Does Allah love sinners?

Question

The Koran cites some 22 types of sinners that Allah does not love. "Allah loves not the unjust." "Allah loves not the glutton." Yet, most of us are unjust sometimes, and just other times; gluttons sometimes, and not other times. So do these verses mean God's love for us flips on and off like a light switch, depending on our behavior at the moment? Please, I mean no offense -- I am just trying to understand.

Christians believe that, although God holds us accountable for our actions, God's love for us is unconditional, infinite, and eternal. Conditional love is not love at all. If God doesn't love sinners, then the ones he does love make an awfully short list! Muslims, please explain your understanding of this.

I am asking a sincere question -- please don't use this as an opportunity to bash Muslims.

Liberty, your answer was really interesting -- especially the last paragraph about the seven deadly sins -- again, a VERY different view from what I am used to, growing up as a Christian. A lot of good info on punishment and atonement.

But no one has addressed my question -- Does Allah love sinners?

I am asking a sincere question -- please don't use this as an opportunity to bash Muslims.

Liberty, your answer was really interesting -- especially the last paragraph about the seven deadly sins -- again, a VERY different view from what I am used to, growing up as a Christian. A lot of good info on the Islamic teachings about punishment and atonement.

But no one has addressed my question -- Does Allah love sinners?

Answer 1

Any Y!A question I can't answer, I try to understand them, research them until I find an answer. The research helps me learn more and get a better understanding of things in the process.

Islamic views of sin:

Islam sees sin (dhanb, thanb ذنب) as anything that goes against the will of Allah (God). Like Judaism, Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. The Qur'an teaches that "the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless the Lord does bestow His Mercy" and that even the prophets do not absolve themselves of blame the (Qur'an 12:53).

Muhammad advised: "Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and rejoice, for no one's good deeds will put him in Paradise." The Companions asked, "Not even you O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "Not even me unless Allah bestows His pardon and mercy on me." .

In Islam, there are several gradations of sin:
sayyia, khatia: mistakes (Suras 7:168; 17:31; 40:45; 47:19 48:2)
itada, junah, dhanb: immorality (Suras 2:190,229; 17:17 33:55)
haram: transgressions (Suras 5:4; 6:146)
ithm, dhulam, fujur, su, fasad, fisk, kufr: wickedness and depravity (Suras 2:99, 205; 4:50, 112, 123, 136; 12:79; 38:62; 82:14)
shirk: ascribing a partner to Allah (Sura 4:48)

It is believed that Iblis (Lucifer, Satan) has a significant role in tempting humankind towards sin. Thus, Islamic theology identifies and warns of an external enemy of humankind who leads humankind towards sin (7:27, 4:199, 3:55 etc.) The Qur'an in several verses (2:30-39, 7:11-25, 20:116-124) states the details of the Iblis’s temptation of Adam and in (Qur'an 7:27) states that the Iblis’s pattern of temptation of man is the same as that of Adam, i.e. Allah decrees a law for man but instead man obeys his own base desires and does not guard himself against the allurements of his enemy. Iblis deceives human being with vain hopes whereby he is led astray and fate helps him in that respect. Thus he transgresses some of the limits set for him by Allah and disobeys some of Allah's commandments. He therefore becomes justifiably liable to Allah's judgment and afflictions. But as proposed in the Qur'anic version of the story of Adam, man can turn towards Allah by the words inspired by Allah after being failed in Allah's test, because He is Oft-Returning and Most Merciful (Qur'an 2:37).

Muslims believe that Allah is angered by sin and punishes some sinners with the fires of جهنم‎ jahannam (Hell), but that He is also ar-rahman (the Merciful) and al-ghaffar (the Oft-Forgiving). It is believed that the (جهنم‎ ) jahannam fire has purification functionality and that after purification, an individual who has been condemned to enter جهنم‎ jahannam is eligible to go to جنّة jannah(the Garden), if he "had an atom's worth of faith". Some Qur'anic commentaries such as Allameh Tabatabaei 4:10, 2:174 state that the fire is nothing but a transformed form of the human’s sin itself:

"Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their own bodies: They will soon be enduring a Blazing Fire!" (Qur'an 4:10)
"Those who conceal Allah's revelations in the Book (The Bible), and purchase for them a miserable profit- they swallow into themselves naught but Fire..." (Qur'an 2:174)

Some Islamic scholars such as Ibn Sina and Eghbal believe that jahannam (Hell) is not material.
In Islam there are opposing views that if a person commits a sin, he will be out of Islam. For example, Khavarej states that a single major unforgiven sin will automatically make a Muslim an unbeliever.

