If God is merciful, why is there so much suffering?
The question assumes that a merciful God would prevent all suffering. Classical Islamic theology doesn't grant that premise — it holds that this life is not meant to be the place where accounts are settled, and that a world without hardship couldn't contain courage, patience, or genuine choice. That's an argument you can accept or reject, but it isn't an evasion.
Why the usual answer falls flat
Most young people asking this have already been told “it’s a test.” That answer isn’t wrong, but delivered on its own it sounds like a door closing. It skips the part that actually does the work.
The argument, properly stated
Write the reasoning out here — 400 to 800 words. Name the strongest form of the objection before answering it. If a serious philosopher would say your version of the objection is a strawman, you’ve lost the reader who came here because they’d already thought about it.
Where this argument stops
Say plainly what it doesn’t settle. A page that claims to have closed the question loses the exact reader you’re writing for.