Questions...

1. If Allah(swt) is All Merciful then why does He put some people in hell?
2. What is the difference between Muslims saying that we don't describe the 'how' of Allah (swt) (like how Allah descends to the first heaven at the last part of the night) and Christians claiming that they can't describe the 'how' of their concept of trinity?
3. We see from the current world that wealth, technology etc. brings happiness, prosperity in our life, then why Islam tells us not to compete for wealth?
4. If my heart is pure, then I am fine, and I do not need to show people by wearing Hijab, keeping beard etc. type of Islamic symbols. If heart is OK then everything is OK. Why I need to worry about physical symbols? Isn't inner purity important?
5. Why worshiping Allah is necessary? or Why Allah needs us to worship Him?
6. Why a Muslim who believes in Islam will eventually go to Paradise even though he has done lots of evil on the other hand why the non-Muslim who does not believe in Islam will go to Hell even though he has done huge good deeds (example Mother Teressa)?
Answers:
(5) Allah does not need us to worship Him. He does not get any benefit by worshiping. It is we, the servants of Allah, who get the benefit.

Think about Salah, Zakat, Siyam, Hajj etc. all forms of worshipping Allah is the commandment of Allah, and abstaining from lie, backbiting, zina, riba etc. are prohibition of Allah. What Allah commands us, it will benefit us and what Allah forbids us, it will remove evil from us.

If a servant of Allah prays 5 times daily prayer in Jama'a sincerely for Allah subhanataala, he will feel tranquility in his heart, it will make peace in his heart. It will repel evil from heart. Allah said,

"Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing." (Al-Qur'an 29:45)

now, see who gets benefit here, Allah or the servant? every acts of worshiping Allah has benefits to the worshiper.

(6) How we know that what is good and what is evil? What we see outside may appears as a good, but in fact is it for publicity, showing off, making fame etc. worldly benefit, not for the sake of Allah subhanaataala. What non-Muslim is doing, may be appeared as good, but what hidden motive is behind it only God knows. We can see from outside the good he does. But we do not know the motivation behind it.

example, voting politics is to show that the candidate is pious person, free sim is for publicity, free food at the opening of any shop or company is the publicity of it etc. everything is for worldly benefit.

The greatest good one can do is the belief in Allah without partner and belief His last Messenger Muhammad (saw). Even though he has done evil, he will suffer it for sometime in the hell fire. On the other hand, the non-Muslim his good deeds are show off, no real value, he does not have any good deed to get payback from Allah whom he does not believe. He has done good for duniya, and he paid back it in duniya. As he did not do any thing that can benefit him in the hereafter, he will not get anything in hereafter.

(1) To answer this question, we need to first understand the wider implications of Allah’s attribute of “mercy”.

Those who enter Hell will either be from among the believers or the disbelievers. As for the believers who enter Hell, they are those who did not associate anything with Allah, but they committed many sins that far outweighed their good deeds. They will enter Hell for a period known only to Allah, then through His mercy they will be made to enter Paradise.

The Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wassalam) said: “Some people will be brought out of the Fire, having been burnt all over except for their faces, and they will enter Paradise.” [Muslim]

As Paradise is a place reserved only for the pure, and the impure cannot enter it unless they are cleansed; Allah puts the believers in Hell to purify them of their sins and prepare them to enter Paradise, cleansed. If Allah did not punish them for their sins, then there would be no justice, and the oppressed will not get their due rights. But eventually, as they are believers, the mercy of Allah, i.e. Him being ‘Ar-Raheem’, overpowers and He grants them Paradise.

Furthermore, the people of Paradise will, at the sight of the people of Hell, be immensely grateful to Allah for saving them and this increases them in thanking Allah.

Hence, Allah is merciful to the believers by putting them in Hell, not only as a means of purification of their sins but also a means to increase them in gratitude towards Allah for saving them from the eternal punishment, because it is only through Allah’s mercy that anyone can enter Paradise.

