How can God be offended? Hellfire, punishments…
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Peace everyone.
I have been following Islam for 25 years with doubts often I started out finding literature on Rashad Khalifa and my Quran search grew from there. I’ve had crisis lately, religious crisis, thinking how could God punish someone in hell forever for a temporary sin on this earth, it seems childish to me that a creator of the world would care if we eat pork or if women cover their bosom with a cloth or who we sleep with in the bedroom. God seems beyond all that to me and it seems more human like … all these rules. I’m finding in the Quran, especially those of punishment in hell for eternity. It doesn’t equate punishment for eternity for something temporal on this earth. I’ve also been into thinking about how if we are from God, how can we really be separate from God? This is more along the lines of Hinduism, which believe that God is knowable and unknowable at the same time. I’m starting to wonder about this god of the Quran. He seems very human like in his criticisms of mankind and need for conformity and punishment if that’s not done. To even call God a He is wrong. It colors the language and thoughts of the people. Since God is neither male or female can we call God her? Shouldn’t be a problem if God is genderless. Unless God does have a gender and the face arms of Allah are literal as well. I want to believe in monotheism is the only way, but why is it so condemned and damning of anyone who doesn’t believe that why is God always feeling threatened in the Quran if you don’t follow what he says? The idea of God, as love is an intense thought that is found in Christianity and I believe the Bible does not teach a hellfire, but a destruction, a total annihilation.. these ideas of Helen Quran seem more of a Persian influence than a Jewish one who believed that the afterlife was hazy and unknown a later developed ideas of a pit or a grave or a darkness asleep before resurrection. Anyway, these are just my thoughts for now. I hope someone can enlighten me in understanding.
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In the debate I had with Mazhar here, I explain—with evidence—that Paradise is eternal, whereas Hell is finite:
https://forum.free-minds.org/topic/23280/my-two-new-notes-on-the-universe-of-the-hereafter
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In the debate I had with Mazhar here, I explain—with evidence—that Paradise is eternal, whereas Hell is finite:
https://forum.free-minds.org/topic/23280/my-two-new-notes-on-the-universe-of-the-hereafter
@Emre_1974tr peace…. Thank you! I tried looking through a lot of the threads, but there’s just too many thank you for narrowing it down.
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Salam. You are starting off from the wrong point. If you picture the world the way you described then of course God sounds like a maniacal deity who is evil and vindictive. If however you start from the correct point, which is that you existed before earth (recall the oath all humans made to God) and your coming here is part of a story where mankind either volunteered for this, or we are here to redeem ourselves from a previous sin where absolute submission to the law of God is the requirement in conditions where He is not physically present and where you get thrown distractions in the mix like Satan - this change in narrative changes the position of God from evil to merciful.
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I agree with Layth.
We are choosing to be with GOD or without God.
When we reflect about this life are some not living in good or bad conditions?Is GOD forcing people to do/choose things?
Why should GOD be responsible for what we decide and choose in our life?
Basically we are putting ourselves in "heaven" or "Hell" by redeeming our soul or failing it.
To be with GOD in His kingdom or with those who oppose Him in a place away from GOD.
Inform GOD s servants that GOD is forgiver most Merciful to one group or His punishment is severe to another group! Each decides their group. Each chooses how to live this life, Accountability at GOD s is a certainty.
GOD bless you.
Peace -
I had somewhat similar queries and I have created a post some time back:
Coming back to the topic
tjord00 I actually understand the discomfort you’re describing. If we picture God as a being who gets offended like a human ruler, demanding conformity and reacting emotionally, then yes, that picture can start to feel strangely human for a creator of the universe. Your questions are not unreasonable.But before we even discuss hellfire, punishments, rules about food, clothing, or sexuality, I sometimes feel we need to step one level back and ask a more fundamental question: what do we even mean by God?
For a moment, forget the Muslim God, the Christian God, or the Hindu understanding of God. Just look at reality itself. The universe exists. Life exists. Consciousness exists. Do we think all of this ultimately came from nothing, or do we accept that there is some kind of source behind existence?
If someone concludes there is no source, then the discussion about scripture becomes irrelevant. But if someone accepts that there must be a creator or divine reality, then another question immediately follows: can the human mind actually define what that creator is?
Does the creator have a form? A gender? A face? Emotions like ours?
The moment we try to define God, we realize something interesting: whatever we imagine ends up looking like a projection of our own minds.And the Quran itself acknowledges this limitation. On one hand it says nothing is like Him (42:11). On the other hand it uses very human expressions: God’s face, God’s anger, God’s pleasure, people seeing their Lord. So clearly the text is speaking in human language, because that is the only language humans understand.
Otherwise how could a book communicate with us at all?
There is even that famous passage describing divine light as a niche containing a lamp, lit from a blessed olive tree whose oil almost glows even without fire (24:35). That description obviously isn’t telling us God is literally a lamp. It is a metaphor trying to point toward something beyond our categories.
This is also why the Quran begins by describing believers as those who believe in the unseen (2:3). The unseen is not defined in detail, because by definition it lies beyond the full grasp of our senses and concepts.
So before asking why God punishes, or why certain rules exist, perhaps the first step is simply to establish whether we believe there is a divine source behind existence at all. Once that is accepted, then the next step is exploring the traditions and texts that attempt to guide humans toward understanding that reality.
For many of us, the Quran stands out because of the clarity with which it emphasizes the oneness of God, human accountability, and the idea that our choices in this life shape our ultimate direction. Even the descriptions of heaven and hell may be the closest language available to communicate consequences that are beyond our current experience.
And interestingly, even within Quran-focused discussions you’ll find different views. Some argue that paradise is eternal while hell may not necessarily be eternal. In other words, people are still reflecting and debating these questions.
But perhaps the deeper point is this: the Quran may not be trying to describe God’s emotions, as if He were offended in a human sense. It may be describing human consequences in terms that humans can grasp.
Just something I often reflect on myself.
