Many people do not realize that the Quran not only describes Allah as the best of all deceivers, but it also depicts him as a misleader who causes people to be deceived and misled from the path of salvation.
Many are also unaware of the fact that two of the 99 names of Allah happen to
Al-Hadi (“the guide”), i.e. the one who guides, and
al-Mudill (“the misguider/misleader”), e.g. the one who misleads and causes to go astray.
The Muslim scripture contains passage after passage stating that it is Allah who makes people go astray, since he is free to mislead and disgrace whomever he so desires:
Say (O Muhammad): "O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will,
and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.” S. 3:26 Hilali-Khan
Then what is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties about the hypocrites?
Allah has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned. Do you want to guide him whom
Allah HAS MADE to go astray? And he whom Allah HAS MADE to go astray, you will never find for him any way (of guidance). S. 4:88 Hilali-Khan
And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them.
Then Allah misleads WHOM HE WILLS and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. S. 14:4 Hilali-Khan
And he whom Allah guides, he is led aright; but he whom He sends astray for such you will find no Auliya' (helpers and protectors, etc.),
besides Him, and We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces blind, dumb and deaf, their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire. S. 17:97 Hilali-Khan
“…
Thus Allah leads astray WHOM HE WILLS and guides whom He wills. And none can know the hosts of your Lord but He. And this (Hell) is nothing else than a (warning) reminder to mankind.” S. 74:31 Hilali-Khan
The Quran further says that there is no guide for the one whom Allah has misled:
A day when ye will turn to flee, having no preserver from Allah:
and he whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. And verily Joseph brought you of old clear proofs, yet ye ceased not to be in doubt concerning what he brought you till, when he died, ye said: Allah will not send any messenger after him.
Thus Allah deceiveth him who is a prodigal, a doubter. S. 40:33-34 Pickthall
It is ironic that Allah is described as doing the very thing which Satan is said to do, namely, mislead people from the path!
Hast thou not regarded those who assert that they believe in what has been sent down to thee, and what was sent down before thee, desiring to take their disputes to idols, yet they have been commanded to disbelieve in them?
But Satan desires to lead them astray into far error. S. 4:60 Arberry
And he entered the city at a time of unawareness of its people, and he found there two men fighting, - one of his party (his religion - from the Children of Israel), and the other of his foes. The man of his (own) party asked him for help against his foe, so Musa (Moses) struck him with his fist and killed him. He said: "This is of
Shaitan's (Satan) doing,
verily, he is a plain misleading enemy (mudillun mubeenun)." S. 28:15 Hilali-Khan
Now, it makes sense for Satan to want to deceive and mislead people from God’s path since his purpose is to see them destroyed. But why would Allah want to do so if he is truly an omni-benevolent being who desires the good for all his creation?
A Muslim may interject that Allah only misleads the evildoers who refuse to believe and repent. The problem with this argument is that the Quran makes it absolutely clear that no person is capable of desiring to believe and repent unless Allah has granted it to him. The Muslim scripture is emphatic that Allah has to will for a person to believe and repent in order for that individual to be able to do so.
However, it is quite evident from the Quran itself that it isn’t Allah’s will to guide everyone, since it is his desire to mislead some of his creatures in order to destroy them:
“Whosoever wishes will take heed.
None will take heed except if God wills. He is the source of righteousness and the source of forgiveness.” S. 74:55-56
Quran: Reformist Translation (QRT)
“This is a reminder, so let whoever wills take a path to his Lord.
You cannot will, except if God wills. God is Knowledgeable, Wise.
He admits whoever/whomever He wills to His mercy. As for the wicked, He has prepared for them a painful retribution.” S. 76:29-31 QRT
“If We had sent down to them the angels, and the dead spoke to them, and We had gathered before them everything,
they still would not acknowledge except if God wills. But most of them are ignorant.” S. 6:111 QRT
And had Allah willed, He could have made you (all) one nation,
but He sends astray WHOM HE WILLS and guides whom He wills. But you shall certainly be called to account for what you used to do. S. 16:93 Hilali-Khan
In fact, a person can’t even apostatize, or turn away from Islam, unless Allah has willed that s/he should do so:
The chiefs of those who were arrogant among his people said: "We shall certainly drive you out, O Shuaib, and those who have believed with you from our town, or else you (all) shall return to our religion." He said: "Even though we hate it! "We should have invented a lie against Allah if we returned to your religion, after Allah has rescued us from it.