As for the disbelievers who enter Hell, they shall remain in it till eternity. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says: “But the ones who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.” [Al-A’raf 7:36]

The reason they will be cast into Hell is stated by Allah Himself in the Qur’an. Allah says: “Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs, for those their refuge will be the Fire because of what they used to earn.” [Yunus 10:7,8]

Allah’s mercy can be seen in placing the disbelievers in the Hellfire due to the fact that those same disbelievers were the ones who not only disbelieved in Allah (which is the greatest crime one can commit) but also wronged others. They committed their crimes against Allah, first and foremost, by claiming that He does not exist, or by worshiping partners with Him, which is the only sin that Allah will never forgive. While they were on earth, they also committed crimes against humanity, possibly through fornication, theft, or murder. Therefore, it is merciful to all those that were harmed by the disbeliever that he be sent to the depths of Hell.

And so, Allah’s attribute of mercy is one that has the element of justice included in it. If Allah were to leave and excuse the disbelievers in the next life, as He had done with them in the Dunya, then it would be open injustice. Moreover, being merciful to one (the wrongdoer) could imply being unjust to another (to whom the wrong has been done).

Furthermore, it is from Allah’s mercy that the disbelievers lead happy and enjoyable lives in this world, and it will be His mercy that He sends them to the Hellfire, as a reward for the believers.

Finally, we could also argue that Allah’s mercy is evident in the fact that He did not force any creature to do anything. Although all deeds were written, it was each individual’s choice to perform either good or bad deeds. Therefore, after one has chosen the path of amusement and happiness in this life at the sake of his Hereafter, we can only conclude that it is Allah’s mercy to put him in the place that he chose for himself.

By refusing to follow his fitrah (natural disposition) that inclines one to believe in the Lordship of Allah, this disbeliever took a path in opposition to that which Allah wanted him to follow. Since he knew that he was doing wrong, harming others, and disbelieving in Allah, and he also knew what the consequences of his actions would be (since it was revealed to him), never considering to repent and return to the path of righteousness; it is only merciful to give him the reward that he chose and not the reward that is reserved for those who are pious.

And so, Allah is merciful through His justice. This means that because of His justice which is complete justice, a justice that gives everyone exactly what they deserve, no one will be left asking, “what did I do to deserve Hell?”

The above discussion should make it clear that the mercy, guidance, punishment and misguidance delivered by Allah are not arbitrary at all. Rather, there is divine wisdom behind all of these and Allah is not unjust in His decisions. And Allah knows best.

Shaykh M. Kamil Ahmed.

(2) In Islam, it is not permissible to describe the “hows” of Allah’s Attributes because of Allah’s statement: “Allah knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge.” [Taha 20:110].

The human mind cannot comprehend how Allah’s attributes operate. Taking the names and attributes mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah at face value, without any comparison, alteration, negation or takyeef (asking how) is the method of the companions of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wassalam), their followers and those who followed their followers.

A man came to Imam Malik bin Anas and asked him, “O Malik! The Qur’an says that Ar-Rahman ascended the Throne; how did He do that?” Malik was extremely disturbed by this question, and replied:

“The Istiwaa’ (ascendance) is known [in meaning]; but ‘how’ it took place is not known [to people]. Believing in its occurrence is compulsory; and questioning its mode of occurrence is a bid’ah (a rejected innovation in the Faith). And I believe indeed that you are committing a bid’ah [by asking this question].”

The man was then banished from his class. [Ad-Darimi and Al-Bayhaqi].

This example demonstrates the gravity of questioning the “hows” of Allah’s attributes. It also shows that there is support for this argument (not asking about the “hows” of Allah) in the authentic texts of the Sunnah.

Now, let us examine how the Christians not asking about the “hows” of the Trinity is different from the Muslims not asking about the “hows” of Allah.

First of all, the Christians’ belief in the Trinity (that God is one in three) clearly contradicts the obvious meanings of their texts. The Bible emphatically states there is only One God:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” [Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29].

