The true God revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ and the inspired pages of the Holy Bible rebukes those who love only those who love and do good to them seeing that this fails to reflect God’s perfect love for mankind:

“If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people.  Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:32-36 Common English Bible (CEB)

“You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete.” Matthew 5:43-48 CEB

The God-breathed Scriptures attest that the true God loves all of sinful mankind and demonstrated his love for them by sending his beloved Son to die in their place in order to procure their everlasting redemption:

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.” John 3:16-18 CEB

“While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life? And not only that: we even take pride in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one through whom we now have a restored relationship with God.” Romans 5:6-11 CEB

Herein is where the problem lay for Shabir Ally and his god.

There isn’t a single place in the entire Islamic scripture which states that Allah loves the entire world, or that he loves ungodly sinners.

Rather, the Quran teaches that Allah loves those who do good, repent etc.:

And spend in the way of Allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands, and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the doers of good. S. 2:195 Shakir

They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you. Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness. S. 2:222 Pickthall

Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. S. 3:31 Pickthall

And how many a prophet has fought with whom were many worshipers of the Lord; so they did not become weak-hearted on account of what befell them in Allah’s way, nor did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and Allah loves the patient. S. 3:146 Shakir

Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them, and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust. S. 3:159 Shakir

And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! Allah loveth the kindly. S. 5:13 Pickthall

(They like to) listen to falsehood, to devour anything forbidden. So if they come to you (O Muhammad), either judge between them, or turn away from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot hurt you in the least. And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly. S. 5:42 Hilali-Khan

“And ask forgiveness of your Lord and turn unto Him in repentance. Verily, my Lord is Most Merciful, Most Loving.” S. 11:90 Hilali-Khan

Surely those who believe and do deeds of righteousness — unto them the All-merciful shall assign love. S. 19:96 Arberry

And if two parties or groups among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them both, but if one of them rebels against the other, then fight you (all) against the one that which rebels till it complies with the Command of Allah; then if it complies, then make reconciliation between them justly, and be equitable. Verily! Allah loves those who are equitable. S. 49:9 Hilali-Khan

Lo! Allah loveth them who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure. S. 61:4 Pickhtall

Shabir’s “holy” book also affirms that Allah does not love those who are evildoers:

And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you, and do not exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits. S. 2:190 Shakir

Assuredly Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! He loveth not the proud. S. 16:23 Pickthall

But seek the abode of the Hereafter in that which Allah hath given thee and neglect not thy portion of the world, and be thou kind even as Allah hath been kind to thee, and seek not corruption in the earth; lo! Allah loveth not corrupters, S. 28:77 Pickthall

And the recompense of evil is punishment like it, but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from Allah; surely He does not love the unjust. S. 42:40 Shakir

The Quran even claims that Allah doesn’t love the prodigals!

It is He who produces gardens trellised, and untrellised, palm-trees, and crops diverse in produce, olives, pomegranates, like each to each, and each unlike to each. Eat of their fruits when they fructify, and pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest; and be not prodigal; God loves not the prodigal. S. 6:141 Arberry

This basically shows that Allah’s love is conditional and offered only to those who first love him and turn to him in righteousness. It is therefore not surprising to find the following Muslims translating Sura 85:14 in this manner:

And He is Oft-Forgiving, full of love (towards the pious who are real true believers of Islâmic Monotheism), Hilali-Khan

What makes this all the more interesting is that Shabir Ally himself concedes in his writings that his ilah doesn’t love everyone!

“Due to a slight misunderstanding, many people see this as an unresolvable contradiction. This question has troubled them to the point of driving them away from religion altogether. This misunderstanding begins with the assumption that God loves everyone, even sinners. Then it becomes difficult to explain why God would punish sinners.

“Some people attempt to explain their way around this by saying that God loves the sinner but hates the sin. This explanation would have been good enough if God would punish the sin and save the sinner. Instead, God will punish the sinner, so the problem remains.

“To survey the problem a little further, consider the following quote from Matthew’s Gospel:

‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies…’ (Matthew 5:43-44).

“Now this passage indicates that it is a good thing to love one’s enemies. It follows, then, that God, being infinitely good, must love His enemies too. But then, why would He punish them? Why, for example, would God torment some of His creatures day and night for ever and ever in a lake of burning sulphur if He loves them? (see Revelation 20:10)

“The Qur’an resolve this problem by indicating QUITE CLEARLY that although God is full of loving kindness He does not love sinners who refuse to change.

