Message for Muslims

Because Muslims have denied the crucifixion it is not surprising to find that they have no use for a doctrine of atonement The real explanation for their attitude, however, is to be found not in the Quran’s denial of the crucifixion but in the Muslim conception of Allah as set forth in the Quran, Here they declare that there is no need of any atonement.

The teaching of the Quran is that Allah is Almighty and can do what He likes and also that Allah is Merciful and He forgives whom He will. His might and His mercy are strangely lacking in certain moral qualities and this is borne out by the ordinary teaching of Islam concerning sin. Sin in Islam is usually represented as rebellion against, and opposition to the commands and regulations of Allah. The Quran does make mention of some grave sins – covetousness, pride, envy, extravagance, niggardliness, ostentation, cheating, suspicion, slander, theft, etc; and doctors of the law have compiled, lists of these “great” sins. It is significant that the offence of shirk invariably heads these lists. But, for the rest, popular Muslim literature bears eloquent testimony to the fact that it is the interminable regulations about things “allowed“ and “forbidden“ that weigh like a yoke on the necks of the common people.

The principal terms used for sin in the Quran are:

1. ithm, “crime, offence, or act of disobedience”; strictly intentional. The offence of shirk is so termed.

2. jurm, but in the form mujrim or parts of the verb from this root; the significance is much the same as ithm.

3. dhanb, “crime, unlawful deed, transgression, or act of disobedience”; either intentional or through inadvertence.

The mercy of God is further impaired by the Islamic doctrine of fate. The Quran asserts that the fate of man, whatever happens, has been fixed by inevitable decrees. But while this doctrine is often urged, and quite legitimately, as a reason for resignation and patience, it is not by any means confined to such purposes. In the Quran it is constantly obtruded in its crudest form, thus:

> “Allah will mislead whom He pleaseth, and. whom He pleaseth He will place upon the straight path.” (Al-An’am 6: 39)

> “And whoso willeth, taketh the way to his Lord. But will it ye shall not, unless Allah will it,” (Al-Insan 76:28-29)

> “Every man’s fate have We fastened about his neck,” (Al-Isra 17:13)

> “Had thy God pleased He would have made mankind of one religion; but those only to whom thy Lord hath granted mercy will cease to differ. And unto this hath He created them for the word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled, ‘I will fill hell with Jinn and men’” (Hud 11:119)

One might well ask how it is possible for a Muslim, under the influence of such teaching, to come near in his conception of sin to that idea of it which we gain from Jesus Christ, viz., that it is an offence against the holy love of the Heavenly Father. From the above we have learnt that Allah is an arbitrary God and man’s offences seem to be determined by an inexorable fate; while towering above, is that terrible bogey, shirk, dwarfing all else – it is to Muslims, the sin of sins.

Contrast the quotations given above with these, for the like of which we search the Quran in vain :

> “The Lord is not willing that any should perish,” (2 Peter. 3:9)

> “(God) “will have all men to be saved,”(I Timothy. 2: 4)

> “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live,” (Ezekiel: 33:11)

When the Quran does say anything about “salvation” (and it isn’t often, e.g., the substantive najat, salvation, occurs but once Surah:40:45) it does not convey the idea of moral and spiritual regeneration. Our task, therefore, is to help lift God’s character out of the category in which Islam has placed it, to lead the Muslim to worthier views of Him, of His holiness, His righteousness, and His love. We can show him also that the measure of a man’s penitence is the measure of his sense of sin, and it will be here, and in this connection, that we can prove both the need and the power of the death of Christ on the cross. We can show from our own experience that it is only through meditating on the meaning and the purpose of that suffering that one comes to hold worthier views of God and a more adequate conception of sin.

An extract from entitled “The people of the Mosque” by L. Bevan Jones – Copyright © 2010 “Message 4 Muslims” All rights reserved.

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