And it is not for us to return to it UNLESS Allah, our Lord, SHOULD WILL. Our Lord comprehends all things in His Knowledge. In Allah (Alone) we put our trust. Our Lord! Judge between us and our people in truth, for You are the Best of those who give judgment." S. 7:88-89 Hilali-Khan
The Muslim scripture is also clear that a person whom Allah has chosen to mislead can never be guided, whereas the one whom he has been pleased to guide can never be misled by anyone:
“
Whomever God sends astray will not have any ally after Him. You will see the transgressors, when they see the retribution, saying: "Is there any way we can go back?" You will see them being displayed to it, in fearful humiliation, and looking, while trying to avoid looking. Those who acknowledged will say, “The losers are those who lost themselves and their families on the day of resurrection. The transgressors will be in a lasting retribution.” They had no allies to help them against God.
Whomever God misguides will never find the way. S. 42:44-46 QRT
If you (O Muhammad) covet for their guidance
then verily Allah guides not those whom HE MAKES to go astray (or none can guide him whom Allah sends astray). And they will have no helpers. S. 16:37 Hilali-Khan
Is not Allah Sufficient for His slave? Yet they try to frighten you with those (whom they worship) besides Him!
And whom Allah sends astray, for him there will be no guide. And whomsoever Allah guides, for him there will be no misleader (mudillin). Is not Allah All-Mighty, Possessor of Retribution? S. 39:36-37 Hilali-Khan
No wonder the Quran says that Allah doesn’t take misleaders as his helpers:
And (remember) when We said to the angels; "Prostrate to Adam." So they prostrated except
Iblis (Satan). He was one of the jinns; he disobeyed the Command of his Lord. Will you then take him (
Iblis) and his offspring as protectors and helpers rather than Me while they are enemies to you? What an evil is the exchange for the
Zalimun (polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc). I (Allah) made them (
Iblis and his offspring) not to witness (nor took their help in) the creation of the heavens and the earth and not (even) their own creation,
nor was I (Allah) to take the misleaders (al-mudilleena) as helpers. S. 18:50-51 Hilali-Khan
This makes absolute sense since why would the Islamic deity need anyone to help him mislead people when there is no one better than Allah at leading people astray in order to destroy them?
And yet the Quran speaks of people being punished for misguiding others from Allah’s path:
And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance, but when He bestows a favour upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah,
in order to mislead others from His Path. Say: "Take pleasure in your disbelief for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!” S. 39:8 Hilali-Khan
And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.)
to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allah, the Verses of the Qur'an) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the Hell-fire). S. 31:6 Hiali-Khan – cf. Q. 14:30; 16:25; 22:3-4, 8-9
What this basically means is that Allah is going to torture individuals for causing people to stray even though it was Allah’s will that they do so!
In other words, Allah is going to basically torment people in hell for doing the exact thing that was predetermined for them to do, and who do not have the ability to choose not to do it!
To make matters worse, if Allah has decided to destroy a people he first sends them the guidance of Islam, and then commands them to do evil in order to have a reason to wipe them out!
And Allah will never lead a people astray after He has guided them
UNTIL He makes clear to them as to what they should avoid. Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of everything. S. 9:115
Whoever is guided is guided for himself, and whoever is misguided is for his own loss. No person shall carry the load of another,
and We were not to punish until We send a messenger. And when We desire to destroy a town, We command its men who leave at ease, and they commit ungodliness in it, then the Word is realized against it, and We destroy it completely. S. 17:15-16
It is obvious why Allah would first send a nation whom he intends to destroy the knowledge of the religion. By receiving the message, the people are now culpable for rejecting it, which means that Allah now has the green light to go ahead and obliterate them. After all, as the above text makes clear, the Islamic deity will not destroy a group to whom a messenger hasn’t first been sent to warn them.
No wonder the Quran says that Allah shall not be questioned by anyone:
He will not be questioned as to that which He doeth, but they will be questioned. S. 21:23
It is obvious that Muhammad knew that his conception of God raised a host of moral problems which could not be satisfactorily answered. He, therefore, chose to scare people away from questioning his view regarding the deity with eternal torture in order to keep them obedient to his demands and desires.
