The question that haunts me is, “If Allah loves us, why does He allow us to commit sin and then punish us?”
There are three verdicts here. First, Allah loves us, second, He allows us to sin, and third, He punishes us. We can conclude from the divine revelation that Allah loves His servants. The prophets declared in the divine knowledge they brought that Allah is merciful and compassionate towards His servants. But does Allah allow people to commit sin and punish them even though He allows them to do so? There is no divine knowledge about it, and in fact is the contrary. To put it forward in simple terms, Allah does not tolerate any of His servants committing sins and does not want them to be punished unjustly.
But we say that Allah has His wrath along with His mercy.
It is true, that besides the mercy of Allah, there is also His wrath. His wrath is for those who sins His approval. Allah has told His servants not to sin, and ingrained in them that sinning is an evil action. Indeed, when we look at the world, we see many moral norms being put forward and agreed on collectively despite them coming from a variety of different religions, cultures, or regions. No society appreciates murder, adultery, or theft. These are considered as evil and sinful acts in every religion, every region and every culture. Although there are some differences, there is always some extent of a punishments seen in order to deter one from these sins. Allah the Almighty wants goodness and beauty for His servants. He (swt) expects His servants to realize goodness and beauty with their own free will. He has sets some punishments for those who do not comply however Allah the Almighty does not set traps for anyone. Just as He tells us what beauty and ugliness are, He also informs us about the rewards and punishments with certain actions.
How is this similar to Allah’s punishment of the sinner?
When Allah created His servants, He gave them two important characteristics, intelligence, and free will. When people use these two, that is, use these means properly, Allah will not have a sanction against them, on the contrary, there will be many rewards. Indeed, Allah not only gives these two means but also sends prophets as warners due to His mercy and compassion so that His servants do not fall into wrong or sin. In addition, He constantly warns the human mind and will with some signs He puts in nature. Similar to the way the state warned drivers on the road with road signs and their officers. If a servant ignores all these warnings and acts out of spite, they will inevitably be subject to some punishment. The state’s punishment for the wrongdoer is not just for the sake of punishment, but it is for preventing the wrongdoer and others from making the same mistake again. Otherwise, the good driver and the bad driver can’t be distinguished. Not punishing the wrongdoing leads to greater disasters and suffering. Therefore the punishment imposed by the state is to ensure justice among the citizens. Allah the Almighty will also ordain punishment in the next world for the sins committed in this world to establish justice.
But wouldn’t it be better if Allah prevented them?
This proposal is similar to saying that cars and roads should be banned in its totality to eradicate any chance of accidents and suffering. We would not like it if the state banned cars and roads similarly if Allah the Almighty ignored our minds and restricted our will, it would be the same. This offer means to say that Allah should take our minds and free will away from us. It is a serious contradiction to ask to be both smart and wilful and then demand restrictions. You cannot have both. Allah has given us two beautiful blessings that are reason and free will, prepared the conditions, set the rules, informed and warned us of them. It makes no sense to say “We must have all kinds of freedom but no sanctions.” This conclusion would then be alright to mercy but not to justice. If this demand is fulfilled, there will be many crimes committed without any repercussions. Would we be having the same thought process if those crimes were committed against us and harmed us? In this case would we not be calling out for justice and the lack of justice? This is in fact the essence of all human beings. Extremely compassionate towards thieves as long as they are not robbed themselves. They don’t care if someone else is robbed and they say, “It’s only items and objects which could be replaced.” But when they are exposed to this themself, they could go as far as to demanding the execution of the thief. This is exactly what selfishness looks like in our time. Those who do not want hell are those who have not suffered yet and are living in pleasure. In the meantime they are also afraid of death and the Judgment Day and this is because they enjoy a rather charming and glamorous life. The persecuted, and the afflicted seek justice. They want the perpetrators who cause the suffering to be punished severely.
So it’s all relative. Everyone looks at the issues and evaluates them from their perspective.
Exactly. The young, happy, and hopeful person never wants to experience death, and never even thinks about it. Those who are old and suffering can never forget about death. We are happy when a child is born, but we are sad and even rebellious when we face death. However, it is the same Allah who gives life to the newborn and takes life. Nothing changes in the treatment of Allah the Exalted. He changes neither His creation nor His laws nor His promises.
So what changes?
Humans change. Allah the Almighty will never impose a penal sanction on people as long as they don’t change themselves, deteriorate their nature, and violate the rules. On the contrary, He gives them rewards more than they expect. He bestows them His paradise and honors them by accepting them into His presence. However, a servant, who loses one’s humanity by sinking into evil, loses one’s essence, constantly breaks the rules, and does not show any remorse, is of course subject to Allah’s justice. As they must and should be. Otherwise, justice won’t be served on behalf of the victims and sufferers. Allah ordains a punishment according to the crime of the perpetrator but never punishes them above their crime.
