The Problem with Allah's Infinite Mercy and Justice

Let me walk you through a logical problem that really bothers me about Islamic theology. It starts with some pretty basic claims that most Muslims would agree with, but when you follow them to their logical conclusion, things get messy fast.

Part 1: Allah Creates Everything

Here's what we're told:

• P1.1: Allah is the sole creator of everything that exists
• P1.2: Disbelievers exist
• Therefore: Allah created disbelievers

Pretty straightforward so far. If Allah creates everything and disbelievers exist, then Allah must have created them.

Part 2: Allah Knows Everything

• P2.1: Allah is omniscient—He knows everything that happened, is happening, will happen, and even what could have happened but didn't
• P2.2: Before time even began, disbelief and disbelievers were knowable future events
• Therefore: Before time began, Allah knew that disbelief would exist and He knew exactly who would become disbelievers

So Allah didn't just stumble into this situation. He saw it coming from the very beginning.

Part 3: Allah Can Do Anything

• P3.1: Allah is omnipotent
• P3.2: Preventing disbelief is totally possible
• Therefore: Allah can prevent disbelief

If Allah can do anything, then surely He could stop people from becoming disbelievers if He wanted to.

Part 4: Allah's Will Always Happens

• P4.1: If Allah wills something to happen, it will happen (and by extension, anything that doesn't happen wasn't willed by Allah)
• P4.2: Some disbelievers are never guided to belief
• Therefore: Allah doesn't want to guide some disbelievers

This is where it gets uncomfortable. There are people who die as disbelievers—let's call them "unsaved disbelievers." If Allah's will always happen, then their lack of guidance must mean Allah didn't want to guide them.

Part 5: Allah Acts According to His Will

• P5.1: Allah only acts according to His will
• P5.2: Allah created hell and unsaved disbelievers
• Therefore: Allah wanted to create hell and unsaved disbelievers

This wasn't an accident or oversight. It was intentional.

The Disturbing Conclusion

When you put all this together, here's what you get:

This isn't mercy or love—it's a cruel, pointless experiment where the outcome was predetermined. The Quran claims Allah's mercy and compassion are infinite, but this directly contradicts that claim. Therefore, Allah as described doesn't exist.

Another Way to Look at It

Here's an alternative angle:

• P7.1: The Quran claims Allah's mercy is limitless/infinite
• P7.2: A hypothetical being who forgives unsaved disbelievers would be more merciful than one who doesn't
• P7.3: Allah never forgives unsaved disbelievers
• Therefore: There's a hypothetical being more merciful than Allah, which means Allah's mercy isn't actually infinite

This contradicts the Quran's claims, so again, Allah as described doesn't exist.

Common Objections and Why They Don't Work

Objection 1: "Allah is merciful in this life but wrathful in the afterlife"

The problem: This means Allah changes over time, but Muslims also claim Allah is unchanging (immutable). You can't have it both ways.

Objection 2: "Allah doesn't change—He's always been merciful toward this world and wrathful toward the afterlife because He exists outside time"

This sounds clever, but it falls apart when you think about it:

Counter-response 1: Allah's wrath actually starts in this world

Allah's wrath doesn't only happen in the afterlife. When Allah created unsaved disbelievers (knowing they would disbelieve), that was already an act of wrath happening in this world.

Allah knows someone will die a disbeliever → Allah decides to create them anyway (act of wrath, since Allah has decreed eternal punishment for disbelief) → that person is condemned to eternal damnation

So Allah's wrath is actually built into the very act of creation. He can't be infinitely merciful and infinitely wrathful at the same time.

Allah could have been more merciful by simply not creating potential disbelievers at all, or by guiding them. But He didn't, which means His mercy isn't actually infinite.

Counter-response 2: Justice can't be reconciled with infinite wrath

Let's say we drop the "infinite mercy" claim and just focus on divine justice. Even then, the theology doesn't work.

Theists sometimes argue that sins against an infinite being deserved infinite punishment because they cause Allah "infinite pain." But this makes no sense:

1. Proportional punishment: Justice means punishment should fit the crime, not depend on who the victim is. No finite sin deserves infinite punishment.
2. Self-inflicted harm: Allah is omnipotent and omniscient—He caused any "harm" to Himself by creating the situation in the first place. This basically absolves humans of responsibility.
3. Lack of imagination: When theists ask "Shouldn't there be a difference between believers and disbelievers?" they're thinking too narrowly. There are tons of alternatives to eternal hellfire:
   • Disbelievers' souls could be annihilated (they just cease to exist)
   • They could be reincarnated into another life until they prove themselves
   • They could be punished for a finite time and then released
   • Countless other options

The birth lottery problem: Even if we grant some free will, there's a huge problem with external factors. If you swap a Muslim baby born into a Muslim family with a Christian baby born into a Christian family, they'll almost certainly grow up with opposite beliefs. This is statistically verifiable.

This shows that heaven and hell aren't really based on free will—they're based on the lottery of where and when you're born. How is that just or merciful?

Allah could have:

• Created a universe where everyone freely chose to believe
• Not created people he knew would disbelieve
• Dealt with disbelief in countless other ways

But He didn't. Instead, He knowingly set up a system where belief/disbelief is largely determined by factors beyond our control, then decreed eternal rewards and punishments based on those predetermined outcomes.

The Final Problem

Here's where believers usually retreat to their last line of defense: "Humans can't apply their understanding of justice and mercy to Allah."

But think about what they're actually saying: "My god is just and merciful! Just not in any way that makes sense to humans or that we can actually understand or defend."

If that's the case, then how did they reason their way into believing in the first place? How can you believe in something you can't comprehend or defend?

When religious descriptions of God become incoherent and meaningless, the whole project of belief becomes pointless from the start. You're essentially saying, "I believe in X, but I can't tell you what X actually means." That's not faith—that's just giving up on making sense.