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Anchor Series #2 | 9/9/25 – Theodicy: Divine Wisdom and Human Responsibility
Why does a Merciful God allow suffering? In this second session of the Anchor Series, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explores classical Islamic views on theodicy, examining perspectives from the Mu‘tazili, Ash‘ari, Athari schools, and Ibn Sina. He discusses the nature of evil, human responsibility, free will, and divine decree, emphasizing how studying past scholars helps us approach life’s hardest questions with insight and spiritual grounding.
0:00 Intro
0:26 The first step to answering a question is studying previous answers
01:21 The Question of Theodicy is not a new question
01:40 Caveats for surveying previous views
02:16 potential negatives when researching past answers
02:46 Confirmation Bias
05:11 the least biased person is the one who understands his or her own biases
05:30 Sectarian Bias
08:13 The formation of Mu’tazilism
10:43 The Mu’tazili perspective
14:34 The Mu’tazila claimed Humans are the source of Evil
15:51 The Sunni Problematization of the Mu’tazili Position
19:02 The 3 Credal Schools of Sunnism
19:47 The Formation of the Ash’ari School
21:23 The Ash’ari Perspective
28:13 The Asha’ira denied that humans could understand the issue of Theodicy
31:42 Ibn Taymiyyah’s Impact on the Athari School
34:31 Sunnis do not affirm unconditional freewill
35:39 The Athari Perspective (of Ibn Taymiyyah)
40:12 Ibn Taymiyyah denied the existence of Pure Evil
43:53 Simplistic Overview of the Positions on Qadr
45:39 Ibn Sina’s Theology
47:30 Ibn Sina on Theodicy
50:10 Question 1: Did the Sahabah ever ask these questions to the Prophet ﷺ?
53:52 Question 2: Why didn’t you include the Maturidis?
54:26 Question 3: What is the non-evil referring to regarding Iblees?
56:33 Question 4: Maturidis?
56:44 Question 5: How do I answer my coworker on why Allah is allowing suffering in Gaza?
58:59 Outro
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► Credits:
*Note: No musical instruments were used in this video, all background noise is human acapella.*
Intro & Outro Nasheed
Artist: Ibraheem Bakeer
Produced by: MAQAMAT INSTITUTION
Copyright reserved and reproduced exclusively with permission for Yasir Qadhi’s Official YouTube Channel.
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