By Abdullah al Andalusi
God is Just [and he defines Justice], there are no
higher values that transcend him. So this debate [of whether God’s
creation of Hell is Just?] is meaningless to a Theist. However, what can be discussed is whether God is consistent
with His actions towards his creation [i.e. in his judgement and
punishment]. So when God has declared [in His revelations] that he will
not be unjust, then this means that no one will be dealt with in an
unjust manner.
Objections to the Justice of Hell
The main objections to Hell are:
- Is it just for God to punish by means of pain (or what they call torture) in the afterlife?
- Is it just for God to maintain this punishment for eternity?
- Is it just for God to judge and punish us in the first place?
In light of this, I will demonstrate three things:
- The right of God to hold Humans to account
- The Justice In God’s Accounting of Mankind
- The right of God to punish with torment
- The Justice of God in punishing some for eternity
The Right of God to hold Mankind to Account
[Before we expound upon God’s justice, we first]
need to expose the underlying bias behind this discussion; this bias
comes from the irrational ideology of Liberalism. Liberalism’s bias
originates from the following ideas:
- Man is totally free [by right] of any control
- Man exists to seek happiness (pleasure)
- Man is the best arbiter [judge] of his own pleasure
- [Therefore] man is the decider of his own purpose and destiny
We need to challenge this underlying concept because
it portrays God as an interfering interloper that we have no need of.
Therefore, His judgement and punishment of us would be deemed to be
unjust [according to do the ideas derived from Liberalism], since man
would be [according to Liberal theology], in effect, a separate god, who
exists as equals with God!
Because [Liberalism] believes that Man is deserving
of pleasure, it abhors the concept of Hell. This is why you’ll probably
never hear of any public debates discussing whether Paradise is just
[only Hell].
[The reality is] God is not an interloper, who
exists on equal terms with us – he’s an infinite creator and maintainer
of everything that exists.
[When we look at] Reality as we observe it, the
universe and even the animal world – are certainly not liberal [there is
endless change, involving destruction, death, pain and suffering], this
causes some Liberals to doubt God’s existence, because they refuse to
question the assumptions of Liberal]. Perhaps the universe get didn’t
get the memo?
Liberalism is philosophically contradictory, irrational and unwarranted by the evidence of creation itself.
The Purpose of the creation of man and Free will, is
responsibility and duty – not autonomy [i.e. to do what they wish] and
hedonism [i.e. to focus only on whatever pleases them].
God has a right to define our purpose – just like he
defined our existence. If something creates other things for no reason,
then this creator has no will, and is just random. But if a creator
possesses intentionality (I.e Will) then that which he creates possesses
purpose [i.e. intention behind it].
This purpose constitutes the establishment of the relationship between us and our creator.
We, therefore, are God’s own creation and his
property (of which he exercises the right of disposal – i.e. the right
to do with as He pleases).
God has defined that He should be worshipped by us – [as a minimum] this takes the
form of [us] recognising him as the infinite and unlimited being that
initiated the heavens and the earth. He is thus the sole reference point
for our belief and action.
“Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us?” S. 23:101-115
Therefore, it is Just that God possesses
the Right to hold Humans to account [for the fulfillment, or
non-fulfilment of our purpose].
The Justice In God’s Accounting of Mankind
Lastly, for Humans to be held fairly accountable for their actions, there must be four conditions fulfilled:
- The Humans held accountable must be aware (to some extent) of the gravity of the Actions they under take
- The Humans held accountable must be the origin of their choices
- The Humans agreed to undertake the
trial of fulfilling their purpose autonomously (i.e. fulfils criteria of
contractual justice by consent)
- Mitigating circumstances should be taken into consideration
“Allah does not charge a soul beyond its capacity” (Quran 2:286)
Humans held accountable must be aware (to some extent) of the gravity of the Actions they take. Therefore, no one should be punished without being reminded, and forewarned, and given chances with the truth. The people being sent to Hell will be asked:
‘Did not Messengers come to
you from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your lord and
warning you against the encounter of this your day?’ They shall say,
‘Yes indeed.’ … How evil is the lodging of those that are proud!
(Az-Zumar 71, 72).
Humans agreed to undertake the trial of fulfilling their purpose autonomously (contractual justice).
Truly, We did offer Amanah (the trust
or moral responsibility) to the heavens and the earth, and the
mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e.
afraid of Allah’s Torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to
himself) and ignorant (of its results). (33:72)
God takes Mitigating circumstances into consideration
[Humans are affected by their
environment, and many do make repeated mistakes. It could be asked:] If
human condition is slanted towards non-autonomous actions/behaviours, is
the Afterlife fair?
[Well God takes the] Human propensity to
be swayed by environment and conditioning, into mitigation [by His
mercy], in that He informs us that Good deeds are weighted in multiples, while bad deeds being weighted by one.
