2. Why does God not send His angels

To stop evil in this world?

This question hinges on a fundamental issue in which ‘problem’ is termed as ‘evil’. In reality, evil has no existence in this world. It is only problems that exist and a ‘problem’ is another name for a ‘challenge’. God has placed us in a world of challenge so that we develop. I found the answer to this through Arnold Toynbee’s 12-volume book A Study of History, in which he studied and analyzed for thirty years nineteen civilizations of the world. In his words, the development and evolution of civilizations have challenges at the root. When a group faces a challenge, it begins to work to respond to it and thus a ‘challenge-response mechanism’ unfolds.

I came to Delhi in 1967 and became the editor of a fortnightly magazine Al-Jamiat. The magazine became very successful, but due to some difference of opinion the magazine’s secretary developed complaints against me and to finish me off, he ceased the publication of the magazine. It was apparently an instance of ‘evil’. But because of this incident I gained the incentive to start my own magazine Al-Risala. This became a huge success and enjoyed great popularity among readers both in the Indian subcontinent and abroad.

So, I did not consider my experience with the secretary of Al-Jamiat as an occasion of evil, rather I took whatever happened as a challenge. My response to this challenge has brought me where I am today. I learnt the lesson that when others do not give you a chance, this becomes an opportunity for you to create a chance for yourself.