Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya on Divine Wisdom & the Problem of Evil is a translation of selections from two of Ibn Qayyim&s books Key to the Blissful Abode & Remedy for Those who Question on Matters Concerning Divine Decree Predestination Wisdom & Causality As with all his other writings Ibn al-Qayyim&s foremost goal is to establish the wisdom of God the primacy of the Qur&an & Sunna & the congruity between reason & revelation In the present selections Ibn al-Qayyim focuses on the application of the wisdom of God to the existence of evil Ibn al-Qayyim first discusses twenty-six wise purposes behind God creating humanity & settling them on Earth His perspective is that whatever exists in this world is either purely or preponderantly good or indirectly leads to a greater good Ibn Qayyim then explores how the presence of evil allows the manifestation of many of God&s Beautiful Names glorious attributes & compassionate actions While for humanity the existence of the evil provides the righteous with opportunities to strive against it; for Paradise can only be reached by &traversing a bridge of hardships & tribulations& The discussions of the existence of evil is followed by thirty wise purposes & secrets in God allowing people to sin Prominent among them are that God loves repentance & loves to manifest His Attributes of forgiveness & mercy Here Ibn al-Qayyim also debates at length whether the punishment of Hellfire will be eternal or whether it will come to an end He favours the the latter position in accordance with the Qur&anic verse 107 of the Chapter Hud & because of God&s mercy