Mercy vs Sacrifice (Islam vs Christianity)

"Say: 'O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins (except shirk): for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'" (39:53)

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful. This article will deal with analyzing the above verse and shining some light on the topic of atonement in Islam and Christianity. In my discussions with Christians, one many occasions I have experienced a grave ignorance from their side when it comes to the concept of atonement. They accuse Islam of being unmerciful and they try to establish a superiority of the Christian concept of sacrifice by playing an emotional game. By the will of Allah we will examine such a claim.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, for whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16), is a very strong statement that Christians flaunt on big posters at football games, wrestling matches and continually repeat it in Churches on Sundays. Putting on the side the fact that there are some serious interpolation problems with this verse, let us look at the claim that it makes. God had a son, which was begotten (a human trait. Christians have been working on this issue for a long time, with many magic explanations and meanings of the word begotten, as well as some leading scholars claiming the word to be an interpolation - to fit the doctrine of course), and which is god himself, and which.... are you ready?, died!!!!!! So God sent god (which is also his own son, in a perfect triune manner which keeps the flavor of perfect monotheism (3 in 1 .... does it?) and which no one can understand. Of course tears run on cheeks when people think about it, hearts shake when people talk about it, blood runs when Christians in the Philippines try to imitate it, but for a person whit a deep understanding of the implications and of God's attributes, this is just a magic trick. It looks nice, sounds nice, but it's just a trick. The appeals to emotion does not do it, and the claim that Christianity is more merciful than Islam does not cut it. If Goad is so merciful how come he needs to sacrifice His own son? Christians will say because He loves you. The Muslim answers: if He loves me that is not a nice way to show it. He has all the power in the heavens and the earths to forgive me. The Christian will say: The only way for Him to know true love is through sacrifice and He had to come down and become a man so He can fully love you. The Muslim: God has the attribute of the perfect love, and only humans need to experience in order to improve their love. God is not a man, man is not God. To God belongs the ability to Love in the most perfect way, and He has the most perfect Mercy. He just says and it is. Verily God is Most Merciful, there is not God but Him, high above is He over what they ascribe to Him. Read the Quran.

Have you ever sinned? I am sure you have because God created us with the ability to sin. We all sin, but we are not sinners as Christians believe. They believe that we have a stamp of sin from our father Adam and that no matter what we are destined for Hell unless we accept Jesus to have died for our sins. The Muslims do not believe that. The issue of sin is not as grave as in Christianity, thinking that you are born, you are a sinner, you will be a sinner, you can do nothing about it, you will burn in hell if you don't accept Jesus. Islam teaches that sin is part of human nature but so is goodness. Christianity teaches that the punishment for sin is death. Is that so? Any sin? Islam teaches that there are levels of sins. There are great sins, and there are smaller sins and even mistakes. God can forgive all of them. How? By His ability and mercy, and by you repenting and trying to change yourself. You are in a constant relationship of humbling yourself in front of God and admitting your mistakes. You always fight and try to change yourself instead of putting your sins on someone else. This concept is very deep. You sin, which is a negative thing, which can lead to the deterioration of family, and society. But you repent, and you work hard to change yourself, as well as try to do good deeds which will re establish in society the balance that was tipped when you sinned. This in comparison with you sinning and feeling safe (Christians always bring this up saying: I have the assurance that my sins are taken away) and not needing to struggle and change yourself. The results: just look around yourself what goes on in Christian societies.

"Say: 'O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins (except shirk): for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'" (39:53)

The Mercy of Allah is enough for me. I have sinned much in my life, and so has everyone else except the prophets. We have all sinned, and we should not despair because of that. Sometimes even a sin can be a realization of your faults and can be the beginning of a new journey towards God by repenting and amending. But people have also done many good deeds in life. There is much goodness in the world. Sin is not something that should discourage someone from seeking goodness. I remember my struggle with sin every day. Coming from a background where sin was no big deal, I found myself fighting with my habits as a New Muslim. At some points I was depressed, ready to give up, ready to stop the things that I was doing for God because I found myself being a hypocrite, till I really began pondering on the Quran and its meanings. I came upon the verse above. O my servant... we are all His servants..... who has transgressed against their souls... o my Lord I have committed many sins, and my soul is hurting..... do not despair of the Mercy of God.... o my Lord your Mercy is my hope, your Mercy is what gives me strength and faith.... verily God forgives all sins...... I believe that God, because you have power over all things....

Everyone has a chance in Islam. The people before Jesus and the people after, bot Muslim and no Muslim, everyone has a chance to change and to come to the right path. Everyone can experience God's infinite Mercy and Love. Everyone can repent, and change their life around. No matter what you did, as long as you die in a state of repentance God can forgive you. As long as you accept Him and all His prophets and submit to Him, He can forgive you. Do not despair. Come of Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, Atheist, Murderer, Rapist, Pervert, and Thief. Come, repent and amend, verily the Mercy of God can give you life. Come all to submit to your Lod, and confess your sins and weaknesses, He will give you meaning in life. It's not to late. Come!

"Allah, the Almighty, has said: O Son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O Son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O Son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins as great as the earth, and were you then to face Me ascribing no partners to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it."

While God is the Most Merciful, He is also the Master of the Day of Judgment. Islam always provides the balanced understanding of life, and while it is true that God can forgive every sin, you have to be on guard not to abuse that (like Christians have done, abolishing God's laws saying they are under the covenant of mercy) and keep in mind that the punishment of God can be upon you if you do that.

In conclusion, it is not to late. Do it now! Get up and put your head on the ground and ask for forgiveness. Let your tongue be moist with the words of repentance. Let your heart be filled with he hope of God. Mercy is God's attribute. No one can deny that. Ask anyone who believes in God. Do you believe God is Merciful? Do you feel the Mercy of God in your life? Are you breathing? Than God is Merciful. Love this Mercy, cherish it, live by it and be yourself merciful to people. No matter what you have done, God's Mercy can wipe that. Do not give up. Come to Him with a humble heart and you will receive it, for he is the Oft Forgiving, the Loving (85 vs 14) and He forgives us because He loves us. O Allah, shower us with your Mercy, verily you have power over all things, and you are the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I love you!