Islam critiqued given a glimpse of a special scene; standing in front of the perfect judge?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

People will be divided into 3 groups; the foremost in faith who will have precedence over the others and will be drawn close to God (more from old times than later times 56:13-14), the righteous (more from the old as well as late times 56:40) and the wrongdoers 56:7-11. This shows that the communities and groups that have been formed in the world on the basis of race, country, language, tribe and clan, and economic and political interests, will break, and the people will be re-grouped on the basis of true belief, morality and character.

Each group will have to answer to a different level of reckoning, going from fast and easy to difficult and lengthy. The first group wont be reproached for their minor sins and shortcomings, will be forgiven and redeemed through their good deeds. Once made to enter paradise, the reward awaiting them will be made to match not any deed, but the best of them at least. Then by God's grace their reward will be made to surpass what is proportionaly due to them 6:160,16:96-7,29:7,39:35,46:16,84:8. It is clear that in Islam, the righteous' good deeds in themselves are not what grant him salvation in the hereafter. They serve as a measure of a person's faith in God. It is then God's grace that translates exponentially that level of faith, whose indicator are the deeds, into reward in the hereafter.

On the other hand, others will be requited for the worst of their deeds, all the bad that they accumulated, including the smallest sins. These small sins wont be forgiven immidiately as with the previous group 13:21,46:16,74:38-9 hence their lengthy and difficult reckoning 13:18,41:27,74:9-10. This minute, but just requital will fall upon them on a day like a crushing weight 75:25. The ahadith speak of people coming on the plain of judgement carrying their sins that will physically materialize as mountain like burdens on their backs. They will be reprimended for every one of their misdeeds, great or small. Depending on each case, that requital will occur starting from their earthly death, in the intermediary period that precedes the resurrection, meaning the barzakh. It will go on during the Resurrection and Hell if necessary, before they are finally granted forgiveness and potential entry in Heaven. Some will certainly have to go through the last stage, dwelling in Hell, before they are purged from their sins but others will be cleansed through prior processes. As God says elsewhere even in reference to the followers of the devil himself

7:18"Whoever of them follows you, I will surely fill Hell with some/min of you all".

This is because each person's circumstances that lead him to follow a certain path are different. Only God is capable of integrating such intricacies in a perfect individual judgement. The vast majority of mankind will have to undergo one of, or a combination of these stages of requital -the grave, the resurrection, and hell- while a tiny fraction will enter heaven without rendering any account.

This is the idea behind the prophet's reported statement that from among Adam's progeny 99% of mankind will be singled out for hell. It doesnt however say that these 99% will all be made to enter it, just that they will certainly deserve it. As said above, some will have to go through it while others will sufficiently be retributed and cleansed through prior processes.

Islam critiqued looks envious; the righteous will be thrown in hell?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

Those who are destined for Heaven, without undergoing any cleansing process, will not be brought anywhere near Hell. They will be so far removed from it, they will not hear the sound of its roar on the Day of Resurrection

92:17,26:90,21:98-103"Surely you and what you worship besides Allah are the firewood of hell; to it you shall come. Had these been gods, they would not have come to it and all shall abide therein. For them therein shall be groaning and therein they shall not hear. Surely (as for) those for whom the good has already gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far off from it, They will not hear its faintest sound, and they shall abide in that which their souls long for. The great fearful event shall not grieve them, and the angels shall meet them: This is your day which you were promised".

The supreme awesomness of this Day will not grieve the righteous, who shall in addition be protected from its upheaval and afflictions 2:277,21:103,88:8,76:7-11. Through a subtle linguistic device, the Quran explains this idea of the righteous believers on that day being far removed from the terror

"no fear upon them, and nor shall they grieve".

The first part of the verse pictures a caring entity looking over with full understanding of the situation without any fear while watching the scene. A practical example would be of a child who might be fearlessly playing with a snake, not knowing the impending danger but the mature person watching over, understanding the situation, would be full of fear and worry.

On the last day however, because the successful will be fully justified in lacking fear and feeling secure despite the surrounding terrifying events, then the caring entity watching over wont have any fear upon them. The same phrase is used in 7:49 for the dwellers of heaven, they are in such secure conditions that none will have any reason to fear for them.

As Solomon reportedly says concerning the righteous in the life to come

Prov1:33"But he who hearkens to me shall dwell confidently and shall be tranquil from the fear of harm".