Islamic conceptions of atonement for sin:

Qur'an teaches that the main way back to Allah is through genuine tawbah (repentance) which literally means 'to return'). See Repentance in Islam for further discussions. Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped. (Qur'an 39:53-54)

"Verily! Allah Accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards, to them Allah will turn in Mercy, for Allah is Full of Knowledge and Wisdom. And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them and he says "now have I repented indeed", nor of those who die rejecting faith: for them have we prepared a chastisement most grievous."(Qur'an 4:17-18).

Islam does not accept any blood sacrifice for sin. The Islamic understanding of forgiveness is that it is made on the basis of divine grace and repentance. According to Islam, no sacrifice can add to divine grace nor replace the necessity of repentance. In the Islamic theology, the animal sacrifices or blood are not directly linked to atonement (Qur'an 22:37: "It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah. it is your piety that reaches Him..."). On the other hand, the sacrifice is done to help the poor, and in remembrance of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son (according to the Muslims, Ishmael) at Allah's command.

In many verses of the Qur'an, Allah promises to forgive the sins of Muslims (those who believe and do good works) (47:2, 29:7, 14:23 etc.)

Prayer and good deeds can also be atonements for sins (Qur'an 11:114). The Islamic Law, Sharia specifies the atonement of any particular sin. Depending on the sin, the atonement can range from repentance and compensation of the sin if possible, feeding the poor, freeing slaves to even [[stoning to death]] or cutting hands.
Some of the major sins are held to be legally punishable in an Islamic state (for example, murder, theft, adultery, and in some views apostasy; see sharia). Most are left to Allah to punish (for example, backbiting, hypocrisy arrogance, filial disrespect, lying).

Islamic Major sins (Al-Kaba'r):

There is considerable difference among scholars as to which sins are Al-Kaba'r (major sins).
According to Sahih Bukhari there are seven al-Kaba'r (major sins) according to this tradition: "Avoid the seven noxious things"- and after having said this, the prophet (saw) mentioned them: "associating anything with Allah; magic; killing one whom Allah has declared inviolate without a just case, consuming the property of an orphan, devouring usury, turning back when the army advances, and slandering chaste women who are believers but indiscreet." ,"
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Growing up as a Hindu, studying from a Christian Catholic school and having a Muslim friend as your best friend, I got to learn, experience and cherish a lot of different things.

As Christians would say that God loves the sinner but hates the sin -- it is true in Islam too.

Well, Does Allah love sinners? The answer is "Yes". The holy scriptures- The Bible, Qu'ran and Bhagvada Geeta depicts the beautiful word "Love" differently, but the grass root meaning is the same. How? Here's how.

The Bible says - God holds us accountable for our actions but God's love for us is unconditional, infinite, and eternal.

The Qu'ran says - Like the Holy Bible, the Qu'ran does not have a direct mention of the phrase "God loves sinners". But, love is a word which must be translated in action and it becomes obedience in the case of His creation (human beings) and mercy in case of the Creator, Allah. You can see that when love is translated into action it is mercy and His mercy is unconditional. You receive Allah's mercy whether you are an obedient servant or you are a mushrik (pagan, idolater) and a sinner; they all receive equal treatment in this life. Love must be translated in action, attitude and behavior, otherwise it is just a word without meaning. Similarly Allah's love is translated in His attributes of forgiving, compassion and mercy. This is different from thinking that Allah has forsaken you. Dependent upon your practice and behavior at any moment in time, then you are on a varying degree of favor with HIM. But always with HIM.

For example:
* A child says to his parents "I love you" but he disobeys them most of the time. Does he/she love them? - "Yes".

The "Loving" is one of Allah's names as He said about Himself: "And He is the Forgiving and Loving" (Qur'an 85:14).

Looking at the bigger picture (for argument purposes only, no offense intended): At one of the religious training I've attended, the Muslim priest depicted the following verses from Bible as follows (which I personally found incorrect):

The Bible says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 NKJV). The converse of this statement was that the Christian concept of God is a merciless God. He punishes the sinless (Jesus), for the wrong done by others. The Christian God is powerless to forgive sins and accept repentance. He makes the entire mankind sinners for the sin of one couple, Adam and Eve. The Christian God is incapable of forgiving the sin of one couple but makes their entire progeny sinners. For forgiving their sins he has to concoct a charade of bringing "his son" who is sinless and kills him for no fault of his own. This is a cruel god and a pagan-assumed god, not the One True God. What happened to the people who were born and died before God decided to concoct this charade only 2000 years ago? It seems that the Christian God is a poor planner and a late thinker because it took him thousands if not millions of years to find a way of forgiving "the sins" of mankind. What happens to those who never received the message of Jesus until it was thoroughly corrupted by the "Christians" and it became illogical and unacceptable? Again, this is different from thinking that GOD our father has forsaken us.

