Allah seems very very capricious
From part I
The deception of Allah and the uncertainty of salvationThe Qur’an warns people against feeling secure from Allah’s lies, deceit, schemes etc.
Have they become sure about Allah’s scheming/deceit (makra Allahi)? None are sure about Allah’s scheming/deceit (makra Allahi) except the people who are losers. S. 7:99
The verse is formulated in absolute terms, e.g. "none … except …," which means that it has consequences for the believers as well. Muslims must pretty much live in constant fear from the makr (cheating/scheming/deception) of Allah, since it is only the losers, the disbelievers, who do not fear it. Thus, if a Muslim thinks that s/he is secure from Allah’s cheating/deception then s/he is already among the losers.
To state this differently, unbelievers think they are secure but their sense of security is misguided and are headed for a dreadful judgment. And yet believers cannot feel or be secure since a sign of disbelief is having a sense of security or safety from Allah’s schemes and lies. They must necessarily live in fear of Allah in order to show or know that they are not among the losers, or disbelievers, but are true believers.
This explains why Allah doesn’t guarantee the salvation of his followers, and why the Qur’an often says that the Islamic deity may choose to do such and such if he so wishes but is not obligated to do so:
Allah forgives not that aught should be with Him associated; less than that He forgives to whomsoever He will. Whoso associates with Allah anything, has indeed forged a mighty sin. S. 4:48
Hence, even though Allah has committed himself to torment and condemn sinners he isn’t obligated to forgive them even if they happen to turn to him in repentance.
Only he shall inhabit Allah's places of worship who believes in Allah and the Last Day, and performs the prayer, and pays the alms, and fears none but Allah alone; it MAY BE that those will be among the guided. S. 9:18 Medinan
O believers, follow not the steps of Satan; for whosoever follows the steps of Satan, assuredly he bids to indecency and dishonour. But for Allah's bounty to you and His mercy not one of you would have been pure ever; but God purifies whom He will; and Allah is All-hearing, All-knowing. S. 24:21
O ye who believe! Turn unto Allah in sincere repentance! It MAY BE that your Lord will remit from you your evil deeds and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, on the day when Allah will not abase the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will run before them and on their right hands; they will say: Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and forgive us! Lo! Thou art Able to do all things. S. 66:8 Medinan
In fact, the Qur’an itself shows that it is not Allah’s will to save everyone since he has chosen to send whomever he wants to hell:
Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the guided one, and whomsoever He sends astray, those! They are the losers. And surely,We have created many of the jinns and mankind for Hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not, they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth). They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones. S. 7:178-179 Hilali-Khan
If We had so willed, We could have given every soul its guidance; but now My Word is realized – ‘Assuredly I shall fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together.’ So now taste, for that you forgot the encounter of this your day! We indeed have forgotten you. Taste the chastisement of eternity for that you were doing!' S. 32:13-14
The above verses demonstrate that Allah is under no obligation to forgive or purify anyone and doesn’t commit himself to save any individual since he obviously doesn’t want his followers from ever feeling safe and secure from his lies and deceit.
This then explains why even those nearest to him, such as the angels, can only hope for mercy and fear Allah’s wrath:
Those they call upon are themselves seeking the means to come to their Lord, which of them shall be nearer; they HOPE for His mercy, and fear His chastisement. Surely thy Lord's chastisement is a thing to beware of. S. 17:57 Meccan
In light of the foregoing does it really come as a surprise that Muhammad was never certain of his destiny and didn’t know whether Allah would save and forgive him? Should it shock us to discover that Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's closest friends and the first Muslim leader after Muhammad’s death, was afraid for his own eternal destiny?
