In answer to the video "Sin and Salvation, Part 3 - Does Allah Love Sinners?"
The naive depiction of a loving God that Christian missionaries keep harping upon is scripturally baseless. Both in the HB, the Greek writings, let alone the Quran. It is nothing but a missionary ploy. That is why the Quran quotes the people making a basless, verbal claim
5:18"The Jews and the Christians have said: We are the sons of God and his well-beloved ones".The overarching Quranic principle of divine, indiscriminate justice is that none can claim favor for himself simply on account of belonging to a race or community. A Muslim will not be beloved by God just by being a Muslim. To secure God’s approbation, one must behave as a Muslim should. A Muslim is one that has recalibrated his life on all levels so as to build a relationship with God.
If one goes back to the HB, one notices that the pervasive emotion the religion demands in relation to God, isnt love but fear.
The Quran describes the righteous in the hereafter as the one who "khashiya" the beneficient God without seeing Him in this world. The word denotes fear of Allah not only on account of the fear of His punishment as is the case with "khawf", but it stresses a sense of humility and awe at Allah's glory and greatness, something only the ones who ponder and reflect at the higher meanings of things can achieve, hence the repeated statements that
35:28"only those of His servants fear Allah who have knowledge".The verse ends with a statement that infuses hope in the God-conscious
"verily Allah is Mighty, Forgiving".Many Quranic passages follow that pattern of balancing the attributes of God among one another, in order to infuse hope after a warning or a feeling of reassurance following glad tidings. Such is the case in 85:4-14 first mentioning the just and severe requital of a group of criminals, then the praise of the righteous, and the passage concludes with
"And He is the Forgiving/ghafur, the Loving/wadud".Both words amplify the concepts to the utmost; He is 'forgiving' of the sins of those sinners who repent, and is 'Loving' to the servants who are good-doers. This illustrates the concept of iman/feeling of safety in Allah (as will be detailed shortly). It is a balance between fear, hope, love.
As to the HB, when the Israelites feared they might die if they continued to experience revelation and so asked of Moses to step in and be their intermediary with God, they were told that it is precisely the awe of God that humbles a person and prevents him from sin, keeps evil away, makes him walk aright and perform justice
Malachi2:5-6,Prov19:23,Ex20:16-17"in order that His awe shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin".The same is stated in the Quran 79:40. As the psalmist states, the one wo performs justice and rigtheousness can only be one whose
Ps119:120"flesh bristles from fear of You, and I dread Your judgments".Ezra to whom part of the book of Chronicles is traditionally attributed to, states, while recalling the prophet David's prayer
1Chr16:30"Quake before Him, all the earth.."To fear God reverently is actually among the 613 commandements revealed at Sinai Deut6:13,10:20 and reiterated time and again by the prophets 1Sam12:24-5, including Solomon, the wisest of all prophets who stated when concluding the last book attributed to him that fear from, and servitude to God is the whole purpose of man's existence Ecc12:13-14. In fact the whole of creation has been arranged in such a way so as to result in fear of God for the spiritually aware, who cannot but perceive God's all-encompassing grasp in the functioning of all existence Ecc3:14.
His father David before him echoed that universal purpose, it is every human's duty, to be inculcated from the youngest age
Ps34:12,Ps33:8"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him".He also stated, in the context of a time where all nations will be brought low before the Jewish people and either convert to Judaism or die
Ps2:11"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with quaking".God fearing is a precondition for divine acceptance and guidance Ps25:12, one of the prime qualities of the righteous believer Ex18:21, up to the most respected, upright leaders of a community 2Sam23:3 and prophets
Isa8:13,Ps5:8,Ps34:10"Fear the Lord, His holy ones".The love of YHWH certainly has degrees, it is directly proportional to the servant's fear, not love, of Him. Fear of God is the pre-condition to wisdom itself, as well as discipline, uprightness and true knowledge, and to gaining God's praise and acceptance Ps111:10,112:1,Prov1:7,8:13. David also stated that
Ps19:10"the fear of the Lord is pure"and hence the absence of that fear is often equated with disbelief Jer2:19. This is why the unconditionally loving YHWH will consider those who do not fear Him as worthless and deserving a severe chastisement. Those in fear of Him, more particularily of His chastisment, will be saved and rewarded Mal3:5,20,Ps85:10,Prov28:14.
As the Quran equally states, fear of God, when kept in view in one's daily life and actions, inevitably leads to reward in the Hereafter 55:46,76:5-10,79:40-1.
It will be the fear of God that will animate the mythical messianic figure that will come at the end of times to restore justice and righteousness Isa11:2-5 and it is the fear of God, carved into the hearts of the Jews at the end of times that will make them walk the straight path forever Jer32:38-40.
The fear, awe and reverence to God is so deeply rooted in the teachings of Judaism that they may not pronounce what they have construed as His actual proper name
Deut28:58"fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord, your God".Seeing God's name as so sacred that it shouldn't be mentioned is condemned as a great injustice in the Quran 2:114. The remembrance of God, praising Him by His name and attributes is an important part of a worshiper's rituals, continuously commanded in the Quran
87:1"Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High".
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