Contrast this with the teachings of the Holy Bible. The inspired Scriptures emphatically proclaim that the true God desires that none of his human creatures perish and die, but that they repent from their wickedness so that they might live:
“
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD,
and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? … Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!
Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD;
so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32
Yahweh calls out to the entire inhabited earth which he has created to turn to him and believe that he alone is a righteous God and Savior, since he desires that they all should be saved:
“For thus says the LORD,
who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the LORD, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’
I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me
. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return:
To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:18-23
And:
“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and began walking. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you,
and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.’” Acts 14:8-17
God even determined where and when everyone would live in order that they might seek for him and be saved:
“
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,
since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked,
but now he commands all people 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 by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31
This is also the reason why Yahweh chose to raise up a righteous Servant, in order that he might bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth so that all the Gentiles might be saved along with Israel:
“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.’ And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: ‘Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you
and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Appear.” They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.’” Isaiah 49:1-10
According to the NT, this promise was fulfilled when God sent forth his Son to assume the role of the Servant spoken of in Isaiah:
“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’… Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen
your salvation that you have prepared
in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.’” Luke 2:10-11, 25-32
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18
"Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’” John 4:39-42
“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world
but to save the world.” John 12:47
“And we have seen and testify that
the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” 1 John 4:14
“After this I looked, and behold,
a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘
Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, AND TO the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” Revelation 7:9-17
Moreover, the Holy Bible plainly teaches that the great deceiver who misleads people from the truth isn’t God, but the devil or Satan himself!
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:9
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while… And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out
to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10
The Scriptures further tell us that Satan deceives people by using various means including human agents such as the antichrist, also known as the beast or the lawless one, whom the devil empowers to perform signs and wonders in order to cause people to stray away from believing in the Gospel:
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth.
And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’ And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” Revelation 13:1-18
The Holy Bible also makes it quite clear that the only ones whom Satan is able to mislead and destroy are those whom God has become absolutely fed up with for refusing to repent of their sins and accepting the truth which God has made so plain to them. God, therefore, justly hands such reprobates over to their own desires and gives them what they want, which is to believe in anything except the truth of God:
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one
is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 – cf. Romans 1:18-28; Psalm 81:8-16
This means that God will never allow Satan to mislead any one who truly seeks after God and desires to know him, but will make sure to reveal himself to such a person as he has promised:
“But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.
If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9 – cf. 2 Chronicles 15:2
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
The simple fact of the matter is that a Muslim will not find such comparable statements in the Quran. There are no verses which say that Allah loved the world, or that he desires that every creature that he has made to turn to him and live since he doesn’t take any delight in destroying the wicked.
In fact, the Quran goes out of its way to show that Allah doesn’t love everyone since he only loves faithful Muslims:
Lo! those who believe and do good works,
the Beneficent will appoint for them love. S. 19:96 Pickthall
The Muslim scripture plainly says that Allah loves those who perform good deeds (2:195), those who are pure (2:222), those who are righteous (9:7), and those who fight in his cause (61:4). And yet when it comes to the transgressors (2:190), the ungrateful sinners (2:276), the unjust (3:57), or the proud (4:36), Allah has absolutely no love for them. And, as the following verses make clear, if you are not a Muhammadan, one who fully submits to Muhammad and his religion, then do not count on Allah loving you at all:
Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Say: Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back,
then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers. S. 3:31-32 Shakir
Then turn thy face straight to the right religion before there come from Allah the day which cannot be averted; on that day they shall become separated. Whoever disbelieves, he shall be responsible for his disbelief, and whoever does good, they prepare (good) for their own souls, that He may reward those who believe and do good out of His grace;
surely He does not love the unbelievers. S. 30:43-45 Shakir
This basically means that Allah’s love is no greater or higher than disbelieving sinners according to Jesus, and therefore does not come close to the love that the true God has for all his creatures, including his enemies:
“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” Psalm 145:8-9
“But I say to you who hear,
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them
. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:27-36
“
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:8-11
In light of this, it is an absolute insult and even outright blasphemy to say that the deity so described in the Quran is the same God revealed in the Holy Bible. The Quranic depiction of Allah best describes Satan rather than the infinitely holy and loving God whom the Lord Jesus came to perfectly manifest by his life and sacrificial death:
“‘
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 if 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 to 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 except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him
and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but
the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’” John 14:1-11
“
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:9-15
“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Hebrews 1:2-3
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God
but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world… By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:8-11, 14, 17-19
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,
so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20
Unlike the Islamic deity who capriciously and arbitrarily creates people for the sole purpose of tormenting them in hell, like some sadist who gets off on inflicting excruciating torture on others,
Whoever Allah guides, then he is the guided one;
and whoever He leads astray, then they are the losers. We have created for hell many jinn and men. They have hearts, yet they do not comprehend; they have eyes yet they do not see; they have ears yet they do not hear. They are like cattle;
nay, they are even more astray. S. 7:178-179
Had your Lord wished, He could have made all the people one nation, but they still would continue to disagree;
Except whom your Lord has mercy upon; and for that He has created them.