The righteous will thus proudly exclaim to all to come read from his book of deeds held in evidence in his right hand, the Iliyin 69:19,83:18,84:7. He shall be secured from harm 41:40, relieved with sustenance from heaven before entering it. The traditions speak of a Pool the water of which is from the Garden, and from which the believers shall drink before entering the Garden. Those that will be prevented from this favor on account of their sins, will long for a portion of that sustenance 7:50,19:86. They will wish for a share of the light beaming upon the righteous with such force that it will emanate from them 57:13-15. The absence of light upon the wicked on the day of judgement is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible, including in Job38:14-15.

The futur dwellers of heaven will be greeted with the best greetings by the angels and God Himself, honored and given the good news of Heaven from the moment of their earthly death 16:32,41:30 until their resurrection and entry in Heaven 7:46,13:23-4,14:23,15:45-8,21:103,36:58,39:73,56:26. This doesnt sound in anyway as if all people will be made to suffer after death as suggested by this youtuber.

Once in heaven, no lewd, empty talk will be heard, only peaceful and wise speech 19:62,56:25,88:11. They will keep greeting one another and praying for eachother's peace within heaven 10:10. On the other hand the hell dwellers, from the instant of their death where they will be violently seized by the angels and told they had been following the evil course 16:28-9,7:37,8:50,47:27 will endure a lengthy and difficult trial until they enter hell where they shall incessantly quarrel among oneanother, receive each new comer with open hostility for having influenced one another in sin 38:55-60, cursing, denying and blaming one another.

Islam critiqued exposes Islamic injustice; all people will suffer in the grave?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

The passage from that sura which this youtuber is refering to, isnt addressing all people, righteous and unrighteous alike. More specifically it speaks of the misleaders and those that blindly follow them. And it is not true at all that all people will experience suffering on the resurrection or in the world of the grave/the barzakh.

The passage he alludes to starts with 19:68 where the blind followers and their leaders are gathered.

Only those arriving to the resurrection burdened with disbelief and so many sins they havent repented for, they will be the only ones gathered for a terrible task 25:26,54:6 as opposed to the righteous believers who in their lifetime stood in awe of such day

76:7-11"Therefore Allah will guard them from the evil of that day and cause them to meet with ease and happiness".

Consequently they, whether male or female, will never be abased or disgraced between their earthly death and final entry to heaven. Instead, once resurrected they will be shining with a light emanating from them and guiding them on the path to paradise while the rest of the world is plunged in darkness 3:194-5,57:12,66:8. They will in addition be receiving Allah's love 19:96, His individual care 76:11, they will be safe from harm 41:40 and raised in a happy state 56:8,76:11,88:8. Their faces will be bright 3:107,75:22 looking forward to Allah's promise 50:32,28:61. They wont have any grief or fear of the supreme awesomeness of that day, as they will be protected from its upheaval and afflictions, welcomed and greeted by the angels before the beginning of their judgement 2:277,16:32,21:103. They will be removed far away from hearing the faintest sound of hell 2:17,26:90,21:98-103.

The fire of hell will only be brought before the disbelievers and unrepented sinners 18:99-101, the only ones experiencing this mighty day as a great difficulty 74:8-10. This group of believers from among the Muslims and the righteous who will be safeguarded from any difficulty on that Day, does not include the criminals among the Muslims themselves whom the Quran says will enter hell and/or experience a difficult judgement. Those who rejected or disregarded most or all of the directives of the Quran when it was communicated to them (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) and who transgressed willingly and rebelliously, then despite their good actions, their measurements on the scales of deeds, on the day they are raised for judgement, these measurements will be light

23:102-103"Then as for him whose scales/mawazin are heavy, these are the successful. And as for him whose scales are light, these are they who shall have lost their souls, abiding in hell".

The Quran also clearly says that among the Muslims themselves there are different grades in God's eyes 35:32-5 and although all will eventually enter heaven, this entry will be granted differently from person to person following a personalized appropriate trial, going from short and easy to lengthy and difficult. Some will even have to pass through Hell as long as Allah deems fit before being granted entry in heaven 6:128,11:106-108 and the Quran has mentionned several crimes such as murder, corruption of inheritance, abusing the weak people's wealth or charity etc whose perpetrators will go to hell regardless of their faith. It is in such context that the following prophetic saying is understood

"Gabriel, upon him be peace, came to me with the good news that anyone from my nation who dies without associating partners with Allah will enter Paradise. I said, “Even if he commits adultery and theft?” The Prophet said: Even if he commits adultery and theft".

