Intercession

format_quote Originally Posted by POBook

What would you do if one of your employees was doing their best but just kept messing up--costing you money, pride, and time. Would you keep this employee?

Yes infact I have a special program for such employees which is called a Training workshop

If we feel our employee is trying their best but they make too many mistakes we send them to training workshop and then they are relocated if necessary

This is a function carried out simply because the cost of re-hiring outweighs the cost of firing and hiring

But thats another Issue

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Where God is concerned he does not have 'limited' resources like we humans do - so for God to forgive anyone he wants takes no effort on Gods part and for God to punish someone takes no effort on his part either.

Infact when God created the heavens and Earth it neither lessened or increased anything to his might or power in the least!

Also when God will end the universe it will take no effort on his part and it will neither lessen nor increase anything in his power or kingdom

Well I dont have any set times, but this is a good time usually for me - so u can catch me around these timings

And I will greet you with the greetings of All the prophets including Jesus:
Peace Be Upon You

format_quote Originally Posted by Fi_Sabilillah

... [QUOTE EDITED]: Please do not quote large posts as they are a waste of space, thankyou.

Great response! I must go but one final question for now (I want us to talk more): What gives GOD the right to forgive? If He is just, surely He has to punish sin. I believe GOD hates to punish people He loves, but as a just GOD, can He look at sinful people and do nothing about that? Does that not do away with His justice?

Ok let me give you one Example to explain the situation

I dopnt know this Hadith in EXACT words, but I am sure many Muslim shave heard this one before insha'Allah

According to one Hadith...

There was one man who was very very sinful
But one day he heard about Islam and decided to learn about it
In his quest for knowledge on Islam he travelled many places asking people where to find The Prophet Of God (Mohammed (s) )
Eventually he reached one place where they told him where to find the Prophet(sa)

So as the man was headed towards the town, he died on the way!
The angels of Death came to take his soul...

The Angels of "account taking" were looking at his accounts and decided that his place was in hellfire according to his deeds.

So as they were about to write his place in hellfire according to his deeds..Allah told them to stop and measure the distance between him and the city where the Prophet was and the distance between where he had come from and was currently at.

they measured the distance and found the distance between him and the city where the Prophet was to be shorter.
So God forgave all his sins with his mercy and admitted the man to the Gardens of Paradise

So you see not only is God merciful but also just - and those who get his mercy will be deserving of it - so the sins will be forgiven by God because of his justice and his mercy working together

format_quote Originally Posted by POBook

Thank you for the welcome Silver Pearl...that's a very interesting name. How did you decide on it?



Yes, I am a firm believer in GOD as a forgiving GOD. But is he not also just? If you have children who do not do what you tell them to, do you not discipline them or punish them? There is no perfect human being. We have all committed sins against GOD--intentionally or unintentionally. I want to know how a Holy and Righteous God is going to deal with sin.

You’re welcome,

Thank you, it is the meaning of this Arabic name I liked.

Disciplining and punishing in a way are similar if not the same. If my children did something wrong I would ‘punish’ them I suppose, not physically hopefully inshallah (God willing). However, the relationship between a child and his parent is quite different from the relationship between the creator and his creation. In Islam God is not our ‘father’ like in Christianity, he is the creator.

Those who sin in vain and arrogance and are too proud to seek repentance are punished. And their punishment is the hellfire for they were the transgressors and wrongdoers.

If one who sinned seeks forgiveness they may be forgiven, that is the way of the Merciful. For example, if one was a disbeliever for 70 years (killing, committing adultery, stealing) and then one day embraced Islam, and became a believer ALL their past sins will be erased and they will become like a new born child. If that same person dies the following day he will go to jannah (paradise).

Wa Allahu’3llim (And God knows best)

What gives GOD the right to forgive?

He is the creator, he does not have to seek permission for he is the create of everything seen and unseen.

If He is just, surely He has to punish sin.

No he doesn't HAVE to punish, by his mercy he will forgive if one repents.

Except those who repent and do righteous deeds, and openly declare (the truth which they concealed). These, I will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.(2:160)

Quran Chapter 5
Verse 18
(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are sons of Allah and His beloved." Say: "Why then doth He punish you for your sins? Nay ye are but men of the men He hath created: He forgiveth whom He pleaseth and He punisheth whom He pleaseth: and to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between: and unto Him is the final goal (of all)."


