Love theodicy as an approach to the problem of evil: The case of Yunus Emre

The problem of evil is famous for being a subject that attracts the attention of almost everyone. The problem is shaped by the possibility of the coexistence of evil with a good and omnipotent God. While metaphysical evil is defined as the limitation and finitude of the universe and its contents; moral evil refers to the evils that arise by using the choices made by human free will in favor of the wrong option. Physical evil, on the other hand, describes the evils that occur outside the will of human. The problem, which is considered as existential, logical and evidential evil, has resulted in a large theodicy literature as a result of its discussion in both Western and Islamic thought. Yunus Emre, who placed divine love on the basis of his ontology thought, included the types of the problem of evil in his poems, and accepted love as the only source for the solution of the problem of evil, as in other problems. According to him, the finiteness of the universe and its contents is not an evil, on the contrary, it expresses the real goodness as a means to reach God. Accepting that moral evil arises from the free-willed person's choosing the wrong one between good and evil, the thinker considered it necessary to surrender to God with divine love for the solution. Physical evils, on the other hand, serve as a step for the maturation of human beings, so that people will reach unity as a result of a hard journey of suffering and realize that there is no difference between good and evil. It will be understood that there is no difference between crying and laughing, birth and death for anyone who can reach divine love. Keywords: God, Evil, Love, Theodicy, Yûnus Emre