“All is from Allah,” as explained earlier. For evils are not attributed to Allah on their own, but only in general terms, as in His words:

“All is from Allah.”

Likewise, names that mention evil are used only in pairs, as when we say, “the Bringer of Harm and the Giver of Benefit, the Giver and the Withholder, the Bestower of Honor and the Humiliator,” or with a qualification, as in His words:

“Indeed, We shall exact retribution from the criminals.”

Everything He has created that contains some limited, relative evil also contains general good, wisdom, and mercy many times greater than that evil. An example is His sending Moses to Pharaoh. This resulted in rejection and destruction for Pharaoh and his people, which was evil in relation to them. Yet it also brought widespread benefit to creation until the Day of Resurrection, through the lessons drawn from Pharaoh’s story. This constitutes a general good, and those who benefited from it outnumbered those harmed by it many times over. As Allah Most High said:

“When they provoked Our anger, We exacted retribution from them and drowned them all. We made them a precedent and an example for later generations.”

After recounting his story, Allah Most High also said:

“Indeed, in that is a lesson for whoever fears Allah.”

Likewise, the message of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) brought misery upon a group of Arab polytheists and disbelievers among the People of the Book: those who rejected him and whom Allah Most High destroyed on his account. Yet those who attained happiness through his message outnumbered them many times over. For this reason, those among the People of the Book who suffered misery on his account had already been making alterations and distortions before