39:7 It ye reject (Allah) truly Allah has no need of you; but He liketh not ingratitude from His servants: if ye are grateful He is pleased with you. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. In the end to your Lord is your return when He will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). For He knoweth well all that is in (men's) hearts.

So the final criterion of Judgement remains with Allah for he knows all things which we even dont know!

Good question.


God gives people life and this is a test, within our life - we have to perform as much good deeds we can do as possible. And as you know - a human is a creature which naturally will be sinful, therefore they have to race to repentance, and by doing good deeds - it will remove their bad deeds too.

And keep up prayer in the two parts of the day and in the first hours of the night; surely good deeds take away evil deeds this is a reminder to the mindful. (11:114)


therefore we should race with each other to do good deeds within islam, which involve praying, giving to the poor, helping the needy, by smiling at your brother etc.

And we should also race with each other towards forgiveness, because we never know when we will die.


Now if a person sincerely repents and asks for forgiveness, God will forgive him, and the person will not be punished for that crime.


Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for God will change the evil of such persons into good, and God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful


And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to God with an (acceptable) conversion;-


[25:70 - 71]


God doesn't just forgive the persons sins, but he even rewards the person because they've sincerely repented and they dont want to go back to that sin again.

Now thats more than Just dont you think.


The reason God forgives is because He knows that humans will naturally sin, but it is more of a theory of who will turn back to God and ask God for the forgiveness & who will follow the commands of the Almighty.


Now the second part of your questions probably totally different to what you expect, and i'll try my best to clarify it.

First of all i want you to remember that God is the Most Just, this means that he is even Just to the non muslims - the ones who dont even believe in God.


The first point is, God will test those whom he loves - like its been mentioned in the verse above:

[29.2] Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried?
[29.3] And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars.


That means that God will test the people (the believers) he loves in this life. This means putting them through different sorts of hardships, so it is a Just way of forgiving the persons sins.


this relates to the hadith of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who said:

“Whatever befalls a Muslim of exhaustion, illness, worry, grief, nuisance or trouble, even though it may be no more than a prick of a thorn, earns him forgiveness by Allah of some of his sins.”

But you have to keep in mind:

2:286 On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.


This way - God is being Just and the believers sins will be forgiven.


Whereas, God will keep giving goodness to the non-believers in this life, for the deeds they have done. For instance, if a person who is a kafir (a person who rejects faith) has smiled at a person in this life - God will reward them in some way for that deed they have done,

so the person may get alot of riches in this life. This is the Justness God gives to all people whether they believe or not.

Whereas God may keep testing the believer in this life, but we will stay pleased and remain steadfast, like our beloved Prophet

Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

" Wondrous are the believer's affairs. For him there is good in all his affairs, and this is so only for the believer. When something pleasing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something displeasing happens to him, he is enduring (sabar), and that is good for him " (sahih Muslim )


but the rejectors of faith will try to stop the believers..

Those in sin used to laugh at those who believed, (83:29)

And whenever they passed by them, used to wink at each other (in mockery); (83:30)

And when they returned to their own people, they would return jesting; (83:31)

And whenever they saw them, they would say, "Behold! These are the people truly astray!" (83:32)


But this doesn't mean that the people who reject faith and do bad acts get away with it, no - they will get the fire in the afterlife.

For those who reject their Lord (and Cherisher) is the Penalty of Hell: and evil is (such), Destination. (67:06)]


Say: "See ye?- If Allah were to destroy me, and those with me, or if He bestows His Mercy on us,- yet who can deliver

the Unbelievers from a grievous Penalty?" (67:28)


But the disbelievers keep rejecting faith:

..their messengers came to them with clear arguments; so it was not Allah Who should do them injustice, but they were unjust to themselves. (9:70)

The people in hell will be in different punishments, which will be affected by the amount of sins they had commited in this life, we know

this because our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his beloved family) said:


Hadith - Qudsi 38

When Allah Almighty created Paradise and Hell-fire, He sent Gabriel to Paradise, saying: Look at it and at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants.