Elsewhere

"People among those who worshiped Allah alone (ahl al-tawh?i¯d) will be punished in the Hellfire until they are coals. Then the mercy of Allah will reach them and they will be taken out and presented at the gates of Paradise. The people of Paradise will pour water over them and they will grow just as the stubble carried by the stream grows, then they will enter Paradise".

Islam critiqued scared of heights; The bridge/al siraat over hell?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

As already seen, some people, including Muslims, will have to undergo a cleansing process to be purged of their sins before they are allowed entry to heaven. Among the cleansing processes, there is the bridge over hell, which every single human being will be made to pass through, in a manner that will more or less affect them in direct relation with their deserved retribution.

This bridge which all people are obligated to pass through can also be seen as the mirror reflection of the path we all are obligated to tread in the world and its surrounding spiritual obstacles. The better one is trained to pass the obstacles along the road in this life, the faster he will pass through the hurdles of the bridge.

There is a reason why the straight spiritual path is called by God, with the same word as that used for the bridge "siraatul mustaqim". So some will go through the bridge without stumbling on any of its obstacles while others will stumble, fall, be injured along the way, with each difficulty, fear and pain contributing to cleansing the person from his sins.

As they have gone through the required, personal cleansing process, what will be left, now that the scales of justice have been perfectly made clear and all accountabilities and responsibilities established, to fully complete their cleansing will be the mutual confrontation of those connected in wordly misdeeds, which is a natural demand of justice. Part of the just retribution of a criminal is to be made to confront his victim in full light of the truth. This is because there are certain divine laws whose transgression cause harm on several levels requiring different measures to be remedied. The first level of harm is the one done to one's own self. It necessitates to be remedied through a painful cleansing process, such as passing through the bridge as described earlier. There is then the harm to one's relation with God. This necessitates for Him to forgive in order to repair the damaged connection. The last level of damage is the sin that harms one's relation with other humans. The victims will be vindicated as they are given the chance at expressing their own harm to the one that caused it. They will then forgive so that the connection is repaired. Although emotional damage can be healed to a certain extent between humans, the fact is that scars, big or small, conscious or not, always remain no matter the sincere efforts on both sides.

That is why the Rahman, the Supreme Merciful will at last come between the parties and

15:47"will remove whatever is in their breasts of resentment, [so they will be] brothers".

All will then be granted the necessary divine forgiveness prior to entering paradise.

Islam critiqued still has hope; can anyone repent and be forgiven?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

God not only accepts but also loves the sincerely repenting and reforming sinner 11:90. All those reforming themselves are eligible to forgiveness. Those who sin out of ignorance

16:119,17:25"Your Lord knows best what is in your minds; if you are good, then He is surely Forgiving to those who turn (to Him) frequently".

Or even the unjust, the traitor or hypocrite striving for the corruption of Islam from within 9:74,33:24 the mocker of God's revelation who does not really know the portent of his words 9:66, the misleaders concealers of the truth 2:159-160 the criminals even the opressors striving to destroy Islam but are in fact destroying their own souls. All of them are encompassed by God's merciful forgiveness once they turn to Him with resolve, and reform their ways

4:110,5:33-38,8:38-39,27:11,11:61"therefore ask forgiveness of Him, then turn to Him; surely my Lord is Nigh, Answering".

With the correct attitude, forgiveness comes without delay as demonstrated with the first ever human to have turned to God with a sincere heart and thus was immidiately shown the way to forgiveness and effectively forgiven (as denoted with "fa" 2:37). The attitude of seeking sincere repentence is of itself proof of moral awareness because people who do not have moral courage do not confess or condemn themselves even after their sins are revealed. They fear that if they confess once, they will lose their credibility forever. This weakness of theirs ties them up with sins and while speaking of such people the Quran says it is their pride, resilience in sin despite their awareness of it, that has taken them and driven them away from the right path 2:206,63:5.

All prophets, as reflected in the HB or the Quran, called their people to repentence, assuring them that God's loving mercy is within anyone's reach. After warning the Midianites of the consequences of their sins, the prophet Shuayb would urge them to

11:90"ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn to Him; surely my Lord is Merciful, Loving-kind".

The prophet Muhammad is similarily told to

15:49"Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful".

The prophet in this Quran is in addition told to explain that God not only forgives the sins but also provides a covering of protection from future sins

40:55"and ask protection/ghafr for your fault and sing the praise of your Lord in the evening and the morning".

God is depicted as One who

14:10"invites you to forgive you your faults".

This is because He is

40:3"The Forgiver of the faults and the Acceptor of repentance".

