Why does God allow suffering, and is humanism not better than religion?

The wish that people love one another and carry each other's burdens is right, but it is not yet an answer. Humanism does not say how human selfishness can be overcome, and the awareness of coming from one common Creator is the strongest force for exactly that.

The question of suffering is as old as humanity. Buddha and Confucius were already searching for a way out of the cycle of pain followed by more pain. Humanism answers it with a beautiful wish. We should realise that we are all equal, whatever our colour, country or nation, and stand by one another.

That wish is justified. But a wish on its own cannot carry us. The real question is how to reach it. Think of brothers and sisters with the same parents. They know they share one origin and are closer to the humanist ideal than anyone else. And yet even siblings often act selfishly towards one another. Human beings are also selfish creatures.

Much of the harm in the world is blamed on religion. Yet it was not religion that caused it, but the selfishness of people who distorted it. True religion cannot treat people unequally, because it comes from the one Creator of all people. When someone deeply takes in that they and their neighbour both come from Him, that awareness puts a limit on the ego. The verses above say exactly this.

That is why at the origin of religions we find the most humane people, for example Jesus (as) and his disciples. Their love for others grew out of their love for God.

Suffering, too, loses its meaninglessness in this light. The Holy Qur’an sees life as a trial in which what matters is how we act, including in hard times. Whoever removes God keeps the suffering and loses the meaning.