The Prophet May Allah's peace and praise be on him said: So he came to it and looked at it and at what Allah had prepared therein for its inhabitants. The Prophet May Allah's peace and praise be on him said: So he returned to Him and said: By your glory, no one hears of it without entering it. So He ordered that it be encompassed by forms of hardship, and He said: Return to it and look at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants. The Prophet May Allah's peace and praise be on him said:

So he returned to it and found that it was encompassed by forms of hardship. Then he returned to Him and said: By Your glory, I fear that no one will enter it. He said: Go to Hell-fire and look at it and what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants, and he found that it was in layers, one above the other.

Then he returned to Him and said: By Your glory, no one who hears of it will enter it. So He ordered that it be encompassed by lusts. Then He said: Return to it. And he returned to it and said: By Your glory, I am frightened that no one will escape from entering it.


...That was because they rebelled and used to transgress. (5:78)

They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do!



The believers are treatedly unjustly;

Those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And had there not been Allah's repelling some people by others, certainly there would have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques in which Allah's name is much remembered; and surely Allah will help him who helps His cause; most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty. (22:40)

Those who, should We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil; and Allah's is the end of affairs. (22:41)

"The believers, men and women, are friends of one another. They command what is right and forbid what is wrong." (9:71)[/color]


Those who say: Our Lord! surely we believe, therefore forgive us our faults and save us from the chastisement of the fire. (3:16)

The patient, and the truthful, and the obedient, and those who spend (benevolently) [in charity] and those who ask forgiveness in the morning times. (3:17)



Those who faithfully observe their trusts and their covenants; (23:08)

And who (strictly) guard their prayers;- (23:09)

These are they who are the heirs, (23:10)

Who will inherit Paradise: they will dwell therein (for ever). (23:11)



"Say, 'Shall I bring your attention to things far better than those? For the righteous are gardens in nearness to their Lord, with rivers flowing beneath, eternal therein, with pure companions and the good pleasure of Allah. For within Allah's sight are all His servants – especially those who say, "Our Lord, we have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the agony of the Fire." Those who are patient, are truthful, who worship devoutly, who spend in the way of Allah and who prays for forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours.'"
[ali'-Imran, 3: 15-17]


"Allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow, they shall be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments therein will be silk. They have been guided in this life to good speech, and they have been guided to the path of Him, the All Praised."
[Hajj, 22: 23-24]


"Their salutation on the day they meet Him will be 'Peace!; and He has prepared for them a generous reward."
[Ahzab, 33: 44]



This is the just a taster of the Justness of Allah the Most Beneficial, the Most Merciful to His servants.


If you need more info, or dont understand - please do ask. & i hope you understand insha Allaah (God willing.)



wa Allaahu a'lam. (and Allaah the Most Beneficial, the Most Merciful knows best.)

Hey again.


subhan Allaah (glory be to Allaah) you got some really good questions, and i love the way your so interested in this.


I dont have any children lol, but i do understand what you mean - that one should punish their child to tell them the difference between right and wrong, if they have commited a crime, but dont you think you should ask them why they actually performed that act? what motivated them to do that? if it was for a good purpose - then surely you would let them off and forgive them.


Referring to your first question - the answer can be yes, God will allow people to enter paradise if the good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, but these deeds will not be the reason for them entering paradise - but it will only be through Allaah the Most Beneficial's Mercy, that we do enter paradise - because the reward of paradise is too high for a persons deeds to be enough to allow them into paradise.

The reason why I can say this is because:

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his beloved family) said,

"A place in Paradise as small as the bow or lash of one of you is better than all the world and whatever is in it" (Sahih Bukhari 4:51, Narrated Abu Huraira)


Hence - even if we had all the wealth in this world, and we gave it all to charity - it still wouldn't be enough to pay the price for paradise, & because Allah Almighty has seen the person strive & struggle in this life to do good deeds, insha Allaah (God willing) - that person will enter paradise through Allaah Almighty, the Most Beneficial's Mercy.


------

Referring to your second point - Allaah Almighty has set some rules for mankind to abide by. Like you know - these rules are there to keep society just, without any sort of vice, corruption etc. Allaah Almighty doesn't just make laws to force them upon people - but it is a matter of who will listen and obey them, and who will turn away and transgress by breaking them laws.