The word of your Lord came true: "I will fill hell with the Jinn and the humans together!" S. 11:118-119 QRT
If We had wished, We could have given every person its guidance,
but the word from Me has taken effect, that I will fill hell with Jinn and humans all together. S. 32:13 QRT
The God revealed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t delight in afflicting or punishing the sons of men,
“For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.” Lamentations 3:31-33
But actually grieves and weeps over having to destroy them for their wickedness and persistent rebellion:
“And when he drew near and saw the city,
HE WEPT OVER IT, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day
the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you,
because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” Luke 19:41-44
Such a God is truly worthy of our love and worship, for he alone is worthy to be called God!
n several articles (
1,
2,
3,
4) we have made mention that the Quran teaches outright that Allah is capable of lying and deceiving people. In fact, one of the titles which the Quran ascribes to Allah is
khayru al-makireen, that Allah is "the best deceiver/schemer/conniver" (cf. S. 3:54; 8:30).
We want to continue our discussion regarding Allah being a deceiver by examining what the Quran says supposedly took place in paradise between Allah and Satan (called Iblis in the Quran) at the time of Adam’s creation. The Quran claims that Allah commanded all the angels to worship Adam, which Satan did not do, prompting Allah to ask him the reason why:
What makes this exchange rather shocking is that Satan accuses Allah of deceiving or misleading him! Here is what the text in question exactly says:
Note the various translations of this specific text by the different versions of the Quran:
The parallel version of this story reads slightly different:
Here is how various versions translate this passage:
Moreover, here is how some Muslim commentators explained S. 7:16:
What makes this even more interesting is that this particular word is always used in its various forms with a negative connotation:
And because Allah misled Satan the devil will now mislead others!
It is, therefore, clear from the foregoing that Satan was raising a serious charge against Allah’s character by basically identifying him as one who perverts, deceives, or misleads people from the true path!
It seems that the reason why Iblis felt that he had been misled is because Allah condemned him for not obeying a command which was given to the angels:
Note that both Suras 15 and 38 expressly say that ALL the angels prostrated in obedience to Allah’s directive. Yet according to the Quran Iblis is a jinn, not an angel!
In light of the foregoing, why did Allah blame Satan for not obeying an injunction which was imposed upon the angels and not the jinn? And doesn’t this demonstrate that Satan had a valid argument against Allah for being deceptive and misleading the devil since he blamed him for not obeying a command which wasn’t directed to him at all?
Satan may have also felt misled because of the fact that Allah condemns the worship of creatures:
And yet here he was watching Allah command angels to worship a creature!
A Muslim may claim that Satan falsely accused Allah of leading him astray, that Satan’s words shouldn’t be taken at face value since he is a liar and a slanderer. The first problem with this response is that Satan doesn’t always lie but, as even the Islamic sources themselves admit, can speak the truth:
More importantly, the Quran actually agrees with Satan since it unashamedly admits that Allah does deceive and mislead people!
There are other passages which, though not using the same word, teach the same point:
A Muslim may further say that Iblis’ response shows that his reason for not bowing to Adam had nothing to do with Allah’s order being directed to the angels, but out of pride and arrogance due to his being created from a superior element (fire) than man (dust). This really doesn’t solve the problem since one must account for the reason Satan thought he had been misled.