“He that does a good deed
shall be rewarded ten times the like of it, and he that does evil shall
only be rewarded the like of it, and they shall not be wronged” (Quran 6:160)
God will show 99% of His mercy on day of judgement –
forgivng whole swathes of sins for the ransom of just some good deeds,
or a small but consistent deed.
Those who believe and work
righteous deeds, from them shall We blot out all evil (that may be) in
them and We shall reward them according to the best of their deeds (29:7)
God helps Humans by guiding humans on earth by means
of a revealed Law system – to create environments that limit public
temptations to commit evil, and establish socially reinforced values and
ethics to aid psychological maturity. This is why Muhammed (saw), who
brought the revealed guidance, is called a mercy to mankind.
The Right of God to hold Punish with Pain or Torment
Why is there Pleasure or Pain in the afterlife? This is for the same reason there is pleasure and pain in this life. Pleasure
and Pain are experienced by living (created) beings as motivations and
consequences. We need ‘feelings’ to move us, and we need feelings to
reward us for fulfilling [a motivation that was part of how we live] our
purpose (like contentment after sexual reproduction), and to castigate
us when we don’t (like guilt), or warn us of danger (like feeling
burning when putting your hand into a fire). The necessity of their
existence emanates from our created purpose.
Thus, in the afterlife we will be accounted for our
adherence to our purpose, by recompense using these [same] two [types
of] sensations. [Pleasure for those who have fulfilled their
motivations according to their purpose, and pain for those have have
fulfilled their motivations contrary to their purpose. Pleasure and Pain
are tools God Willed to exist for His creatures as part of their
purpose during their lives, why should the afterlife be any different?].
The Justice of God in punishing some for eternity
Let us first ask the question, what do we mean by justice?
Justice is giving to someone, what they deserve based upon what they are, or what they have done, i.e. their intrinsic value, or the Value of the actions they have done. E.g.
In the human world, a Person works hard in a job, so they deserve
payment. A Baby is a vulnerable human being that intrinsically deserves
care and sustenance. So justice must involve giving what is deserved.
This leads us to two possible Just uses for God’s creation of Hell.
1. Hell as a recompense for Sins
[A Sin is an action done by a created being, which is contrary to the
commanded purpose of that being. As stated earlier, God has the right
to define the purpose of created beings, and hold them to account for
choosing to fulfil or not fulfil that purpose].
Hell will be used to settle the balance of sins for
unrepentant sinners [who have not been recompensed with sufficient
punishment during their lives] – who will then be granted Paradise
[after their unforgiven Sins are punished with a commensurate term
and/or degree in Hell. The term ‘unrepentant’ is used, because a person
who repents by feeling guilty, making a commitment not to repeat the
Sin, and asking God to forgive it – is a deed that worships God, and the
person – in effect – does not become the same person who willingly
undertook the Sin in the first place. If God chooses to forgive the
person, it would be Just (because it would, in a way, no longer be the
same person who committed the sin).
The Messenger of Allah (saaw) is narrated to have said:
“The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.”
[Ibn Majah, at-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer, Abu Nu‘aym, al-Bayhaqi]
God’s forgiveness is – at the same time as well –
merciful, for God could always choose not to balance the Sin with the
Good deed of a person’s repentance and punished the person instead. God
could’ve chosen to keep the repentance as a good deed to be rewarded
separately, but still punish the person anyways. This is like Human
courts who do not pardon convicted criminals, even if the person has
made up for a crime with a good deed later. Therefore, if God punishes,
He is Just. And if God forgives, He is merciful, but still Just at the
same time].
People do not have a problem, generally, with a
finite punishment in Hell. However, they claim Hell produces an infinite
punishment for Finite Sin. [This has been typically raised as a
philosophical argument against Hell’s Justice for permanent inmates].
But Hell is not Infinite [only God is
infinite], nor does it punish to an Infinite degree of pain, even at
it’s lowest levels [i.e. the inmates of Hell are not punished with
infinite pain]
[Hell is everlasting (by God’s Will), not infinite. What this means
is, that it simply continues to exist, yet it does not exist for
infinite time – as the passing of an infinite time could never be
reached].
[What is generally argued, is that the eternal dwelling of some
people in Hell is disproportionate to the limited time they lived
committing Sin. The fallacy of this argument will be demonstrated as
followers].
Now let us appreciate the difference between an Action and a Sin.
An Action does not equal Sin, because Sin is the VALUE of an
intentional Action, not the action itself [e.g. Using a knife to cut
skin is an action, but depending on whether it was used by a surgeon to
help a patient, or used by a serial killer to murder their victims – the
action would carry completely different values].
An [bad] Action can cause a greater length of Evil, than the Time or effort it took to commit it. E.g.
Taking 10 seconds to take someone’s life away [by murdering them] –
clearly does not deserve only 10 seconds of punishment [in Jail].