"Although he had such a faith, which was too great to suffice all the inhabitants of the earth, he was afraid that his heart might go astray. So, he used to utter, while weeping: ‘Would that I have been a bitten tree!’ Whenever he was reminded of his position in Allah’s sight, he would say: ‘By Allah! I would not rest assured and feel safe from the deception of Allah (la amanu limakr Allah), even if I had one foot in paradise.’" (Khalid Muhammad Khalid, Successors of the Messenger, translated by Muhammad Mahdi al-Sharif [Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah, Beirut Lebanon, 2005], Book One: Abu Bakr Has Come, p. 99)
Allah’s non-commitment to save and his deceptive character also help us to make sense out of the following reports where other companions of Muhammad would weep in fear in the face of their impending deaths:
It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Shamasa Mahri that he said: We went to Amr b. al-As and he was about to die. He wept for a long time and turned his face towards the wall. His son said: Did the Messenger of Allah not give you tidings of this? Did the Messenger of Allah not give you tidings of this? He (the narrator) said: He turned his face (towards the audience) and said: The best thing which we can count upon is the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah. Verily I have passed through three phases. (The first one) in which I found myself averse to none else more than I was averse to the Messenger of Allah and there was no other desire stronger in me than the one that I should overpower him and kill him. Had I died in this state, I would have been definitely one of the denizens of Fire. When Allah instilled the love of Islam in my heart, I came to the Apostle and said: Stretch out your right hand so that may pledge my allegiance to you. He stretched out his right hand, I withdrew my hand, He (the Holy Prophet) said: What has happened to you, O 'Amr? I replied: I intend to lay down some condition. He asked: What condition do you intend to put forward? I said: I should be granted pardon. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)? Verily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds), and verily the pilgrimage wipes out all the (previous) misdeeds. And then no one was as dear to me than the Messenger of Allah and none was more sublime in my eyes than he. Never could I pluck courage to catch a full glimpse of his face due to its splendour. So if I am asked to describe his features, I cannot do that for I have not eyed him fully. Had I died in this state I had every reason TO HOPE that I would have bee among the dwellers of
And:
According to Ibn Humayd – Salamah – Muhammad b. Ishaq – Muhammad b. Ja‘far b. al-Zubayr – ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr, who said: The Messenger of God sent his expedition to Mu’tah in Jumada I of the year 8. He put Zayd b. Harithah in command of the men and said, "If Zayd b. Harithah is killed, Ja‘far b. Abi Talib shall be in command of the men; if Ja‘far is killed, ‘Abdallah b. Rawahah shall be in command… When ‘Abdallah b. Rawahah said goodbye with the other commanders of the Messenger of God who were doing so, HE WEPT. They said to him, "What is making you weep, Ibn Rawahah?" He said, "By God, I have no love of this world or excessive love for you, but I heard the Messenger of God recite a verse from the Book of God that mentioned the Fire [of Hell] - ‘Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; that for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined’-AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW I CAN COME OUT AFTER GOING DOWN." The Muslims said, "May God accompany you, defend you, and bring you back to us in good health." … (The History of Al-Tabari: The Victory of Islam, translated by Michael Fishbein [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1997], Volume VIII (8), pp. 152-153)
All of these Muslims shared this in common: None of them knew for certain whether Allah would save them from hell and had to die in a state of dread and fear as a result of their uncertainty. As one Christian writer puts it:
TWO OF THE FIRST MUSLIMS
Finally, to close this Chapter we shall look at the attitude of two of the earliest and greatest Muslims, which shows how they were feeling as death approached. Jens Christensen, after many years of Islamic studies, wrote, [14]
One of the things that often surprised me in my first studies of Islam was the note of despondency and insecurity that is found in the deathbed utterances of so many of Islam's great men.
Abu Bakr, for example, was a prince among men, of sterling character and a true Muslim. Yet it is said of him that he was so fearful of the future and labored so much under distress that his breath was often as of a roasted liver. According to two traditions he is supposed to have said to Aisha on the day of his death,
“Oh my daughter, this is the day of my release and of obtaining of my desert:—if gladness it will be lasting;if sorrow it will never cease.”[12]
Do you see those two "ifs"? Nothing in Islam can remove them; not even the fact that Abu Bakr was given the title ‘Atiq (Free) because Muhammad is supposed to have told him: “You are free (saved) from the fire.”
T. P. Hughes quotes Omar as saying, “It had gone hard with my soul, if I had not been a Muslim”[13], but in telling of Omar's death Christensen writes,[14]
When Omar was lying on his deathbed, he is reported to have said,
“...I am not other than as a drowning man who sees a possibility of escape with life, and hopes for it, but fears he may die and lose it, and so plunges about with hands and feet. More desperate than the drowning man is he who at the sight of heaven and hell is buried in the vision...Had I the whole East and West, gladly would I give up all to be delivered from this awful terror that is hanging over me. And finally touching his face against the ground he cried aloud: `Alas for Omar, and alas for the mother of Omar, if it should not please the Lord to pardon me.”
