Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Babies? A Three-Faith Comparison

Jewish thought approaches infant suffering through the lens of tzaddik ve-ra lo — the suffering of the righteous — a problem the Hebrew Bible itself refuses to paper over. The Book of Job is the tradition's most sustained engagement with undeserved suffering, and it ends not with a neat answer but with divine mystery Job 15:35.

A foundational principle in rabbinic ethics is individual moral accountability. The Torah explicitly states that children may not be punished for parental sin 2 Chronicles 25:4. This rules out the popular folk explanation that babies suffer because of their parents' wrongdoing — at least as a matter of divine justice. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (20th century) argued in Kol Dodi Dofek that Judaism's response to suffering is not primarily theoretical but practical: the community is called to respond, to heal, to act.

Jeremiah records God speaking directly about the fate of children born into a land under judgment, signaling that communal catastrophe can sweep up the innocent — not as punishment of the child, but as a consequence of a broken world Jeremiah 16:3. Medieval philosopher Maimonides (12th century) distinguished between evils caused by nature, evils humans inflict on each other, and evils people bring on themselves — most infant suffering, he argued in the Guide for the Perplexed, falls into the first category: the necessary imperfection of a material world, not divine cruelty.

It's worth noting there's genuine disagreement within Judaism. Kabbalistic traditions sometimes invoke the concept of gilgul neshamot (soul transmigration) to explain infant suffering as connected to a prior soul's journey — a view mainstream rabbinic Judaism does not endorse. The honest consensus is that the question remains open.

Christian theology frames infant suffering within the doctrine of the Fall — the idea that creation itself has been distorted by sin, so that disease, disaster, and death touch even the most innocent. This isn't a claim that babies deserve suffering; it's a claim that no one in a fallen world is insulated from its effects.

Jesus himself pushed back hard against the instinct to assign blame for suffering. He welcomed children without condition, declaring them exemplars of the kingdom of heaven Matthew 19:14. This passage has led theologians from Augustine to Karl Barth to insist that infants occupy a place of special tenderness in God's regard — their suffering is not evidence of divine indifference but of a world in need of redemption.

The New Testament does acknowledge that catastrophic historical events bring particular anguish to the most vulnerable — nursing mothers and infants are singled out as those who bear the heaviest cost when civilizations collapse Matthew 24:19Luke 21:23. This is presented not as God's targeted punishment of babies but as a lament over the collateral devastation of human sin and historical violence.

Theologians disagree sharply on the details. Alvin Plantinga's 20th-century free-will defense argues that a world with genuine freedom necessarily includes the possibility of suffering. John Hick's "soul-making" theodicy (1966) suggests suffering is the environment in which moral and spiritual growth occurs — though critics rightly note this explanation strains credibility when applied to newborns. C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain (1940) admitted the suffering of innocents is the hardest case of all. No single answer commands universal assent.

Islamic theology addresses infant suffering through several interlocking ideas: God's absolute sovereignty, the existence of evil within creation as part of a divinely ordered test, and the overwhelming mercy of God toward those who cannot yet be held accountable.

The Qur'an openly acknowledges that evil exists within creation — it is something from which believers are taught to seek God's protection Quran 113:2Quran 113:2. This isn't a contradiction of God's goodness; classical scholars like al-Ghazali (11th century) argued that evil's existence within a divinely created order serves purposes humans may not fully comprehend, and that God's wisdom transcends human categories of fairness.

A particularly striking hadith narrated by Abu Huraira records the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ saying that Satan touches every newborn at birth, causing it to cry — with the sole exception of Mary and Jesus Sahih al Bukhari 4548. This passage is theologically significant: it situates every infant, from the very first breath, within a cosmos where spiritual forces are at work. It also underscores the vulnerability of the newborn and the need for divine protection — hence the Qur'anic supplication for refuge from evil Quran 113:2.

On the question of babies who die, classical Islamic jurisprudence holds that children who die before the age of moral accountability (bulugh) go directly to paradise. Scholars like Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (14th century) devoted considerable attention to this question. Suffering in infancy, then, is not understood as divine punishment but as part of a broader trial that affects all of creation — and one that God's mercy ultimately overcomes for the innocent.

Jewish law explicitly rejects visiting parents’ guilt upon their children, insisting that “each shall die only for their own crime,” which undercuts the idea that infants suffer as divine punishment for others’ sins 2 Chronicles 25:4.

Prophetic literature also recognizes that children can be born into periods of national distress, situating their suffering within broader historical calamity rather than their own wrongdoing Jeremiah 16:3.

Wisdom imagery even uses birth metaphors to describe how human wickedness brings forth harm in the world, highlighting the moral dimension of societal evil that can envelop the innocent Job 15:35.

Taken together, readers conclude that infant suffering appears amid communal turmoil and human wrongdoing, not as a legal retribution falling on babies themselves Jeremiah 16:32 Chronicles 25:4.

Jesus receives children and declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them, which affirms their value and God’s welcome even amid vulnerability Matthew 19:14.

At the same time, Jesus foretells seasons when mothers and nursing infants will face particular hardship, acknowledging that historical upheavals can tragically sweep up the smallest among us Matthew 24:19Luke 21:23.

Christians therefore hold together the conviction of God’s tender regard for children with honest recognition that “those days” of distress can still arrive and affect them Matthew 19:14Matthew 24:19.

A well-known report states that every child is touched by Satan at birth except Mary and Jesus, underscoring an Islamic awareness of spiritual assault that can reach even infants Sahih al Bukhari 4548.

The Qur’an teaches believers to seek refuge in God from the evil present in creation, shaping a response that leans on prayerful protection for children against all harms Quran 113:2.

These texts lead Muslims to emphasize vigilance against evil and continuous supplication for divine safeguarding of the most vulnerable Sahih al Bukhari 4548Quran 113:2.