Islam critiqued seeks protection; Allah covers the sins!

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

God is described with the word "ghafur", steming from Gh-F-R meaning covering something either to protect and/or to hide. The implication is that God provides a covering upon the person to hide the sins of the past in case there were any 5:65 all the while providing a protection from the potential sins of the future. It is up to the believer to maintain that covering of protection throughout his life, elsewhere referred to as the garment of God-consciousness. If he loses it, he is again exposed to moral and spiritual failure. His past sins will remain hidden/forgiven but the future ones will have to be rectified

14:10"He calls you to forgive for you OF your sins".

This, as a side note, strikes at the notion of guaranteed salvation and forgiveness from sins -past and future- which is propounded by certain belief systems and more particularily Christianity.

The believers and prophets have always asked God to provide them with ghafr, the covering that hides and/or protects. It comes with merit as often repeated in the HB Ps23:1,85:3 but its implications far surpass in value the level of merit needed to obtain it. This merit however isnt placed at an unreachable standard. It only requires sincerity and resolve for reform.

That is why this grace from God is said to be at anyone's door, and to receive it, the effort demanded is minimal while its consequences disproportionately high

7:156"My mercy encompasses all things; so I will ordain it (specially) for those who guard (against evil) and pay the poor-rate, and those who believe in Our communications".

It is contingent on righteousness, repentance, restitution of the moral or physical harm, firm resolve in changing one's course during the appointed time of respite and walking aright

3:135,16:61,18:58,42:21,20:82"I am most Forgiving to him who repents and believes and does good, then continues to follow the right direction".

And just as it is conditional in this world, then those that did nothing to deserve it in their wordly life, did not undergo the spiritual hardships in the process as the faithful, patient in adversity did, they will not get it for free in the next life either. Since the aforementioned conditions to merit forgiveness cannot be accomplished in the afterlife, ie one cannot be faithfully penitent, show evidence of reform through actions, restitute the harm done etc, then the substitute to the fitna of this world will be the appropriate "fitna" of the hereafter. One will have to undergo a painfully cleansing process.

As Ezekiel told the sinful Israelites

Ezek33:14-16"And when I say of the wicked man, "You shall surely die," and he repents of his sin and performs justice and righteousness, And when I say of the wicked man, "You shall surely die," and he repents of his sin and performs justice and righteousness, All his sins that he sinned will not be remembered for him: he performed justice and righteousness; he will surely live".

And this is because

Ezek33:11"As I live, says the Lord God, I do not wish for the death of the wicked, but for the wicked to repent of his way so that he may live".

Islam critiqued opposes justice; God's punishment negates His mercy?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

Just as God's justice becomes liberal and lenient to the deserving faithful, on the other hand those who sin knowingly and persistently and die as unrepented sinners, they will be requited for every misdeed 6:120. Contrary to the former, meritorious group, they havent proved themselves worthy to receive God's gracious forgiveness and so will be bared from entering Heaven 2:174,3:77.

Because their sins were not obliterated and cleansed through forgiveness, as a pleasant reward from God, the cleansing process will have to be undergone through several stages after death. It will start in the intermediary period prior to the Resurrection, the barzakh, then during the Resurrection itself. To some this will be enough but others will need a temporary passage in hell. This cleansing process is called in the Quran "fitna", a word implying the manner by which gold is melted and purified of undesired elements. To picture how fitna works in the hereafter, one can observe how it manifests in this world through tests and hardships.

Like the fire extracts the precious metals from the ore and the torrent washes away the swelling foam of the sea 13:17, humans go through tests and hardships, a purging process that seperates truth and good from falsehood and sin. It is an inner 3:143,179 and outward process 2:143,149,3:167,18:12 offering mankind the chance of bettering, humbling themselves 23:76 and mending their ways

13:17"thus does Allah compare truth and falsehood; then as for the scum, it passes away as a worthless thing; and as for that which profits the people, it tarries in the earth; thus does Allah set forth parables".

Similar imagery is drawn in the Hebrew Bible when speaking of the process of seperation in this world, through blood and destruction, of the wicked from those willing to reform themselves, a process that sometimes causes good elements to be extracted while at other times only the waste and worthless elements remain

Jer5:29,9:6,Ezek22:18-22"The house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are copper and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace; dross of silver have they become. Therefore, so said the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I gather you together into the midst of Jerusalem. And I shall gather you, and I shall blow upon you with the fire of My anger, and you will be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so will you be melted in its midst, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury upon you".