This has been happening since the beginning of time, since Adam (peace be upon him) the first human to ever walk on the earth, and it will always keep happening - people will keep turning away from God's commands.


Woe to man! What hath made him reject Allah; Of what thing did He create him?

From a sperm-drop: He hath created him, and then mouldeth him in due proportions; Then (as for) the way-- He has made it easy (for him)Then He causes him to die, then assigns to him a grave,

(80:17 - 21)


God has been sending prophets & messengers, some with holy scriptures and some reminding people of God , to remind the people of a terrible day, when they will be judged on all their actions within this life,


Man shall on that day be informed of what he sent before and (what he) put off. (75:13)

Nay! man is evidence against himself, (75:14)


so Allaah Almighty will never treat anyone unjustly, but the person will be accountable for their own acts within this life.

This leads upto the part where we were discussing about peoples intentions and their acts;


Lets refer to this hadith of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his beloved family.)


="Actions are but by intentions and every man will have only what he intended. So whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever emigrated to attain something of this world or to marry a woman, then his emigration was for whatever reason he emigrated."

[Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]


So referring to this hadith - which is a perfect example of peoples intentions and their acts, it makes one realise that if a person is doing an act, your intention is what influences that act.

obviously Allaah the All Knowing knows us more than we know ourselves, because Allaah Almighty created us - so Allaah knows our intention before we do any act.

Therefore we will be judged first and foremost on our intention, (now refer to this hadith)


Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.

Hadith Qudsi 16


so from the hadith above - we can say this:


intention of a good deed = 1 good deed recorded.

intention + act of doing good = 10 to 700 (or many times over) good deeds recorded.

intention to do bad, but doesn't do it = 1 good deed.

intention to do bad, and does it = 1 bad deed.


So even if a person was going to do something good, with a good intention - but something bad came out of it - they will still get rewarded with a good deed for it because their intention was to do a good act.

But in islam - we know that Allaah Almighty is watching over us no matter what we do - so we have to be aware that we do keep our intentions good, because on the day of judgement - we will be questioned, and shown everything we did in this life, and them deeds will also be a partial proof for us entering paradise or not.


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The third part was explained in the previous post, but i may have not been that clear.

Like you know - if we commit crimes, we will be punished for it whether in this life or the afterlife, but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't show God that we are sorry for our crime. Allaah is the Most Merciful and like i've said above - He knows our intention, therefore if we are asking for forgiveness sincerely with a strong intention of not doing that crime or sin again - then God is prepared to forgive us, because its a mistake that we shall learn from, something that we'll try our best to learn from so we dont do it again.


But like i've mentioned before, we will keep commiting sins in this life, some on purpose, and some by mistake.


..And there is no sin for you in the mistakes that ye make unintentionally, but what your hearts purpose (that will be a sin for you), and Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. (33:05)


Their are 99 names in the qur'an of Allaah Almighty, each describing a special attribute to Allaah Almighty.. there are also 114 chapters within the qur'an, and at the beginning of 113 chapters, we recite (english translation of):


"In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Compassionate".


And the names Ghafooru Raheem (Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful) are mentioned so much times in the qur'an, which shows the eternal Mercy of Allaah Almighty.


There is a reason why them names are mentioned so much, and the reason is because Allaah is showing endless Mercy towards the people, so the people dont have a excuse to turn away from God, they wont feel afraid that they have too much sins - because they have proof that their God will forgive them if they sincerely dont want to do

that sin again, and will have a fresh new start of doing good from then on.

This is why if any human has come to islam - all their previous sins are forgiven and even turned to good deeds! because Allaah Almighty knows that the person is prepared to give up their bad acts, and due to this sacrifice - Allaah Almighty will reward the believers with paradise, because they sacrificed their desires (eg. gave their riches to the poor, worked hard to enjoin the truth and forbade the evil etc.) for a more better reward for what they did.


[As for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allâh Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, for them are Gardens (Paradise) as an entertainment, for what they used to do.(32:19)


This is when the situation of doing good, forbidding the evil, and enduring in patience comes in.


Allaah Almighty swears by time:


I swear by the time,

Verily Man is in loss,

Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.

