Yes, it is funny isn't it?
That the über-gawd of them all does not not give his followers the advantage over the infidels?
If he really was so great, you should expect his followers to be (on average) richer, luckier, healthier, have longer life expectancy and so on. Not forgetting a life in peace, freedom and harmony.
But no. The bacon-munching kuffars have all the fun.
That alone should start people thinking, if there was a flaw in the reasoning.
"God works in mysterious ways" and "It is a test of our faith" is a bit thin, isn't it?
To keep up that system, it has to be totalitarian. As soon as you start accepting free thinking and critical questions, it is likely to fall apart.
Thus you need a system of constant fear, peer pressure, mind numbing rituals and in-group/out-group mentality to keep people in line.
(And you need to back it up with a nice mix of threats, violence and the risk of being shunned by your family or sent home to get married to your illiterate uncle or cousin, should your moral need a boost)