Another depiction of that process is made in the context of an undetermined future of blissful utopia for the Jewish people. At that time, besides the Jews, only a third of world population will remain, those that accepted converting to Judaism. But they will still be made to undergo hard trials to determine their true hearts, if they have truly accepted Judaism as a religion

Zech13:8-9"..And I will bring the third in fire; and I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold.."

The same processing will be implemented on the Israelites themselves, and more particularily the priestly class which happenned to be the most spiritually degraded throughout their history

Mal3:3"And he shall sit refining and purifying silver, and he shall purify the children of Levi. And he shall purge them as gold and as silver".

In the words of David, this process of testing every human being leads to the erasure of falsehood and establishement of truth

Ps7:10"May evil destroy the wicked, and may You establish the righteous, for the righteous God tests the hearts and the reins".

This is the fitna, the spiritual smelting process of this world. However if mankind heeds God's guidance, turns to God so as to find the inner strength and resolve for true reform, none will be made to undergo this cleansing process in the hereafter. The believers 110:3 as well as the sinners 5:74 are therefore invited to ever seek Allah's forgiveness and protection from sins because

7:153,4:106,110"whoever does evil or acts unjustly to his soul, then asks forgiveness of Allah, he shall find Allah Forgiving, Merciful".

Islam critiqued finds grace; Allah the merciful?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

Forgiveness is the key that opens the Garden of heaven and such forgiveness is only for those who reach the afterlife in a state of inner awe of God as well as a repentant heart 50:31-3,57:21. Since paradise is a place of purity and cleanliness; a person tarnished by the impurities of sins, even the minutest ones, cannot enter it only after forgiveness. It is granted at different stages after death, depending on the necessary cleansing process that will be needed for each individual.

While some will receive it immidiately and therefore will not be made to experience any difficulty after death and until their entry in Paradise, others will go through the "fitna", as will be detailed a little later. Almost all verses speaking of the reward in the Hereafter of the pious, the righteous, who do their utmost to avoid sinning, first mention that will receive God's forgiveness 3:133,5:9,34:4,35:7,36:11,64:9,67:12.

God's gracious forgiveness which is granted to the meritorious in the hereafter, also shows that He isnt like a miserly master who checks his servant on trivialities but instead He overlooks the errors of His obedient, sincere servant and rewards him exponentialy

35:29-30"Surely they who recite the Book of Allah and keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly, hope for a gain which will not perish. That He may pay them back fully their rewards and give them more out of His grace: surely He is Forgiving, Multiplier of rewards".

This is Allah's grace that manifests itself in so many ways. It is by God's grace that one enters paradise in the first place because in reality none of our deeds are as perfect and faultless so as to grant us such rewards. These rewards are only the consequence of God's mercy and grace that He overlooks the servant's weaknesses and defects so long as he commits himself to piety and avoids the great sins, reforms himself and does not dwell in a state of transgression in which he stumbled into

4:17-18,53:32"surely your Lord is liberal in forgiving".

Allah is liberal in forgiving and accepts the faithfull's services despite their imperfections, and blesses him with rewards; otherwise if He resorts to minute accountability no one can dare claim to win Paradise only on the strength of his own deeds

44:51-7"Surely those who guard (against evil) are in a secure place,..and He will save them from the punishment of the hell, a grace from your Lord; this is the great achievement".

The Quran reiterates this principle many times 52:18,27 that the reward of the Hereafter is really a divine grace due to God's mercy that He overlooks the righteous believer's small misdeeds and imperfections. Otherwise, in reality and in accordance with blind justice these misdeeds actually require a certain degree of punishement. Yet He forgives the trespasses and only considers the best of a faithful servant's wordly deeds

39:35"So that Allah will do away with the worst of what they did and give them their reward for the best of what they do".

Islam critiqued lives carpe diem; seizing the opportunity for repentance?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

The prophets would urge their people to take advantage of the time in which God is mercifully allowing them to remain unbothered by their life of sins. That impunity will eventually come to an end

27:46"Why do you not ask forgiveness of Allah so that you may be dealt with mercifully?".

These people's convenient repentence will not be accepted. Repentance must therefore be done before the unseen is unveiled 6:158 or one is overwhelmed by death 39:54-55,4:18. When the time of death comes, when the realities of the Unseen start appearing, and when one comes face to face with the result of his deeds in the hereafter, this type of opportunistic belief and repentence wont benefit anyone since it will not have the merit of steming from spritiual awareness, something that only can be asserted in this world when faced with trials as opposed to the hereafter where trials end

35:35 40:84-85,32:12,6:158"its faith shall not profit a soul which did not believe before, or earn good through its faith". 

