Many philosophers like Schopenhauer have argued how it would have been better if the universe didn’t exist. Existence is the precondition of suffering and if we look at the world, suffering exceeds pleasure by a great extent.

You can argue in return that we don’t have the big picture and that God will eventually reward everyone for their suffering in the next world provided they are Muslim. But wouldn’t it have been better if the majority of mankind ( 999/1000 according to hadith ) didn’t end up in hell forever, even if they were given a choice to believe or disbelieve in God. It’s clear God created the universe with the foreknowledge of some people being tortured in hell forever and if he didn’t create the universe, no one would have ended up in hell.

The only response you can give to this argument is that the punishment described in the Quran were ONLY placed to deter people from disbelief and wrongdoings. Just as you scare a child with strict and painful punishment but you don’t implement it. God doesn’t gain anything by punishing people in hell forever. An authentic hadith states “my mercy prevails over my wrath”. Therefore, the people in hellfire will either get used to the conditions of hell and taste its delight or be taken out of hell to paradise. Thus in the end, the whole of mankind will live in eternal joy and pleasure, which is infinitely greater than the suffering people experience in this world. Any other response in my understanding is deficient and weak, including the argument presented by Javed Ghamidi sb with all due respect.