In the Qur'an Allah says that He does not love those who reject Him (3:32), does not love those who are transgressors (2:57, 140, 5:87, 7:55), does not love those who are evil-livers (5:64), does not love evil talk (4:148) and others. In all these cases love is connected to the deeds of a person. At the same time Allah does not deprive them of anything in this life. You will not find that all good people are rich and all sinners are living in poverty and a wretched life. Allah gives a person life-long opportunity to turn away from the life of sin and disobedience and receive His forgiveness. Conversely, Allah says, "Say, if you love Allah, obey me (Muhammad), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful" (3:31). If you love Allah show it in your conduct and obey Allah and His Messenger, for obedience of His Messenger is the obedience of Allah (4:80). It means our expression of love is in obedience.

See what Allah also says in the Qur'an, "Say: O My slaves (mankind) who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful..." (39:53-58). Here the message is that those who commit evil are doing wrong and hurting themselves in this life and the next, however, Allah's forgiveness has no limits and the only condition is asking for forgiveness and repentance. Just look around and you'll find Allah's "love" is spread all around. "Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem" means "In the name of Allah the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate." The words are AR-RaHMan and AR-RaHeeM. AR represents the article AL, meaning "the". The root word is RHM, which may be read as RaHiMa or RaHaMa, means mercy. Allah is Ar-Raheem for all humankind irrespective of their belief in Allah and their character whether they believe in Allah or not; whether they are good-doers or evil-doers; they all obtain their sustenance from Allah.

Answer 2

Why, of course Allah likes sinners!?

Islam is a Great "Religion" !? And Allahu Akbar!? Allah is Great!?

How else can you explain that his "Prophet" - Mohammad had 9 or 12 wives? That he married women who were older than himself, at first, because they were wealthy; starting with Khadijah the owner of the caravan he worked for, who was around 46 when he was in his 20's and then another 65 year old woman whose name I forgot, a few years later, who was also, incidentally, very wealthy? And then some more, whose names I've forgotten. And after he made himself the "Prophet" and defeated his enemies, he turned on young women, when he was middle aged and finally, married a 9 year old girl when he was in his 50's!?

How can you explain the massacres that were made in the name of Islam, right from it's inception, of the worshipers of Amon Ra of Egypt, the Babylonians of present day Iraq, the Parsees of present day Iran, and oh so many others?

How can you explain the more recent atrocities like the 9/11, the London and Indian bombings, the TV broadcast of the "execution" by slowly slitting the throat of the Western Journalist who dared to criticize them, the training of children to become terrorists in their madrases and so on and so forth?

Why, of course Allah is the most Merciful!?

Of course Allah is Great!?

Allahu Akbar!?

Answer 3

If God doesn't love sinners He created them for distruction. A loving God created man aware of his short comings and though God is righteosus he had a plan for his creation and that plan was to come in the flesh and overcome temptation and to pay the penalty of death for those who accept the atonement he provides through Jesus Christ who is God with us. It is the only answer.Is God righteous? Can he agree with sin and remain righteous? Can mortal man be judged perfect under the law? The only answer to these questions were provided by Jesus Christ and his atonement and resurrection.

Answer 4

Allah is not God. He does not love sinners.

Answer 5

from

"According to the Qur'an, God does not love sinners. This fact is emphasized repeatedly and consistently like a drumbeat throughout the pages of the Qur'an. Just listen to the following passages:

"God loves not the unbelievers" (III. 33)
"God loves not the impious and sinners" (II. 277)
"God loves not evildoers" (III. 58)
"God loves not the proud" (IV. 37)
"God loves not transgressors" (V. 88)
"God loves not the prodigal" (VI. 142)
"God loves not the treacherous" (VIII. 59)
"God is an enemy to unbelievers" (II. 99)



Read more: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/is-the-islamic-conception-of-god-morally-inadequate#ixzz3lMJVG05m

Answer 6

When you're Unjust, do you MEAN to be unjust...? And are you unjust ALL THE TIME?

This is the type that god hates.

Answer 7

I'M NOT A MUSLIM BUT IT SEEMS THAT ALLAH IS ALLOWING
THE MUSLIM FANATICS TO KEEP ON KILLING IN HIS NAME,
SO THEN HE MUST SURELY LOVE THEM AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING AS SINNERS!!!! LIKE I'VE ALWAYS SAID, ALL
RELIGION IS CONFUSION!!!! NO RESPONCE REQUIRED!!!

Answer 8

christian god encourages bloodbath and CANT EVEN SAVE HIS OWN SON, ON THE CONTRARY, HE WANTED HIS SON TO BE K-I-L-L-E-D

loves blood, isnt it??

Allah does not. Allah does not want evilness to spread, thats all. You have a choice of even NOT choosing Islam.

Now THATS TOLERANCE!

Answer 9

The moon God get nothing to do with love. don't you people get it.
Or you just playing nice.

Answer 10

Love is never having to say you're sorry.

Answer 11

who knows