Reducing Believers’ Suffering from Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār’s View Point

Suffering is one of the significant topics in practical theology. Throughout history, Muslim thinkers have dealt with this issue in different ways. In this article, using a descriptive-analytical method, we intend to analyze the view of Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār - a Muʿtazilite theologian - about reducing the suffering of believers. He proposes three ways to alleviate the suffering of the believers: (1) revising the believers’ attitude to suffering; (2) avoiding making a judgment about suffering, which means not considering the suffering as a punishment from God; and (3) acknowledging the suffering as compensation, that means God will make up for suffering in the hereafter. First of all, ʿAbd al-Jabbār tries to correct the attitude of believers towards suffering by suggesting that not every suffering is bad and not every suffering is a kind of oppression. He believes these two presuppositions are the main causes of people’s wrong view of suffering. Secondly, by referring to several rational and narrative reasons and by rejecting reincarnation, he shows that the sufferings of this world cannot be considered as the punishment of human actions, either in the assumed previous life (according to the belief of reincarnationists) or in the present life. As a result, believers should not be involved with new suffering (i.e. they have been angered by God). Finally, by proposing the notion of afterlife compensation, he completes his project on reducing the believers’ suffering.