God is the greatest conceivable being. God's character is perfect in every possible aspect. God’s moral character is the foundation for all moral values and duties. According to Psalm 89:14 righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. This throne is God’s judgement throne. All God’s judgements are on the basis of righteousness and justice. According to Isaiah 13:11 God “will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” This means that if God punishes human beings it is because the evil of their motivations and deeds calls for punishment. This also means that it is not possible that God should punish human beings for some ulterior or arbitrary reason, unrelated to moral evil.
The Qur’an however portrays God differently. In Qur’an 22:19-22 we have a detailed description of the horrific punishments that Allah will inflict on those who have not believed Muhammad’s claim to being God’s prophet. There are in fact a large number of similar Qur'anic verses that are devoted to describing Allah’s punishments on those who have merely failed to believe in Muhammad’s prophethood.
But neither belief nor disbelief in Muhammad's prophethood are morally significant. A person is not morally virtuous for believing that Muhammad was a prophet of God nor is a person morally despicable for not believing that Muhammad was a prophet of God. If therefore Allah punishes people for their failure to believe in Muhammad's prophethood, his judgements are arbitrary and therefore unjust. Allah may as well have determined to condemn everyone to hell who has lived their life habitually stirring their tea or coffee anti-clockwise instead of clockwise.
This leaves only two options for us. We can either decide that Allah is not God in which case the Qur’an is wrong in stating that Allah is God. Alternatively we can decide that Allah is God but then we have to accept that the Qur’an misrepresents Allah. Both options imply that the Qur’an is wrong and that Muhammad cannot be regarded as a prophet of God.
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The Qur’an however portrays God differently. In Qur’an 22:19-22 we have a detailed description of the horrific punishments that Allah will inflict on those who have not believed Muhammad’s claim to being God’s prophet. There are in fact a large number of similar Qur'anic verses that are devoted to describing Allah’s punishments on those who have merely failed to believe in Muhammad’s prophethood.
But neither belief nor disbelief in Muhammad's prophethood are morally significant. A person is not morally virtuous for believing that Muhammad was a prophet of God nor is a person morally despicable for not believing that Muhammad was a prophet of God. If therefore Allah punishes people for their failure to believe in Muhammad's prophethood, his judgements are arbitrary and therefore unjust. Allah may as well have determined to condemn everyone to hell who has lived their life habitually stirring their tea or coffee anti-clockwise instead of clockwise.
This leaves only two options for us. We can either decide that Allah is not God in which case the Qur’an is wrong in stating that Allah is God. Alternatively we can decide that Allah is God but then we have to accept that the Qur’an misrepresents Allah. Both options imply that the Qur’an is wrong and that Muhammad cannot be regarded as a prophet of God.
Please give us your comments.
