people, Allah raises some to high stations in Paradise as a reward for the wrong they suffered and for entrusting their affair to Him. If we see the whole picture, we will find that the oppressed person gains in every case: if he is victorious in this world, it is through Allah’s grace and justice; and if his victory is delayed, it is with a reward stored away and a praiseworthy station.
This World Is Temporary and the Hereafter Is the Appointed Time of Complete Justice
From the perspective of faith, this world is an abode of passage and the Hereafter an abode of permanence. Divine justice may not be completed in this transient life, because divine wisdom has decreed that this world be a trial and a bridge to the Hereafter, where lies the final abode and eternal recompense. Many wrongdoers may never receive their full retribution here, and many of the oppressed may not see complete redress in their short lives; but this does not mean that rights are lost. The Exalted says: ﴿وَإِنْ كُلُّ ذلك لَمّا مَتاعُ الْحَياةِ الدُّنْيا وَالْآخِرَةُ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقينَ﴾ “Yet all of that is but the enjoyment of the life of this world, and the Hereafter with your Lord is for the pious.”
– that is, every adornment or enjoyment in this world is fleeting and paltry, while the Hereafter is better and more lasting, and it belongs to the pious. Had Allah made this world an abode of complete recompense, the meaning of testing would vanish; therefore He has left some wrongdoers in their delusion for a time, and deferred the greatest rewards for the patient until the Day of Judgement.
We must always keep in mind Allah’s justice in the Hereafter, for it is the balance by which the unjust disparities of this world are settled. There, the wrongdoer and the wronged will come before the King of kings. Allah will exact retribution for the wronged from the wrongdoer in a currency in which no one is wronged: good deeds and bad deeds. The wrongdoer’s good deeds will be taken and given to the one he wronged, and if his good deeds run out, some of the wronged person’s bad deeds will be taken and loaded onto the wrongdoer. The greater his injustice, the more his burdens and his loss are multiplied. As for the patient oppressed person, he will receive bliss in proportion to his pains. Indeed, it is reported from the Prophet (Allah bless him and his family) that on the Day of Resurrection the people who enjoyed well-being will wish that their skins had been cut to pieces with shears, because of the immense reward they see given to the people of affliction and patience. This deferred justice is an integral part of faith: the true believer is certain that Allah’s promise is true, and that the Day of Judgement will heal the breasts of a believing people and inflict exemplary punishment on the wrongdoers.
The Quran has repeatedly affirmed the inevitability of this Day to console the oppressed. The Mighty and Majestic says: ﴿فَلا تَحسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ مُخْلِفَ وَعْدِهِ رُسُلَهُۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزيزٌ ذُو انْتِقامٍ﴾ “So do not think that Allah will fail to keep His promise to His messengers. Indeed, Allah is Mighty, Possessor of retribution.”
– He takes retribution on tyrants, even if after a while. Indeed, the Prophet (Allah bless him and his family) reported that Allah the Exalted praises Himself at the destruction of the wrongdoers, rejoicing at the vanquishing of falsehood, and he recited His words: ﴿فَقُطِعَ دابِرُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذينَ ظَلَمُوا وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمينَ﴾ “So the people who did wrong were cut off to the last of them, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
The praise of Allah here is a proclamation of the triumph of justice and the end of an era of injustice. That is why we see history record hideous ends for most tyrants, as a lesson for whoever will take heed; but the greater lesson lies in the Hereafter, where there is no dominion except Allah’s.
A Message of Hope and Steadfastness for the Oppressed
To everyone worn down by injustice, into whose heart complaint has crept: remember that you are not alone. Allah is with you, hearing your supplication every night, and He is the One who says: «وعزّتي وجلالي لأنتصرنّ لك ولو بعد حين» “By My might and My majesty, I shall surely come to your aid, even if after a while.”
Trust that the delay of victory does not mean its denial; retribution is coming, however long the years, and the tears you shed in the depths of the night are not wasted with a Sovereign who is All-Powerful.
Faith in Allah’s justice offers the oppressed a spiritual support that enables him to endure. When you know that there is wisdom and a divine preparation that your eyes may not see now, something in your soul grows calm. And when you call to mind Allah’s truthful promises, the light of hope dawns in your heart. Perhaps this is why the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said: «لا تستوحشوا في طريق الهدى لقلة أهله» “Do not feel lonely on the path of guidance because of the fewness of those who follow it.”
– whoever walks the path of truth and bears harm for its sake should not feel lonely or despair, for Allah is with him.
Until Allah’s promise comes, do not let the delay of punishment deter you from resisting injustice and striving to establish justice as far as you are able. Allah tries the believer so that He may also aid the oppressed through the hands of His sincere servants: He grants them success in exposing the wrongdoer and restraining him when the right time comes. History holds many examples of how Allah took retribution on the tyrants of their age at the hands of His servants once injustice had run its full course. Allah grants respite but does not neglect – a phrase that sums up a great deal. He grants the wrongdoer respite so that he may exhaust his opportunity for repentance or reach the peak at which he deserves a resounding fall; and at the same time He grants the oppressed respite so that he may grow in reward, strength and spirituality, and so that society may grow in awareness and maturity.
In the end, we find that divine wisdom is deeper than our hasty view: Allah is gentle with His servants and does not hasten their punishment out of mercy for them, but He is also severe in punishing the wrongdoer when the respite has run out. This twofold wisdom – respite in this world and justice in the Hereafter – is what allows the believer to rest assured that divine justice will come to pass without fail. So if you see a wrongdoer whom Allah has not yet seized, do not let that momentary scene deceive you; it is only a page of the story that has not yet been turned. Place your full trust in the ending of the story that divine justice has written: «وَسَيَعْلَمُ الَّذينَ ظَلَموا أَيَّ مُنقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبون» “And those who have done wrong will come to know what kind of return they will return to.”
References and Sources:
The Holy Quran; Nahj al-Balāgha; al-Kāfī (Thiqat al-Islām al-Kulaynī); Biḥār al-Anwār (al-ʿAllāma al-Majlisī); and other sources of hadith and Quranic exegesis (tafsīr). Verses such as al-Kahf 58, al-Rūm 41, Āl ʿImrān 178, al-Zukhruf 33–35, Ibrāhīm 42 and others have been cited in the context above, and we have also cited sayings transmitted from the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) on the philosophy of respite, trial and divine justice. All these texts affirm that the delay of punishment is not an absence of justice, but a manifestation of the Lord’s wisdom and a mercy through which He draws the wrongdoers on step by step and purifies the believers, until the Day of Judgement, about which there is no doubt, arrives. We ask Allah to strengthen the hearts of the oppressed with the tranquillity of faith, and to show us and them His true promise soon and without delay; indeed He is All-Hearing, Responsive.
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