(103: 1 - 3)


This is such a small chapter within the qur'an but it gives a really detailed idea of what we have to do in our life, and if we dont do it - we're wasting our chance, wasting our lives when we could be doing good deeds to get a position in paradise.


Allaah Almighty is swearing by time, that we wont be successful unless we first and foremost - believe (in Allaah as the only true deity worthy of worship,

And enjoin on people the truth, this can include the truth about faith, and any other form of truth too, forbidding the evil etc. (and Allaah Almighty knows best.)

We should do good acts, which have been prescribed for us, eg. helping the needy, performing prayer, fasting, etc.


And enjoin on each other patience;

this can be in any situation, and patience plays a big role - like you noticed how;

- Jesus (peace be upon him and his beloved family) had to be so patient against the jews when they went against him.

- When pharoah was a oppressor to the children of israel and Moses (peace be upon him and his beloved family) had to stay patient for some decades before pharoah got destroyed.

- When the people of arabia attacked our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his beloved family.) and they tried to kill him, imprison him, etc. but after 23yrs of patience, nine of the countries in the arabian peninsula came to islam.


This happened to all the prophets, and like i've mentioned before in my earlier post, the believers will keep getting tested, the more a person gets tested in this life - the more Allaah Almighty loves that person - because that is a just way of rewarding the believers. This is the reason why Allaah Almighty has given the most toughest of lives to the prophets.


And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the Shaitans (satans) from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive (them), and had your Lord pleased they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge. (6:112)


I hope you understand what i mean, if not - then please ask again.

Hey.

I just want to start off with the point that i'm in no way like a scholar lol, so i wont be able to answer every single question you ask me, or maybe not answer it with enough depth. But i'll give it my best shot insha Allaah (God willing.)


"And unto you we have revealed the Scripture with truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it." (10:94)


Now looking back into the history of the time of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him.)

He (peace be upon him) had no complete knowledge of religion - he (peace be upon him) knew that the pagan arabs worshipped idols, but he (peace be upon him) detested that idea, why should people worship stone which can neither benefit a person, nor harm a person?

The majority of the jews and christians lived outside the area of Mecca, and because our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stayed in Mecca for most of his youth, he never had no or just a little knowledge concerning their (the jews and christian) beliefs.


Us muslims believe that Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them both and their beloved families) were prophets of Allaah Almighty - they came as messengers with holy scriptures (the torah, and the injeel [gospel]) and they gave the same message to the people - worship Allaah alone, without any partners.. the message was simple - but people distorted the message of the bible, and the torah after the prophets had passed away.


This is why Allaah Almighty revealed the qur'an:

Those who reject the Message when it comes to them (are not hidden from Us). And indeed it is a Book of exalted power.

No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it: It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise.

Naught is said to you but what was said indeed to the messengers before you; surely your Lord is the Lord of forgiveness and the Lord of painful retribution.

(41:41-43)


so Allaah Almighty has sent down the qur'an, with the same message as the prophets those came before. And the part 'and a watcher over it' means that it will never get distorted from the day it was revealed, and will remain that way till the day of judgement. It can never get distorted because Allaah Almighty has protected it from getting distorted:


We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption). (15:09)


---

"And if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which we reveal unto you, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before you." (10:94)


This, referring to the verse you pointed out earlier (10:94), may mean that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) could ask the christians and jews regarding their beliefs to give a more securer feeling that he (peace be upon him) is a prophet, and that there have been prophets before him - so he is not alone, others have also experienced this.

This is a natural feeling, for instance - if a person is the first to do a job, you may feel self-conscious, whereas if you know that others have done a similar job before you, it gives a feeling of confidence and security.

I think its better if you ask a more knowledgable person regarding that, maybe bro Ansar off this forum.


---

Referring to what you asked brother Akulion - i think you have to remember that God tests those he loves, for instance the majority of the people who turn to God - do you think its people who have a really fun, high class lifestyle? or are the majority; poor, distressed people?

This is the reality of the world, and every single prophet that comes - the majority of the poor will follow him, whereas most of the time - the rich turn away.

A really good example of this is with pharoah who thought he was self-sufficient. God sent a plague, so pharoah would turn to Moses (peace be upon him) and repent. This shows that God sent the punishment so pharoah would turn to God and repent, but he never due to his pride - which lead to his destruction, in this life and the hereafter.