Here is a better explanation of the data, one which takes into account all the information provided by the Quran: Iblis’ refusal to bow may have been due to pride at first but he may have later realized that Allah hadn’t directed this command to him, but to the angels. He may have further reflected that Allah was commanding the angels to do the very thing which was forbidden, namely worshiping a creature. After reflecting on all this Satan concluded that he had been duped, even deceived, by Allah since the intention was to cast Iblis out of paradise.
Whatever the case, whatever the explanation, this point stands out clearly: Satan accused Allah of being a perverter, a misleader, with the Quran agreeing that this is what Allah truly is, going so far as to boast that Allah is actually the best schemer/deceiver of them all!
Unless noted otherwise, all of the citations were taken from the Hilali-Khan version of the Quran.
n several articles (
1,
2,
3,
4) we have made mention that the Quran teaches outright that Allah is capable of lying and deceiving people. In fact, one of the titles which the Quran ascribes to Allah is
khayru al-makireen, that Allah is "the best deceiver/schemer/conniver" (cf. S. 3:54; 8:30).
We want to continue our discussion regarding Allah being a deceiver by examining what the Quran says supposedly took place in paradise between Allah and Satan (called Iblis in the Quran) at the time of Adam’s creation. The Quran claims that Allah commanded all the angels to worship Adam, which Satan did not do, prompting Allah to ask him the reason why:
What makes this exchange rather shocking is that Satan accuses Allah of deceiving or misleading him! Here is what the text in question exactly says:
Note the various translations of this specific text by the different versions of the Quran:
The parallel version of this story reads slightly different:
Here is how various versions translate this passage:
Moreover, here is how some Muslim commentators explained S. 7:16:
What makes this even more interesting is that this particular word is always used in its various forms with a negative connotation:
And because Allah misled Satan the devil will now mislead others!
It is, therefore, clear from the foregoing that Satan was raising a serious charge against Allah’s character by basically identifying him as one who perverts, deceives, or misleads people from the true path!
It seems that the reason why Iblis felt that he had been misled is because Allah condemned him for not obeying a command which was given to the angels:
Note that both Suras 15 and 38 expressly say that ALL the angels prostrated in obedience to Allah’s directive. Yet according to the Quran Iblis is a jinn, not an angel!
In light of the foregoing, why did Allah blame Satan for not obeying an injunction which was imposed upon the angels and not the jinn? And doesn’t this demonstrate that Satan had a valid argument against Allah for being deceptive and misleading the devil since he blamed him for not obeying a command which wasn’t directed to him at all?
Satan may have also felt misled because of the fact that Allah condemns the worship of creatures:
And yet here he was watching Allah command angels to worship a creature!
A Muslim may claim that Satan falsely accused Allah of leading him astray, that Satan’s words shouldn’t be taken at face value since he is a liar and a slanderer. The first problem with this response is that Satan doesn’t always lie but, as even the Islamic sources themselves admit, can speak the truth:
More importantly, the Quran actually agrees with Satan since it unashamedly admits that Allah does deceive and mislead people!
There are other passages which, though not using the same word, teach the same point:
A Muslim may further say that Iblis’ response shows that his reason for not bowing to Adam had nothing to do with Allah’s order being directed to the angels, but out of pride and arrogance due to his being created from a superior element (fire) than man (dust). This really doesn’t solve the problem since one must account for the reason Satan thought he had been misled.
Here is a better explanation of the data, one which takes into account all the information provided by the Quran: Iblis’ refusal to bow may have been due to pride at first but he may have later realized that Allah hadn’t directed this command to him, but to the angels. He may have further reflected that Allah was commanding the angels to do the very thing which was forbidden, namely worshiping a creature. After reflecting on all this Satan concluded that he had been duped, even deceived, by Allah since the intention was to cast Iblis out of paradise.
Whatever the case, whatever the explanation, this point stands out clearly: Satan accused Allah of being a perverter, a misleader, with the Quran agreeing that this is what Allah truly is, going so far as to boast that Allah is actually the best schemer/deceiver of them all!
Unless noted otherwise, all of the citations were taken from the Hilali-Khan version of the Quran.