One should therefore seize this unique opportunity of spiritual success, and God is holding in place the order of the universe so that we are able to turn to Him before the ushering of a world where penitence is rejected 16:84, mercifully preventing the universal cataclysms of the Resurrection

35:41"Surely Allah upholds the heavens and the earth lest they come to naught; and if they should come to naught, there Is none who can uphold them after Him; surely He is the Forbearing, the Forgiving".

God's forgiveness is thus something only the worthy one earns in this very life

3:135"And those who when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their faults-- and who forgives the faults but Allah, and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done".

The Quran thus explains that repentence implies an actual change in the course of one's life

27:10"..surely the messengers shall not fear in My presence. Neither he who has been unjust, then he does good instead after evil" 

6:54"your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself, (so) that if any one of you does evil in ignorance, then turns after that and acts aright, then He is Forgiving, Merciful".

There must be an actual change of mind and concrete change in course. This entails confession of the sins to the parties who were morally/physically/materially harmed, as well as possible compensations. So a thief would have to pay back all the money they stole, a rapist would owe an apology and dowry to his victims and a murderer would necessarily confess to their crimes, putting themselves at the mercy of either the family or justice system if this has not already taken place. The slanderer would have to publicly retract in a way that reverses the initial wrong - while the sin is forgiven upon sincere repentance, the rights owed to their victim is not. 

This wordly logic will equally apply in the Hereafter, even after the sinner is cleansed from his sins, then forgiven by Allah, he will still need to be confronted to the person that was harmed.

Islam critiqued's spiritual laziness; easy way to forgiveness?

In answer to the video "Allah is NOT Forgiving, Merciful or Loving"

40:3"The Forgiver of the faults and the Acceptor of repentance, Severe to punish, Lord of bounty; there is no god but He; to Him is the eventual coming"  

39:53,85:14"And He is the Forgiving, the Loving".

God is Merciful those who do not persist in their transgression, disregard and dishonor of the sanctity of religion. The capacity to repent is recognized by Allah as a deed requiring great strength and resolve. Allah in turn immidiately appreciates that deed by accepting the person in His boundles mercy. One must turn to Allah with remorse and resolve, otherwise even the plea of the noblest of men on a sinner's behalf will not lead to his forgiveness 63:5-6.

In fact Allah's mercy is such, that even when one shows the initial spark of good will, then Allah immidiately assits the person in strengthening his resolve

9:118"then He turned to them (taaba) that they might turn (liyatubu) to Him".

It is amazing to note that sin, which is synonymous with estranglement from God, does not stop God Himself from making the first step towards reconciliation with His creatures. He first turns to us mercifully, opening the gates of forgiveness, it is then up to us to walk through it. Those who follow the guidance and find strength along the way, Allah has made it obligatory for Himself to accept their repentance and purify them from their sin

2:160"these it is to whom I turn (mercifully)"  

4:17"Repentance with (on) Allah is only for those who do evil in ignorance, then turn (to Allah) soon, so these it is to whom Allah turns (mercifully)".

Allah has promised His servants that He would accept the repentance of the sincere; and He does not break His promise. Muslims trust God's word and do not need Him to send His own self in human form to be humiliated and crucified so as to prove His ability to forgive. It is the connotation of every declaration where we say that a certain action is wajib (obligatory) for Allah.

An interesting observation is that 4:17 ends with

"Allah is All-knowing, Wise"

after speaking of those whose repentence will be accepted instead of the usual ending

"Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"

because only He knows what is truly the spiritual condition of a heart 29:10-11. Repentance of a truly penitent heart is thus indiscriminate, showing that there are no deadlocks in Islam and the path of return is open at all times, whether the person is a believer repenting from any sin or disobedience 40:7,9:118 or an unbeliever repenting from polytheism and disbelief.

"those who do evil in ignorance",

encompasses both Muslims and non-Muslims when they are not willfully, knowingly obstinate in their disbelief or sin, when they arent neglectful in repentence, remaining in their evil ways despite the warnings. This was Pharao's case who remained obdurate until he saw his death imminent and repented only then 4:18, or the Israelites that similarily persisted in disbelief despite the warnings of imminent destruction

Ezek8:18"My eyes will not spare, neither will I have pity, and they will call into My ears with a loud voice, but I shall not listen to them".