This shows that punishment of this life, and forgiveness is linked together, if people had all their desires fulfilled in this life - then what would be the purpose of paradise? If all the prophets had the most best & easiest of lives in this life - then what would be the purpose of this life?


wa Allaahu a'lam. (and Allaah Almighty knows best.)


If you dont understand what i mean, then it may be better that you discuss some areas with bro Ansar, because i may not be knowledgable enough to answer everything you ask.. sorry.

Thanks.

format_quote Originally Posted by POBook

Hi again Fi_Sabilillah

You said, "...but people distorted the message of the bible, and the torah after the prophets had passed away."

Who distorted the message of the Bible? When did they distort it?:confused:

Hello POBook,
For starters, take a look at what Jeremiah 8:8 says:
How can you say, 'We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. (NASB)

Jeremiah makes it very clear to the people that they have turned their scriptures into a LIE. For more info, one can refer to Misquoting Jesus by Prof. Ehrmans as well as the online articles by Islamic-Awareness such as Textual Reliability/Accuracy of the New testament.

I didn't get a chance to review this entire thread, but while browsing through it, I caught some examples of the common misconceptions Christians have of Islam.

Misconception #1 The God of Islam is hateful and does not love anyone
In response to an article with this claim, I wrote:

The article's major points can be summarised as follows:

1. Allah rejects the notion of fathership; the Qur'an depicts him instead as a master
2. His love is restricted to a select few
3. Muhammad did not experience contentment with 'his god', but rather fear.
4. Therefore, Allah is distant, and His love is shallow.

If I've missed any points let me know. I'll attempt to address each point in order now, inshaa'Allah.

1. The first point arises from a failure to understand the Qur'anic concept of God and its description of God as our Rabb. The word Rabb implies a cherisher, sustainer, lord, and guardian. It carries many of the meanings associated with the english word 'father', yet it maintains the superiority and invulnerability of the entity in question. It maintains any good meaning of the word father, while dismissing all the confusion that has arisen from the term.

2. The second point is also mistaken as the Qur'an clarifies that Allah's love may be universal and it also may be specific. (see here, which I think is a good overall response to your article) As the Qur'an states:
My punishment I inflict upon whom I will but My rahmah embraces all things... (7:156)
O our Sustainer! You embrace all things within (Your) rahmah and knowledge. (40:7)
God's mercy is probably the most emphasized concept in islam. We invoke it twice before reciting any chapter in the Qur'an (save the ninth), and both the Qur'an and our Prophet have been described as a manifestation of God's mercy (45:20 and 21:107, respectively). The Qur'an repeatedly tells man never to despair of God's mercy (39:53). After reading the Qur'an carefully, one can not help but come away with an image of a loving God who even 'races' to those servants who merely take one step towards Him (Hadith Qudsi).

3. This entire argument is flawed since it was not Allah whom Muhammad met at cave Hira, but Angel Jibreel, who came in an imposing manner to inform Muhammad (pbuh) of his Prophethood, which itself carries much wisdom. However the ahadith and the Qur'an clearly mention the tranquility and comfort the believers feel when close to their Lord, and the invincibility they acquire to all worldly things. For example the Qur'an states that when God is pleased with His servants, they experience peace and tranquility and increase in faith (48:18). And when believers profess their faith in God they recieve a sense of peace and warmth (46:13). In recounting His favours upon Muhammad, Allah mentions that He provided him with safe refuge and granted him peace and contentment (93:5-8). Allah also opened his heart and removed his burden (94:1-3). Allah repeatedly states that He is gentle, kind and gracious to His servants (42:19). He is the Friend, Protector and Guardian of those who have faith (2:257).

4. The last point should be obviously false by know, but just to make sure, let's quote the Qur'an again...
2:186 When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.

