Does God Love Sinners and Non-Muslims?


19 April, 2021


QAsallamu alaykum. I'm a new revert to Islam and thus my friends ask me lots of questions about my choice. My best friend is a devout Christian and he recently asked me a challenging question for which I am struggling with a definite answer as I want to make sure I give him the correct Islamic answer. He asked me whether, according to Islam, Allah loves those who commit sins. More importantly, does He love non-Muslims? Jazak Allah Khair.


ANSWER

Idris Tawfiq


19 April, 2021


Short Answer: Sin in Islam is different than Christianity. We believe Allah forgave Adam and Eve when they repented. Allah hates sin, but He loves sinners and is merciful and compassionate and forgiving to all those who come to Him in repentance. As for Allah loving those who are not Muslim, of course He does. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in between. Islam is a mercy to all mankind, not just to Muslims.

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Wa Alaykum Assalam Dear Saleem,

Welcome to Islam and many thanks for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

Living Life to the Full


Living Life to the Full


I gave a talk at Nottingham University in the UK a few years ago. The title was “Calm Amidst the Chaos: Spirituality in Islam.”

The basic theme of the talk was to say how Islam brings calm to our lives and our rebellious hearts, amidst all the other things in this world that are pulling at us.

The talk, attended by Muslims and non-Muslims, was well attended and well received, but there was a small group of students from one of the Evangelical Christian groups in the university, who were so keen to ask questions at the end of the talk about sin and God’s punishment.

Sin in Christianity


In fact, to me they seemed obsessed with the idea of sin, although this is not an idea held in mainstream Christianity. We need to understand where this obsession with sin comes from in order to answer your question properly.

In the Biblical accounts of Creation, we read the story of Adam and Eve and how they sinned and were expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their sin and disobedience. The Bible account ends there, with Adam and Eve out in the cold.

According to this idea, the whole of humanity down through the ages inherits this sin from Adam and Eve, and no one can make up for it except a super human savior. Christians see Jesus (peace be upon him) as this savior who, according to their tradition, dies on the cross to “save mankind from sin.”

Sin and forgiveness, therefore, are directly linked in this tradition to Jesus’ death on the cross. They hold that there is nothing anyone can do to be worthy in God’s sight, except to be forgiven through the blood of Jesus.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, priests are given the power to forgive sins on God’s behalf. This whole idea of “original sin,” then, comes from the Bible.

What Does Islam Say?


Revive Hope After Your Sinful Past


Revive Hope After Your Sinful Past


In the Quran, the story is told quite differently. Adam and Eve sin and are punished and expelled, but they return and are forgiven by Allah Almighty.

In Islam, therefore, we do not see human beings as being born into this world as sinful and in need of a savior. No, in Islam we see people born with an innate goodness. What would they be saved from? What would a savior do for them?

This really is a massive difference in outlook between Islam and the religions which went before it. Islam is a religion of mercy. We most often call upon Almighty Allah by two of His most beautiful names: Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem, Most Merciful and Most Compassionate.

As Muslims, we believe that at the end of time, each person will appear naked before Allah Almighty and be called to account for the way he or she has lived this life on earth. Their good deeds and their bad will be read out loud, and we will feel truly ashamed for the bad we have done.

Verses in the Quran


In the Quran, we read what means:

{Every man’s work We have fastened on his own neck, and on the Day of Judgment We shall bring out for him a book which he will see open, saying ‘Read your own book! Enough for you this day that your own soul should call you to account.’} (Al-Israa’ 17:13-14)

However, we also believe that scales of deeds will be set up on that Day of Judgment, and it will be a day of justice, when no soul shall be wronged.

{Whoever has done an atom’s weight of good shall see it.} (Az-Zalzalah 99:7-8)

In other words, those who have done wrong will be punished, and those who have done good will be rewarded, God willing:

{Those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful; but those whose scales are light, they are the ones who have lost their souls in Hell, dwelling forever. The fire will burn their faces, and there, they will be gloomy with lips displaced.} (Al-Mu’minun 23:102-104)

Allah Hates Sin but Loves Sinners


5 Things Bring Inner Peace and Tranquility


5 Things Bring Inner Peace and Tranquility


Islam is a religion for grownups.

There are no popes or priests to intercede for us or to act as intermediaries on our behalf.

We must take responsibility for the way we live our lives.

There will be no one to make excuses for us on that final day.

We have to face the price of how we have lived.

This has been a very long way of answering your question. Almighty God (Allah) hates sin, but He loves sinners and is merciful and compassionate and forgiving to all those who come to Him in repentance.

If He didn’t love sinners, then He wouldn’t love anyone at all, since all of us are less than perfect and do wrong. In fact, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) tells us that there are many doors in Paradise which constantly open and close, but there is one door, the Gate of Repentance, which is always open.

We need only to come before Allah with sincere hearts, begging His mercy and forgiveness and He will surely respond. Those who refuse or cannot repent, cannot expect forgiveness.

Non-Muslims


As for Allah loving those who are not Muslim, of course He does. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in between. Islam is a mercy to all mankind, not just to Muslims.

In the beginning of the Quran, we refer to Allah as “Lord of all the worlds,” not just Lord of Muslims. It is out of love that He calls all mankind to Himself, urging them to follow the straight path, which is Islam.

It is our bad deeds or our constant refusal to accept the truth, which Allah does not like, but men and women were created by Him — and He doesn’t make mistakes!

Finally, then, I would urge you not to be distracted by those who are so obsessed with sin to the point of being blinded to God’s goodness by that obsession.

Remember, that in Islam we see human beings as being created good — all human beings, not just Muslims. This is a teaching we can be really proud of — and those detractors can’t really say anything against it.

I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.