Question regarding Islam...

Ickle Magoo

Hi there,

I hope you don't mind me asking a question, I mean absolutely no disrespect.

The question stems from an interesting discussion on the Sam Harris thread in A&A regarding differences in religions. One of the points that was made is that although Allah is regarded as compassionate, moral, etc, he is not considered loving. I don't think any of us know enough about Islam to discuss the point further with any degree of confidence and I'm just really interested in an educated perspective on that point.

Thanks muchly!

Slav

Quran 85:14 - And He is the Ever Forgiving, the Most Loving

hivizman

Here are eight different translations of this verse (Surat al-Buruj 85:14):

Asad: And He also is truly-forgiving, all-embracing in His love.

Sahih International: And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate,

Pickthall: And He is the Forgiving, the Loving,

Yusuf Ali: And He is the Oft-Forgiving, Full of Loving-Kindness,

Shakir: And He is the Forgiving, the Loving,

Muhammad Sarwar: He is the All-forgiving, the Most Loving One,

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

Arberry: and He is the All-forgiving, the All-loving,

The Mohsin Khan translation interpolates various interpretations from classical tafsir, and it is interesting that Allah's love, in this version, is restricted to Muslims.

hivizman

It is interesting that the word used in Surat Al-Buruj 85:14 that has been translated as "The Most Loving" (Al-Walud) is not all that common in the Qur'an. In other contexts, it often relates to the "love" that one may have for one's relatives or friends, so those who have translated this word as "The Affectionate" may be closer to capturing the sense of the original Arabic.

A different word that appears in around 40 places in the Qur'an is "yuhibbu", which is derived from the verb "habba". This is usually translated as "love", and implies a stronger attitude than affection. Muhammad is often described as "Habibullah" - "beloved of Allah". When the Qur'an uses "yuhibbu", it is normally in a sentence that identifies particular groups whom Allah "loves" or "does not love". For example, Surat al-Baqarah 2:190: "Allaha la yuhibbu'l-mu'tadina" - "Allah does not love the transgressors", or Surat-al-Baqarah 2:195: "Allaha yuhibbu'l-muh'sinina" - "Allah loves those who do good".

This suggests that, while Allah has a general affectionate love for all his creation, his specific love is restricted to those who fall into certain categories. This seems to be different from the Christian argument that God "hates the sin but loves the sinner" - the various verses in the Qur'an that describe the groups that Allah "loves" or "does not love" could imply that sinners (at least those whose sins would be regarded as taking them outside Islam) are not loved by Allah.

This is an issue where Muslims who lean towards Sufism tend to understand Allah's love in a broader sense while those who reject Sufism often assert that Allah's love is restricted to Muslims. I could write more, with references, but it's rather late. Maybe tomorrow.

af_thefragile

Its mentioned somewhere in the Quran or the Hadith (sorry not sure exactly where) that Allah has 100 parts of love and he sent only one of those 100 parts down to earth. It is because of this 1/100th part of love which Allah has sent down onto the earth that you see all the love and compassion between humans, animals and all the creatures in this world.
The rest 99 parts he's kept for the day of judgement.

Mercy and Justice are two qualities of Allah.
Mercy is related to love and forgiving while Justice is related to wrath and punishment.
And it is said Allah's mercy is greater than his wrath.

There's a lot one can speak about Allah's love once you get into the philosophical aspect of Islam. People ask if God is all love then why is there so much evil in the world?
The inherent nature of the universe is chaos. Although the universe looks brilliantly organised, when you look closely and even at the fundamental particles, you'll find they're in a constant state of chaos. Without Allah's love and mercy, this world would just be as chaotic as the rest of the universe. But it is due to Allah's love and mercy (that 1/100th part he sent down to us) that this planet is such a habitable place. And the instances of evil and suffering you see on the planet are people/places which are darkened by the lack of Allah's love and mercy. Its not that Allah is evil and likes to see people suffer, its that people end up in a state of evil and chaos because Allah has taken away his love and mercy from over them due to some wrong choices they might have made.

hivizman

af_thefragile wrote: »

Its mentioned somewhere in the Quran or the Hadith (sorry not sure exactly where) that Allah has 100 parts of love and he sent only one of those 100 parts down to earth. It is because of this 1/100th part of love which Allah has sent down onto the earth that you see all the love and compassion between humans, animals and all the creatures in this world.
The rest 99 parts he's kept for the day of judgement.

Various versions of the hadith are reported by Imam Muslim, one of the major collections of hadith, in his Kitab al-tawba. The fullest version is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira, probably the most widely cited transmitter of hadith:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying : There are one hundred (parts of) mercy for Allah and He has sent down out of these one part of mercy upon the jinn and human beings and the insects and it is because of this (one part) that they love one another, show kindness to one another and even the beast treats its young one with affection, and Allah has reserved ninetynine parts of mercy with which He would treat His servants on the Day of Resurrection.

[Muslim, Book 37, No. 6631]

af_thefragile wrote: »

Mercy and Justice are two qualities of Allah.
Mercy is related to love and forgiving while Justice is related to wrath and punishment.
And it is said Allah's mercy is greater than his wrath.

Again, Muslim reports on the authority of Abu Huraira:

Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When Allah created the creation as He was upon the Throne, He put down in His Book: Verily, My mercy predominates My wrath.

[Muslim, Book 37, No. 6626]

af_thefragile wrote: »

There's a lot one can speak about Allah's love once you get into the philosophical aspect of Islam. People ask if God is all love then why is there so much evil in the world?
The inherent nature of the universe is chaos. Although the universe looks brilliantly organised, when you look closely and even at the fundamental particles, you'll find they're in a constant state of chaos. Without Allah's love and mercy, this world would just be as chaotic as the rest of the universe. But it is due to Allah's love and mercy (that 1/100th part he sent down to us) that this planet is such a habitable place. And the instances of evil and suffering you see on the planet are people/places which are darkened by the lack of Allah's love and mercy. Its not that Allah is evil and likes to see people suffer, its that people end up in a state of evil and chaos because Allah has taken away his love and mercy from over them due to some wrong choices they might have made.

I have read that the description of Allah as "Ar-Rahman" and "Ar-Rahim" (for example, Surah Al-Fatiha 1:3) is intended to imply that Allah offers His mercy to all humans, but he is particularly merciful to Muslims. For example, in Surat Al-Furqan (25:59), Allah is described as "He who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then established Himself above the Throne - the Most Merciful, so ask about Him one well informed" [Sahih International translation]. The Arabic word used is "Ar-Rahman". This verse is interpreted by some commentators (including the influential Tafsir of Ibn Kathir) as suggesting that Allah, as "Ar-Rahman", is merciful towards all of creation. On the other hand, in Surat Al-Ahzab (33:43), the phrase appears "And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful." Here, the Arabic word used is "Ar-Rahim", and commentators conclude that mercy in this sense is reserved for Muslims.

Here is a selection of translations of "Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim":

Sahih International: The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful

Pickthall: The Beneficent, the Merciful

Yusuf Ali: Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Shakir: The Beneficent, the Merciful

Muhammad Sarwar: the Beneficent, the Merciful

Mohsin Khan: The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Arberry: The All-merciful, the All-compassionate

Khalidi: Merciful to all, Compassionate to each

Asad: The Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace