Here is the paradox of evil. It claims to be something, but is nothing. It seems to be everywhere, but is nowhere. Evil is neither created nor commanded by GOD. It is a will without a wisp, a blank shot in the infinite dark.
And as for those who disbelieve, their deeds resemble a mirage upon a plain. The thirsty person thinks it to be water. Then, when he arrives, he finds it nothing; there he finds AL-LAH, Who pays him what his thought is worth. And GOD is swift in reckoning. (Q24:39)
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ
If evil is nothing, would that not apply to its opposite as well? Could we not with equal reason claim that good is also nothing? But if good is something, then evil, the contrary force, should be too.
And GOD created you and what you do. (Q37:96)
وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
That is GOD, your Lord. There is no god but He – Creator of all things – so worship Him. (Q6:102)
ذَلِكُمْ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَاعْبُدُوهُ
Our good and evil acts are created, just as we ourselves are, since both our corporeal forms and our physical acts belong to the natural order of things. We call actions good or evil either because their effects are beneficial or harmful or because of the intentions that are their causes. The same applies to good or bad events; we characterize them as one or the other by the extent of their benefit or harm. But if good and evil in themselves are neither events nor acts*, we have no reason to consider them created. They belong, rather, to a realm of their own.
* In other words, good and evil are qualia, properties of things rather than real things themselves, and should be understood primarily as adjectives. (A more complete discussion of things, reality, and real things can be found in Chapter 42 and Appendix 1.) We do not argue over whether silliness or triviality, for example, exists; these nouns function rather as adjectives converted into noun form to facilitate flexibility of expression.
If they gain a benefit, they say that “This is from AL-LAH.” But if they come across misfortune, they say, “This is due to you.” Say, “All is from AL-LAH.” What is the matter with this folk? They fail to understand what they are told. / What befalls you of good fortune is from GOD. And what befalls you of misfortune is from your own self. (Q4:78-79)
وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَذِهِ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَذِهِ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ قُلْ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ فَمَالِ هَؤُلاَءِ الْقَوْمِ لاَ يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًا
مَا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنْ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِنْ نَفْسِكَ
In Arabic, just as in English, ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are used indiscriminately for favourable and unfavourable events, on the one hand, and for moral and immoral intentions on the other. When we are told All is from AL-LAH, we know this is so because GOD is the Creator of all things, in the realm where His command represents power. Then, when we are told that good fortune is from GOD, and that evil is from ourselves, our attention is elevated to the higher moral realm where GOD’s command is obligation, and where the origins of good and evil are absolutely opposed.
So why is evil from us, and not from Satan, as was mentioned earlier? Because – continuing the story from earlier in this Chapter – although Iblis was told to Get out (of the self and its material form) he asked for time, and was granted it.
He said, “My Lord, reprieve me to the day when they are raised [from death].” / [GOD] replied, “Indeed you are of the reprieved. (Q38:79-80)
قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنْ الْمُنظَرِينَ
If we are looking for evil, then here, within ourselves, is where we will find it – temporarily.
“Verily Satan’s reach is as far as the blood in the human being. I feared that he had cast something into your hearts.” (Sahihul-Bukhari, Book 33, Hadith 10)
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَبْلُغُ مِنَ الإِنْسَانِ مَبْلَغَ الدَّمِ، وَإِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَنْ يَقْذِفَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمَا شَيْئًا
Evil, therefore, is the lie that lies within – a black hole at the heart of who we are. It ‘tries’ desperately to be something, and is given time in this world to show what, if anything, it is. Good, on the other hand, is from GOD Himself, and thus is free of haste, fear, and all other temporal concerns. It is not a thing at all, but rather is even more real – divinely so. When all the things of this world have perished, good will remain forever.
As darkness is light’s absence, so is evil the absence of good. But why should we even believe in Satan, the personification of evil, if evil itself does not exist?
The GOD You Already Know 
Great Chapter in this book! The verse states all is from God, so in the second part when It mentions Good is from God and evil from ourselves , is that the explanation of All is from Allah ? Because if all is from Allah then why would the evil act be from ourselves/yourselves
Thanks
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All acts are created from GOD — AL-LAH created you and what you do (Q37:96) — and nothing happens without His Permission, Knowledge, and Power. But the good and evil qualities of those acts are not created. The good in them comes from GOD, while the evil in them comes from the dark, empty ‘places’ or ‘aspects’ in ourselves, where the Light of GOD is absent. As I said: Evil, therefore, is the lie that lies within – a black hole at the heart of who we are. It ‘tries’ desperately to be something, and is given time in this world to show what, if anything, it is.
But evil is, ultimately, nothing – the absence of good. It ‘colours’ acts, but it does not ‘make’ them, just as the food in your refrigerator is in darkness when you close the door. But the darkness did not make the food, and neither does evil ‘make’ evil acts. Rather it is a quality attributed to them by the lack of goodness in them – a lack for which the doer is responsible.
If we think that what GOD sends us — and all that happens comes from Him — is bad, then our attitude is the problem. We are not seeing the total goodness of GOD’s Decree. Rather we are seeing darkness where there is only Light, among “those whose eyes are covered over from recalling Me.” (Q18:101)
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