“We know from the Qur’an that Allah does not like the following categories of people:

·      mischief makers

·      treacherous ingrates

·      proud people

·      prodigals

·      rejectors of God’s message.

“It presents, therefore, no difficulty in the mind of a Muslim if God punishes such people. On the other hand, it makes more sense that God will not treat the good and bad in the same manner. Therefore we must all try our best to do what pleases God, and seek His forgiveness for our failings.

“The Qur’an tells us that Allah loves the following categories of people:

·      those who do good

·      those who repent of their sins

·      those who keep themselves clean

·      those who fulfil their pledges and are conscious of Allah

·      those who are steadfast on the right path

·      those who trust in Allah.

“Let us therefore ask God to make us DESERVING of His infinite love.” (Shabir Ally, Common Questions People Ask about Islam [Al Attique Int’l Islamic Publications, Toronto, Ont. Canada], Question 16. If God is Loving, Kind, and Merciful, why would He punish anyone in Hell? pp. 46-48 http://books.google.com/books?id=jixPvnaAR6kC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=shabir+ally+allah+loves+the+following+categories+of+people&source=bl&ots=ubgUfrv4aR&sig=zIdO63Gzqaau2ZJRd8e9gQ8VOAM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7GnzUP3iNILm2QXUu4DQBg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=shabir%20ally%20allah%20loves%20the%20following%20categories%20of%20people&f=false; bold and capital emphasis mine)

The following Islamic scholar concurs with Ally’s admission that the Muslim god doesn’t possess unqualified, unconditional love for mankind:

“ Unqualified Divine Love for mankind is an idea completely alien to the Qur’an. In fact ‘to love’ is a phrase too strong to convey the idea of ahaba which can be rendered equally well as ‘to like or to approve.’…

“Even if we adopt the translation ‘loves’ for yuhibbu when it is used with God as the subject, nowhere do we find the idea that God loves mankind. God’s love is conditional. He loves those who do good, ³) those who turn repentant to Him, ⁴) those who keep themselves clean, ¹) those who guard themselves fearfully (against His wrath), ²) those who are patient, ³) those who rely upon Him, ⁴) those who are just, 5) and those who fight in His cause. 6) On the other hand, He loves not those who transgress, 7) nor any sinful misbeliever, ⁸) not the unjust, ⁹) nor the corruption, ¹⁰) nor the extravagant, ¹¹) nor the treacherous, ¹²) nor the proud and boastful, ¹³) nor the fraudulent sinners, ¹⁴) nor those big with pride, ¹⁵) nor misbelieving traitors, 16) nor misbelievers. ¹⁷)” (Daud Rahbar, God of Justice: A Study in the Ethical Doctrine of the Qur’an [E. J. Brill, Leiden,1960], pp. 172-173)

Shockingly, the Quran nowhere exhorts believers to love Allah and Rahbar explains why:

“The relationship of love, as we have said earlier, is a reciprocal one. This is because God Himself loves only the strictly pious. To love God one must presuppose that God is reciprocating the sentiment. And to presuppose that is to presume that one is perfectly pious. Such presumption the Qur’an never allows. Even the most virtuous men as prophets are constantly reminded that they are sinful creatures who must ask forgiveness of smallest sins whether they are aware of them or not. Side by side with such a conception of God’s unrelaxing justice love for God would certainly be out of place. It is therefore very rarely that the subject of human love for God is touched at all in the Qur’an…

“It is probable that hubb for God in all these verses is not strictly love, but a regard for God that outweighs the love of worldly things. The following verse brings out this point:

“Say, ‘If your fathers, and your sons, and your brothers, and your wives, and your clansmen, and the wealth which ye have gained, and the merchandise which ye fear may be slack, and the dwellings which ye love, are dearer to you than God and His Apostle (ahabba ilaykum mina Allahi warasulihi…) than fighting strenuously in His way,–then wait awhile, until God brings His bidding, for God guides not a people who work abomination’!” (9:24) 

This is all that the Qur’an has to say on Godward love, On the other hand, fear of God is the most oft-mentioned Godward sentiment in the Qur’an and goes so naturally with the idea of the Lord of justice and authority…” (Ibid., pp. 180-181; bold emphasis mine)