Misconception #2 Islamic salvation is merely a currency of good and bad deeds

This is also not true. It is true that as Muslims, we believe that God has sent us here on earth with a divine mission to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil. Those who do good deeds will be rewarded and those who act wrongly will be punished. But this is not the entire understanding of salvation. Firstly, one must have eemaan in Allah and accept the message of His Prophets. Then a person must act in accordance with that message, which entails performing righteous deeds. But ultimately, it is not our deeds that will win us a place in paradise, it is the immense and unlimited mercy of Our Creator. This is demonstrated in the following hadith:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The good deeds of any person will not make him enter Paradise." (i.e., None can enter Paradise through his good deeds.) They (the Prophet's companions) said, 'Not even you, O Allah's Apostle?' He said, "Not even myself, unless Allah bestows His favor and mercy on me." (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 70, Number 577)

The deeds are a means of earning Allah's favour and mercy. Moreover, the way to Allah is not difficult for those who seek Him. If someone strives to earn Allah's pleasure, Allah will make it easy for them. Allah informs us in the Qur'an:
29:69. As for those who strive hard in Our Cause, We will surely guide them to Our Paths. And verily, Allâh is with the pious."

And another hadith:
On the authority of Anas, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah say:
Allah the Almighty has said:

"O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its."

(Tirmidhi)

All this makes it very clear that Allah swt has made a very open path for humanity to enter into His mercy, we need only strive in this direction.

Another question you asked:

What gives GOD the right to forgive? If He is just, surely He has to punish sin. I believe GOD hates to punish people He loves, but as a just GOD, can He look at sinful people and do nothing about that? Does that not do away with His justice?

The answer is that God's forgiveness is inter-twined with His justice. So in reality we are looking at two types of sins here: Sins which harm others and sins which do not. An example of the first would be abuse, while the second would be abstaining from prayer. Since the second category of sins involves disobedience to God, it is solely His right to forgive such transgressions. As for the first category, it is also God's right to forgive since the transgressions are against His creation, which belong to Him. Nevertheless, God has a system of justice such that when one is harmed it will either expiate their sins or add to their rewards in the next life. So in the end, no matter what God does, justice is always served.

If I have missed any significant points, please let me know.

Regards

format_quote Originally Posted by POBook

Selam Akulion,

"Quran Chapter 5
Verse 18
(Both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are sons of Allah and His beloved." Say: "Why then doth He punish you for your sins? Nay ye are but men of the men He hath created: He forgiveth whom He pleaseth and He punisheth whom He pleaseth: and to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between: and unto Him is the final goal (of all)."

Does Allah love those whom he forgives and hate those whom he punishes?

Those who persist in doing wrong things and never desist earn the anger and wrath of Allah swt. He still provides for them because he is Merciful and their Lord of course.

As for those who repent and desist in their bad actions gain the mercy of Allah.

So simply put it all depends on every man and woman - do they wish to be loved by God? or do they wish to recieve the anger of God?

What we choose with our free wills will dictate the outcome

oh yes and additionally we must never forget - Those who love evil in this world and do it will be rewarded with Evil so they have noone to blame but themselves in the hereafter

And vice versa for those who love good and do good will be rewarded with good

Plus it dosent matter if you mess up while trying to do good - because Allah swt judges every action on intentions

format_quote Originally Posted by POBook

Thank you for your response. First, in order to address my quote concerning the corruption of scripture, you used a verse of scripture from Jeremiah. Why would Jeremiah, a scriptural writing, be right and the rest of scripture corrupt? Surely if Jeremiah is correct and not corrupt, then all of scripture is correct and not corrupt?

The point in quoting Jeremiah is to prove that even according to the Bible itself, it is not perfectly preserved. As far as the corruption of the Bible goes, I explained in another thread that although Muslims believe that the Bible has been tampered with, this does not mean that it would be changed entirely so that not even a single word remained from the original scripture. The Bible contains both truth and falsehood; we use the Qur'an as the criterion in assessing which is which. Please see:
http://www.islamicboard.com/comparat...rs-market.html

Second, to say that GOD sees two types of sins, I believe is a dishonor to Him.

Why?

The logic behind that is to say we can decide what is wrong and right.

Not at all.

It is also to say that a Righteous, Holy, and Just God is OK with certain sins and not with other sins.

No, the sins are not simply OK, but if someone sincerely repents, then God considers their good intentions and sincere desire to come back to Him, and in His infinite justice and mercy He may forgive them.

With sincerity --- Wayne, a devout follower of Jesus

I'm glad you consider yourself a devout follower of Jesus. I am also a devout follower of Jesus and a devout worshipper of the One God who created everything.

Regards