So the Moral Value [of an action] determines the magnitude of the significance of the Action [and consequently, the magnitude of the punishment].
Rejecting the rights of someone, has a negative value equal to the degree the right has been denied. If
I denied someone’s right to peace and security, by physically bullying
him, this is greater in degree than if I denied his right to peace and
security by verbally harassing him.
[Equally, the object of our offence also plays a part in the moral
value of the action. To show ingratitude to one’s grandmother by
insulting her, would be far worse than to show ingratitude to one’s
bestfriend by insulting them, even if the bestfriend had seen more of
you – and done more for you – than your grandmother].
As I have shown, God [being ultimately, our sole
creator and sustainer] has the right to be worshipped alone [i.e. be
exclusively recognised by us as our creator, and His commands made the
sole criteria for all moral values of our actions] .
To reject God, or associate partners to Him, is to
claim a limitation against His power and being – as the existence of
equals to Him, would constitute a limit to His power and existence [i.e.
it would be a rejection of God Himself].
So tell me, what do you think is the gravity [or
magnitude] of denying God as the Infinite being and claiming his
finitude by associating partners with him, or worshipping a concept of
God, one considers better or denying him completely?
The gravity of that action in the eyes of God is severe in the extreme.
In fact, this crime is so severe, that it merits
from God an inexhaustible punishment [for how much time, or to what
degree of punishment could ever be counted out that exhausts the cost of
the crime of denying an infinitude of the creator – using the very
things He created by His Infinite power to turn against Him? In essence,
How much is Allah’s rights worth?]. Anything less than perpetual
punishment, is an injustice to God’s Right over us.
God used the same word for the magnitude of the crime of those associating partners with/rejecting Himself, as the word He uses to describe one of His names.
‘Allah forgives not that partners
should be set up with Him; less than that He forgives to whomsoever He
will. Whoso associates with Allah anything has indeed forged a mighty
(Adheem) sin’ (Quran 4:48).
God describes himself in the Quran as ‘Al-‘Adheemu’, the Most Great (2:105) (2:255) (42:4) (56:96).
Thus the Quran confirms the gravity of the sin of Shirk.
They ask ‘how can God punish Associators and Rejectors forever?’ – I ask: ‘why should he not?’
Now for the second use of Hell.
2. Hell as a residence for people who intrinsically deserve it.
‘Purpose’ is the measure [not just of our actions,
but also] of our intrinsic worth. If we [ourselves, not just do Sin but]
become intrinsically against our purpose by becoming a rejector of
Truth [in our very being], such that it becomes the very nature of us –
then we can be called intrinsically Evil. [Good and Evil being concepts
that describe only whether we submit to our purpose, or choose to
actively resist it]. Such a person will be called a Kafir [rejector of
truth] on the Day of Judgment. And they now deserve to have their rights
to fulfilment permanently rejected [as they permanently rejected/made
associates with God in their lives], by means of permanent frustration
in hell.
The rejection of God, by these people, is perpetual
and without end [it’s who they are, their ‘true colours’] – so why
shouldn’t their deserved residence also be without end?
‘If you could but see when
they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: “Would that we
were sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat [signs]
of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!” No, it has become
manifest to them what they had been concealing before. But if they were
returned, they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden.
And indeed they are liars.’ (6:27-28).
In another verse, the Quran reports the rejectors saying:
‘Now we confess our sins,
then is there any way to get out (of the Fire)?” (It will be said):
“This is because, when Allah Alone was invoked (in worship, etc.) you
disbelieved, but when partners were joined to Him, you believed! So the
judgement is only with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great!” S. 40:10-12
You may ask, why doesn’t God destroy them? But this
would allow them to escape their sentence. It would be unjust of God, to
let a rejecter leave Hell. How many [rejectors of God] would gladly
spend millions of years in hell , just for the chance to do what they
wanted in this life?
[Hell is therefore, the only place in existence where a rejector of
truth would perpetually accept to recognise God [even if it is only
because the circumstances provide an overwhelming desire in them to do
so]. For given freedom, they would turn back to rejecting Him. In the
afterlife, those who recognised God in their lives (showing their true
colours), would be given eternal paradise (as a reward) and also because
they would be grateful in paradise, as they were in life. But those in
Hell, only turn to God when it suits them, and therefore they would
perpetually be begging God to leave it – because that is the only place
they would ever turn to Him].
[In the end, everyone serves God’s plan in this life, and everyone
will turn to Him in the next. There is no escape for those who reject
Him]
In Summary
I believe I have demonstrated rationally, with support from Islamic textual sources, that
- The Right of God to hold Humans to Account is Just
- The recompense of Hell is Just
- The God’s Accounting of Human beings is Just
“And fear the Day when ye shall be brought back to God. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned, and none shall be dealt with unjustly. (The Noble Quran, 2:281)”
