The problem of good and evil in the world is the most profoundly philosophical issue; it has always been raised and will always continue to be raised. The world is replete with both goodness and badness. No one can claim that evil does not exist in the world, just as no one can claim that goodness does not exist. Both are present in the world; night and day exist together. Now, should it always be day, or always night? Should it always be summer, or always winter? Perhaps if evil had no meaning, it would not be known whether goodness had any meaning at all. Or if goodness did not exist at all, what meaning would evil have?
Greatness, importance, priority, and ontological primacy belong to goodness. Human beings possess both wrath and mercy, both laughter and tears. Would it be good if a human being always laughed and never knew what crying was? There is a wisdom in this pairing. The dialectic of divine unity (tawḥīdic dialectics) is not confined merely to the relation between man and woman; rather, duality exists in all things. This pairing that you observe in the world—from the particle to the galaxy—also exists, at a more comprehensive level, in good and evil. Thus, the beauty of the world lies precisely in this. Opposition generates beauty; diversity generates beauty; uniformity is wearisome.
However, the way some people think, and the type of mentality they have, is such that they see only goodness or only evil. Others see both good and evil. Here we can say that evil is relative. Scorpion venom is bad for us, but good for the scorpion; the same is true of snake venom. Therefore, evil is relative, whereas good is absolute.
Thus, there would be no absolute evil in the world;
Know this as well: evil exists only in relation.
If there is relative evil and also relative good, relativity without absoluteness has no meaning. Now, it is possible that someone may not see goodness; one who does not see goodness has a relativistic vision. But goodness itself is absolute. The Exalted Truth (al-Ḥaqq taʿālā) is pure goodness; evil has no access to Him. Creation, too, is good, but within this goodness, in certain places and from certain perspectives, evil is perceived as relative.
Human beings can resolve everything through thought. Thought is the only thing that renders the truly absent present, and it is the only thing that can distance itself from the body. My thinking distances itself from my body and from the world, whereas my body cannot exit the world.
“Say: I exhort you to one thing only—that you rise for God, in pairs and singly, and then reflect.”
(Qurʾān 34:46)
