Allah, evil and just war: Islamic theology under debate

Allah as the author of evil: what the Quran says and why it matters

Anyone who has leafed through the Quran will sooner or later come across verses that attribute something uncomfortable to Allah: the creation of evil. It is not a heresy, it is literal text. In verse 91:7 it reads that Allah "fashioned the soul, inspiring it with both wickedness and piety." In 15:39 and 38:82, Satan says: "Because You have led me astray, I will show them on earth evil under deceptive appearances." From there it is one step to conclude that Allah is the author of evil, and there are those who take it.

The textual basis of the controversy

The central argument is theological: if Allah monopolizes the totality of being and is the sole cause of everything, then he is also the cause of evil. Sarracin rejects the Trinity, and that denial would have a direct consequence: there is no principle of difference limiting divine action. Created will is absorbed by the divine will, and sin, error and wickedness end up being, ultimately, God's work.

From theology to war

The theological discussion soon drifts toward action. If Allah is the creator of evil, what does that imply for those who worship him? Some answer that confrontation is inevitable. On the other side, there are those who point out that the history of Christianity is not exactly peaceful either, and that the doctrine of "just war" was formulated by Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430), a Church Father, to justify war under certain conditions. Evil, depending on which text you read, always finds an author.

The unsettling fact is that the notion of holy war is not the property of a single religion. Saint Augustine laid the foundations of a "sarracena necessary" war sixteen centuries ago, and Christianity used them. The debate on the divine origin of evil remains open, and perhaps the question is not who creates it, but who uses it.