The Problem of Evil from the Viewpoint of the Twelver Shī‘a Theology

Before Khāja – when theology had not become philosophical in its true sense – theologians attained the solution to the problem of evil from the qur’ānic verses and narrations of Ahl al-Bayt (a). As a result, their solutions were different from the theological theories on evils. The Twelver Shī‘a theologians deemed the evil to emanate from God but did not take this as contradictory to the absolute benevolence of God – which was taken from the Christian theology. In the Twelver Shī‘a theology, God is Wise, and the existence of evils is not unnecessary and is because of the divine wisdom. Therefore, the evils and afflictions of the material world are good, because God compensates evil with the two principles of “Intiṣāf” and “‘Iwaḍ.”