The issue of recommendation and punishment in children and animals from the idea of di̇vi̇ne justi̇ce i̇n the kalam

Centering on the understanding of a god who rules over his servants with justice, Islam adopts the belief that servants are subject to tests in this world and that they will be rewarded in the hereafter. It is expected for sane servants to have the freedom to choose between two situations and to be rewarded or punished by perceiving the consequences of their behavior. However, children, animals, and mentally handicapped people cannot establish a cause-effect relationship between their actions because their mental abilities are not developed. In this case, questions about whether they have responsibilities for their behavior in the hereafter have been wondered since the first periods of Islam. At the same time, although they do not have the ability to learn from the events and take a lesson, they also experience worldly pains such as war, famine, murder, disease, and harassment. In addition, there are children, animals, and mentally handicapped people who die before they can taste some of the blessings of the world. Considering all these situations, although they are innocent, the relationship between the sufferings of these servants and divine justice is one of the issues worth examining. In addition to these, it has also been examined in our study whether Allah will compensate them for the worldly blessings they cannot live. In this context, concepts such as test, ivaz, and examples are important for our study. In the kalam literature, the issue is generally categorized according to whether the child's parent is a believer or an unbeliever. However, the prominent idea in both titles is the view that it is out of the question for children and mentally disabled people who are not to be considered religiously liable to be subject to punishment. In addition, the otherworldly fate of the children of the prophets who died before reaching the age of puberty is discussed under a separate heading. In general, although there are different theories of the schools regarding the otherworldly status of innocent servants, it is seen that the dominant view is the belief that children who die before reaching puberty will be in Paradise, regardless of whether their parents are Muslim or non-Muslim. The main reason for this view to prevail is that Allah is free from oppressing his servants.