To make matters worse for Shabir, both the Muslim scripture and teachings of his prophet emphatically state that Allah has deliberately created certain men and genies for the purpose of condemning them to everlasting torment:

And We never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make (the message) clear for them. Then Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will. He is the Mighty, the Wise. S. 14:4

Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the guided one, and whomsoever He sends astray, those! They are the losers. And surely, We have created many of the jinns and mankind for Hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not, they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth). They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones. S. 7:178-179 Hilali-Khan

IF thy Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute. Except those on whom thy Lord hath bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them: and the Word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled: “I will fill Hell with jinns and men all together.” S. 11:118-119 Y. Ali

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

If We had so willed, We could have given every soul its guidance; but now My Word is realized – ‘Assuredly I shall fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together.’ So now taste, for that you forgot the encounter of this your day! We indeed have forgotten you. Taste the chastisement of eternity for that you were doing!’ S. 32:13-14

Thus, not only does Allah mislead the ungodly, he is the one who actually makes them ungodly in the first place and sends them straying from the very beginning!

In other words, Shabir’s god has already determined beforehand who will be misled and has chosen not to grant certain individuals the ability to follow the guidance, thereby turning them into rebel sinners. Ally’s ilah then decides to continue to lead these individuals astray for not believing in his message!

In fact, the Quran makes the additional claim that the reason why anyone wills or chooses to follow Islam is because Allah willed this for that individual; otherwise s/he would never have made the choice to believe!

And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers? It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah. He hath set uncleanness upon those who have no sense. S. 10:99-100

Verily! This is an admonition, so whosoever wills, let him take a Path to his Lord (Allah). But you cannot will, unless Allah wills. Verily, Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. He will admit to His Mercy whom He will; But the wrong-doers,- for them has He prepared a grievous Penalty.” S. 76:29-31 

To whomsoever among you who wills to walk straight, And you will not, unless (it be) that Allah wills, the Lord of the worlds. S. 81:28-29

As if this weren’t troubling enough, Shabir’s deity has even created mankind with all of the very evil, immoral desires that they must engage in such as adultery:  

Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
I did not see anything so resembling minor sins as what Abu Huraira said from the Prophet, who said, “Allah has written for the son of Adam his inevitable share of adultery whether he is aware of it or not: The adultery of the eye is the looking (at something which is sinful to look at), and the adultery of the tongue is to utter (what it is unlawful to utter), and the innerself wishes and longs for (adultery) and the private parts turn that into reality or refrain from submitting to the temptation.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77, Number 609)

Verily Allah has fixed the very portion of adultery which a man will indulge in, and which he OF NECESSITY MUST COMMIT (or there would be no escape from it). (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6421; see also Number 6422)

‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud reported: Evil one is he who is evil in the womb of his mother and the good one is he who takes lesson from the (fate of) others. The narrator came to a person from amongst the Companion of Allah’s Messenger who was called Hudhaifa b. Usaid Ghifari and said: How can a person be an evil one without (committing an evil) deed? Thereupon the person said to him: You are surprised at this, whereas I have heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When forty nights pass after the semen gets into the womb, Allah sends the angel and gives him the shape. Then he creates his sense of hearing, sense of sight, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and then says: My Lord, would he be male or female? And your Lord decides as He desires and the angel then puts down that also and then says: My Lord, what about his age? And your Lord decides as He likes it and the angel puts it down. Then he says: My Lord, what about his livelihood? And then the Lord decides as He likes and the angel writes it down, and then the angel gets out with his scroll of destiny in his hand and nothing is added to it and nothing is subtracted from it. (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6393)

By a Soul and Him who balanced it, And breathed into it its WICKEDNESS and its piety, S. 91:7-8 Rodwell

and by the soul and what shaped it and inspired it to its immoralities and its self control (Ali Bakhtiari Nejad https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/91/st65.htm)

Note how Muhammad is reported to explain this Quranic passage:

Abu al-Aswad reported that ‘Imran b Husain asked him: What is your view, what the people do today in the world, and strive for, is it something decreed for them or preordained for them or will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teaching which they did not act upon? I said: Of course, it is something which is predetermined for them and preordained for them. He (further) said: Then, would it not be an injustice (to punish them)? I felt greatly disturbed because of that, and said: Everything is created by Allah and lies in His Power. He would not be questioned as to what He does, but they would be questioned; thereupon he said to me: May Allah have mercy upon you, I did not mean to ask you but for testing your intelligence. Two men of the tribe of Muzaina came to Allah’s Messenger and said: Allah’s Messenger, what is your opinion that the people do in the world and strive for, is something decreed for them; something preordained for them and will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teachings which they did not act upon. and thus they became deserving of punishment? Thereupon, he said: Of course, it happens as it is decreed by Destiny and preordained for them, AND THIS VIEW IS CONFIRMED BY THIS VERSE OF THE BOOK OF ALLAH, the Exalted and Glorious: “Consider the soul and Him Who made it perfect, then breathed into it its sin and its piety” (xci. 8).  (Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6406)

“… Ibn `Abbas said…

“(Then He showed it its Fujur and its Taqwa.) ‘He explained the good and the evil to it (the soul).’ Mujahid, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and Ath-Thawri all said the same. Sa`id bin Jubayr said, ‘He gave him inspiration (to see what was) good and evil.’ Ibn Zayd said, ‘He made its Fujur and its Taqwa inside of it.’ Ibn Jarir recorded from Abul-Aswad Ad-Dili that he said, ‘`Imran bin Husayn said to me, “Do you think that what the people do, and what they strive for is a thing that is pre-ordained and predestined for them, or is it a thing which is only written after the Message comes to them from the Prophet, when there will be an evidence against them.” I said, “Rather it is something preordained upon them.” Then he said, “Is that an injustice?” Then I became extremely frightened of him (due to what he was saying), and I said to him, “There is nothing except that He (Allah) created it and possesses it in His Hand. He is not asked about what He does, while they (His creation) will be asked.” He (`Imran) then said, “May Allah guide you! I only asked you about that in order to inform you that a man from Muzaynah or Juhaynah tribe came to the Allah’s Messenger and asked him: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Do you consider the actions of mankind and their struggles to be preordained for them and written for them from Qadr, or something written for them only after the Message came to them from their Prophet, when there will be an evidence against them.’ He (the Prophet) replied…

(Rather it is something preordained for them.) So the man said, ‘Then what is the point of our actions.’ The Prophet replied…

“(Whoever Allah created for one of the two positions (Paradise or Hell), He makes it easy for him (to attain). The proof of that is in the Book of Allah (By Nafs, and Ma Sawwaha (Who apportioned it). Then He showed it its Fujur and its Taqwa).’ Ahmad and Muslim both recorded this Hadith.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, http://www.alim.org/library/quran/AlQuran-tafsir/TIK/91/1; bold emphasis mine)

After all is said and done this fact remains. The Quran never affirms that Allah loves all sinners, but rather loves only those who love him and do good. Allah has even gone so far as to deliberately create many beings for the express purpose of torturing them in hell.

Such an entity isn’t the God of the Holy Bible, the God revealed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, such a being is none other than the devil himself!

In fact, there were Christians at the time of the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab that decried this heinous and wickedly evil depiction of the deity:

388. Muhammad said, “Abu Hanifah informed us from ‘Abd al-A’la at-Taymi from his father that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said while delivering the khutbah to people at al-Jabiyah when he said in his khutbah, ‘Allah misleads whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills.’ One of those priests said, ‘What does the Amir al-Mu’minun say?’ They said, ‘He says, “Allah misleads whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills.”’ He said, ‘THAT IS UPSIDE-DOWN! ALLAH IS TOO JUST TO MISLEAD ANYONE!’ That saying of his reached ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and he said, ‘On the contrary, ALLAH HAS MISLED YOU. By Allah! if it were not for your covenant I WOULD HAVE STRUCK OFF YOUR HEAD.’” (The Kitab al-Athar of Imam Abu Hanifah: The Narration of Imam Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan Ash-Shaybani [Turath Publishing, London, 2007], IMAN, 113. Affirmation of the Decree, p. 223; bold and capital emphasis mine)

So much for Shabir Ally’s ilah being the true God of Abraham.

FURTHER READING

Divine Love: A Biblical and Quranic Perspective

The Problem of Divine Sovereignty, Predestination, Salvation and Human Free Will

The Creation and Purpose of Hell Pt. 1

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