Why Did God Create Humans Physically And Financially Different?
This article covers the answer to the question: “Why Did God Create Humans Physically And Financially Different?”
To begin with, God is Sovereign; He is the Lord of both earthly and spiritual dominions. He wills and creates whatever in them and however He pleases. No one has any part in His Sovereignty, nor can anyone intervene in what He creates except as He wills and to the extent that He wills.
It is God who created every cell of every tissue of every living thing and the whole of inanimate creation besides. It is God who bestows our human nature upon us. We have given nothing to God but He has given us everything without our deserving it. What claim or right has we therefore over anything? If we had given something to God in return for what He has bestowed upon us, we might, perhaps, claim two eyes instead of one or make objection to having one arm instead of two. But, since we have not given anything to God, by what right dare we impute injustice to Him? Injustice comes from not giving what is due. It is both improper and irrational to impute any such thing to God, Who is absolutely free of injustice, since He is the Giver of everything that we have or use or see. Why, what have we returned in exchange for what we have received?
God, the All Mighty, created each of us out of nothing. What is more, He created each of us human; it might have been otherwise it might not have been at all! If you observe and investigate all that is around you, you will certainly realize that there are many creations different from yourself, inferior or worse in your judgment, with which you would not change places just as there may be others with which you might, out of misguided thinking or envy of some kind, wish to change places.
Poverty in the city
There is a second aspect to this question, namely the Providence of God. God may deprive an individual of something he or she values, but grant that individual a manifold return for that loss in the Hereafter. By means of that loss, God makes you feel your need, your powerlessness, and your poverty in relation to Him. In this way, He makes you turn to Him with a weightier sincerity, and a fuller heart, and so makes you worthier of His Blessing and Favor. Thus your apparent loss is in reality a gain.
Although a small handful of disadvantaged or disabled people may feel hurt and cast down, and, as a result of their disabilities, stray from their faith or abandon it altogether, a far greater number are strengthened in their faith. It is not correct to pretend an exaggerated, indeed false, sympathy with the disabled as a pretext for disbelief. Far better is it, even essential, that an ardent yearning for eternal life be aroused in such people, for then they are worthy for an immense reward in eternity.
If the disabilities of some lead those who are of good health to affirm and recognize all that they should be grateful for and to make improvement in their persons, in their humanity, and in their closeness to God, the Wisdom in Divine Providence is also affirmed and recognized and, to the degree possible for mankind, understood.
God bestows upon whom He wills material wealth, and in the way that He pleases. Similarly, He bestows utter poverty upon whom He wills, and in the way that He pleases. For example, wealth may pass, through inheritance, from one part of a family to another, so that a once poor individual becomes better off. There are also certain abilities or personal traits such as intelligence, shrewdness and acumen in the management of wealth, and so on, which are inherited genetically. And yet, by God, there are individuals who may be capable of managing wealth, position and opportunity, but whose circumstances deny them any access to these.
Clearly, material possessions should not be seen as necessarily a good in themselves. God sometimes bestows material security and happiness upon those who petition Him for such things, but sometimes He does not. The truth is that there is good in His bestowing what He bestows, be it wealth or poverty. For the faithful individual, who does good deeds and is charitable with what has been given to him or her, wealth is a means of good. If, however, the individual is of weak faith and has strayed from the path of right action and charity, wealth becomes a means of evil. Similarly, for such an individual who has deserted the path of right action, poverty may be a means of unbelief determining that, each day, that person inwardly or outwardly rebels against God. Whoever does not submit heart, mind and soul wholly to God, whoever does not try sincerely to act upon the Teachings, will find that whatever level of wealth he or she owns will become a means of distress, a severe and demanding test.
Man and the universe
It is not poverty itself which is the good, rather the state of mind which has disciplined (and triumphed over) the worldly self and set its sights upon the eternal life. Poverty may indeed be a means to achieve that state of mind. But in some people poverty can be an occasion for inward distress and rancor and ingratitude towards God, which is a root of unbelief. Similarly, affluence and material security may delude certain people into feelings of pride and self-esteem, so that they neglect both the needs of their fellow human beings and their debt to God their arrogance and their ingratitude are likewise a root of unbelief.
The surest way for a believer, therefore, is to understand that whatever God has given He has given in order to perfect that individual in the best way. Whatever his or her circumstances, the believer should strive to improve the welfare of fellow human beings, and to trust inwardly and outwardly in the All Mighty and All-Merciful. The best attitude to all the circumstances of this world, which is only a halting-place on the way to our everlasting destination, is well expressed in this brief poem:
I accept, my Lord, whatever comes to me from You,
For whatever comes to me from You is my good;
Whether a robe of honor comes or a shroud,
Whether a sharp thorn or a sweet, fresh rose,
If it comes with Your blessing, it is my good that comes.
By M. Fethullah Gulen