Do you see Omar's difficulty? It is the uncertainty expressed in the "if" of the last sentence. That "if" does not express any feeling of uncertainty regarding Omar's faith, Omar's belief in one God, Omar's trust and confidence in the prophet, or Omar's lack of having lived a moral life. All of these things are in order as far as a human being could do that which is right.
No, The "if" refers to Allah; "if" it should not please the Lord to pardon him.
NO MAN CAN KNOW
When Yazid was burying Omar his father, he is quoted as saying: “I will not magnify him before the Almighty in whose presence he has gone to appear. If He forgives him it will be of His mercy; if He takes vengeance on him, it will be for his transgressions.”
Here again you have the two " ifs":
If Allah forgives...If Allah takes vengeance...
This remark of Yazid's seems to me to epitomize the whole of Islam.[14] No man from Muhammad himself, right down to the least educated non-Arabic speaking Muslim who knows only a few prayers, would ever presume to know, or dare to predict what "if" will mean for him.[15] ...
Notes:
12. This and the following quotations about Omar are found in The Torch of Guidance to the Mystery of Redemption translated by Sir W. Muir, printed by the Religious Tract Society, London [Christensen's footnote]
13. Hughes, op.cit., p.654.
14. Practical
15. Ibid., p. 381 (Dr. William Campbell, the Qur’an and the Bible in light of History and Science, Section Six: Jesus and Muhammad, Two Prophets For A Lost World?, Chapter V. The Power of Intercession; source)
When we better grasp what Q. 7:99 says and the complicit and capricious nature of Allah, this fear is very understandable. These Muslims knew their god enough to know that he is a deceiver who could change his mind and send them to hell if he wanted to without anyone stopping him from doing so.
Inviting Muslims to the God who can be trusted to save perfectly
There is One, however, who can be completely trusted to do as he says and who assures those who love him that they shall experience true forgiveness and peace. Instead of the fear and insecurity instilled by Islam, subjecting Muslims to a spirit of terror and despair, the true God revealed in the Holy Bible offers hope of life and freedom from the fear of death and judgment. God did this by sending forth his eternal Son to save rebel sinners from God’s holy and just wrath by dying as a sacrifice for their sins:
" But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one… Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." Hebrews 2:9, 14-17
God promises that all who put their complete trust and faith in his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, will become his spiritual children and will have all their sins completely forgiven:
" He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:10-13
" There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. … For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8:1-2, 14-17
"But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir." Galatians 4:4-7
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:1-2
The Lord Jesus expressly stated that whoever believes in him will never die, or be severed from God’s love and fellowship:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life;he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5:24
"Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.’" John 11:23-27
Now contrast this with the words of Muhammad’s god:
Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die and verily, they (too) will die. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be disputing before your Lord. S. 39:30-31
The true Lord further said that he is preparing places in heaven for those who love him and that he would return to take them to dwell with him:
"Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’" John 14:1-6
Christ assures his followers that they would have his peace abiding in them, the peace which comes from knowing that those who believe in him have been completely reconciled with God by Christ’s death in their place:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27
"I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:4-5
We invite Muslims to this God, to the One revealed in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only the God revealed in Christ who can save Muslims from their sins and doubts since he has given proof of his love and willingness to forgive them completely by resurrecting his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, from the dead. Christ’s resurrection is the evidence that there is life beyond the grave and that those who turn to him shall live in perfect love, peace and fellowship with their Creator forever:
"I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." John 14:18-20
"And Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31
"But the words, ‘it was reckoned to him,’ were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation." Romans 4:23-25, 5:1, 8-11
"For it is evident that our Lord was descended from
Amen. Come Lord Jesus, come! We believe and know that you are the eternal Son of God who perfectly unites us with God and saves us completely and for all eternity. We love and worship you, risen and beloved Lord. Amen!
Related Articles
http://answering-islam.org/Index/P/predestination.html
http://answering-islam.org/Index/D/deception.html
http://answering-islam.org/Qur’an/Versions/003.054.html
http://answering-islam.org/Qur’an/Versions/007.099.html
IHS
No comments:
Post a Comment