There are many other verses in the Bible that confirms that “God is One”:

“Know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.” [Deuteronomy 4:35]

“I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” [Isaiah 44:6]

“How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” [John 5:44].

The second point is that the Christians do not have any authentic evidence to support their claims. The Trinity that the later Christians have fabricated has no evidence in reason and fitrah (natural disposition), and there is nothing to support it in the divinely-revealed books which Allah sent down.

Rather, the Trinitarian view of Christianity came into being many years after the disappearance of ‘Isa (‘alayhi salam). Undoubtedly, it was not professed by ‘Isa nor by the other prophets. As a matter of fact, the true followers of ‘Isa (‘alayhi salam) continued to affirm the Oneness of God until about 90 CE. This belief in the Unity of God was manifested in the Shepherd of Hermas, which was written during this period and regarded as a book of revelation by the earlier Christians. More specifically, the first of these commandments states: “First of all, believe that God is One and that He created all things and organized them out of what did not exist made all things to be, and He contains all things but alone is Himself uncontained.” [E. J. Goodspeed, the Apostolic Fathers, 1950; quoted by Muhammad Ata ur-Rahman, op. cit., 1984, p.46].

Prior to 200 CE, the term “Trinity” (which is now the nucleus of the Christian tenets) was not at all known to the Pauline (Roman Catholic) Church. The early Unitarian leaders were courageous enough to expose their views to refute the Trinitarian dogmas, in spite of the persecution campaign against them. Their real champion, however, was Arius who in 318 CE popularly opposed the Pauline view that ‘Isa (‘alayhi salam) was in reality the “Son of God” and “con-substantial and coeternal with the father”. One of the arguments propagated by Arius was: “If Jesus was in reality the ‘Son of God’, then it followed that the father must have existed before him (the son). Therefore, there must have been a time when the son (Jesus) did not exist. Therefore, it followed that the son was a creature composed of an essence or being which had not always existed. Since God is in essence eternal and Ever-existent, Jesus could not be of the same essence as God.” [Muhammad Ata ur-Rahim, Jesus: Prophet of Islam, p.88].

In 321 CE, Arius popularly confronted Bishop Alexander the forerunner of the Pauline Church. In 325 CE, Emperor Constantine convened the First General Council at Nicaea. This Council was attended by 318 bishops from Spain to Persia.

In 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius of Rome made the orthodox faith (the Trinitarian-based Catholic faith) obligatory for all his subjects, hence the state religion since then. By 383 CE, Theodosius threatened to punish all who would not believe in the doctrine of Trinity. Thus, the concept of the Trinity is foreign to the teachings of Christianity. It was a man-made innovation.

Furthermore, the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, and no single verse provides a summary of the Trinitarian doctrine. Actually, it must be remembered that the Old Testament was written before the revelation of the doctrine of the Trinity was clearly given, and in the New Testament after it. How then can the absence of such an allegedly profound doctrine not be found in scared texts? Surely these are ample proofs illustrating that there is no authentic text to support the concept of the ‘Trinity’ in Christianity.

Finally, Allah has refuted the concept of the Trinity in the Qur’an:

“They have certainly disbelieved who say, "Allah is the third of three." And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.” [Al-Ma’idah 5:73].

And so it is quite clear, that questioning about the “hows” of the Trinity cannot be likened to questioning the “hows” of Allah’s attributes. The Trinity is itself an innovation, which makes it questionable; whereas, Allah’s attributes are confirmed by Himself, which we are supposed to believe without questioning, since the human mind can never comprehend the takyeef (asking ‘how’) of Allah’s attributes. Something which is confirmed by the Creator Himself and mentioned in a way that befits Him needs no further questioning.

Hence, the difference between the two “hows” is that the Muslims’ reason is based on authentic texts, which do not contradict the Qur’an (our text); whereas it is the opposite for the Christians. And Allah knows best.

Shaykh M. Kamil Ahmed.