The Three Brothers Question to the Mutazilah by Imam Al-Ashari

One day, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī asked his teacher Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī, “What do you say regarding three brothers, one of whom died obedient, another disobedient, and the third who died young?” 

Al-Jubbāʾī replied, “The first will be rewarded in Paradise, the second will be punished in Hell, and the third will not be punished.” 

Al-Ashʿarī further enquired, “What if the third, the one who died young asked God why he made him die young, not keeping him alive so that he might have the chance to obey and thus enter Paradise. How would God respond?” 

Al-Jubbāʾī replied, “God would say that He knew the boy would grow up to disobey Me and thereby enter Hell, so I did what was better for him.” 

This reply was based on the rule of the Muʿtazila that God must do what is of benefit to the individual. 

In response to this, al-Ashʿarī said, “What if the second brother said, ‘Why did you not make me die young, so as to have avoided disobeying you and consequently going to Hell?’ How would God answer that?” 

This question so dumbfounded al-Jubbāʾī that he remained silent, unable to respond.

From Asrar Rashid's book: Islam Answers Atheism