Allah's Test is Unjust

This post discusses the trial of Allah, the testing of humanity and considers how fair it is and if it makes any sense in reality.

Muslims are taught to see life as a test where, from puberty to the moment they die, they are constantly under the scrutiny and watchful eye of a god who demands complete obedience from his slaves at risk of divine disapproval and punishment. The all-seeing eye of god is ever-watchful and every action, however slight, will be considered and judged in the hereafter. Nothing is hidden from the sight of god and there are torments and humiliation awaiting the sinner after they die. Muslims live in a constant state of fear and oppression and check themselves before they do anything. Sometimes, this leads to a form of paralysis where they reach the conclusion that it is better to do nothing than to risk angering god. Of course, Muslims find ways to live under this constant, debilitating state of terror, but we will not be studying the psychology of the faithful believer in this article. The purpose of mentioning these things is to help the reader understand how Muslims think and know some of the burdens Muslim carry before analysing why they are willing to bear this weight on their backs. We will now analyse the Islamic concept of the grand test of life.

In the Qur'an, Allah informs the believers:

[29.2] Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried?
[29.3] And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars.
[2.155] And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient...
[3.186] You shall certainly be tried respecting your wealth and your souls...

He informs them that they will be tested with all kinds of "tests", including loss of wealth, livestock, health and lives, but you may ask for what purpose or object? Well, the Qur'an explains:

[29.7] And (as for) those who believe and do good, We will most certainly do away with their evil deeds and We will most certainly reward them the best of what they did.
[2.157] Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord...
[3.185] Every soul shall taste of death, and you shall only be paid fully your reward on the resurrection day; then whoever is removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the garden he indeed has attained the object; and the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities.
[3.200] O you who believe! be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful.

Here Allah, continuing on from the verses shown before, states clearly that those who remain obedient, patient and believing in god will be compensated for their suffering by way of removal of evil deeds and rewards for their patience. And ultimately, Allah promises the believers they will enter heaven's gardens. In fact, the Qur'an describes the attainment of the garden as the object, or purpose of this grand struggle that is life. The conditions for attaining this ultimate goal is patience, obedience and belief.

So far, so good. My Muslim readers will be very familiar with these fundamental concepts of their religion and see no problem in them. But I ask the reader to pay close attention to the following series of paragraphs in which I deconstruct the purpose of Allah's "test" by way of analysing the logical contradiction of the fairness or justness of his system.

There are three fundamental problems with Allah's test:

1. Eternal heaven and eternal hell is not just.
2. Not all people are tested.
3. The judgement of Allah is biased towards believers.

1. Eternal Heaven And Eternal Hell

We start off with the end result of Allah's test - the reward or punishment. This is because it raises most questions from people. Even very young children wonder about the fairness of the judgement of Allah when they learn about it at school or from their parents. They ask: How is it fair of god to let some people enjoy heaven forever and some other people suffer in hell forever when they only lived a limited number of years?

What they are trying to point out is that humans only live a few years on Earth and commit a limited number of good deeds or sins. This is a limited time period, yet the punishment or reward lasts forever, an infinitely long time. This does not seem right.

One of the main answers Muslims give is: Allah knows that if the person lived forever he would continue being evil or good forever.

So, what then about a person who potentially could have lived a thousand years in which they committed many evils and harmed many people and only in their final year believed and become good, but because they had a normal lifespan they died in unbelief? Will god then enter this person into heaven because he knows his potential end? This just shows the invalidity of that answer.

Then what about converts to Islam? They could have committed many evil deeds in their life, be pretty bad people and remain so even after they accept Islam, but their slate is wiped and all their past sins are forgiven by god! And when they die they will enter heaven! How does this seem fair to anyone who isn't a convert? Many Muslims struggle to understand this belief of Islam because they recognise that they are being short-changed.

And then there is the points-based system of acceptance into heaven or hell. God presents this as good-deeds tokens being weighed on a weighing scale:

[101.6] Then as for him whose measure of good deeds is heavy,
[101.7] He shall live a pleasant life.
[101.8] And as for him whose measure of good deeds is light,
[101.9] His abode shall be the abyss.
[101.10] And what will make you know what it is?
[101.11] A burning fire.

This is a simplistic and immoral system that means bad actions are not punished as long as a person accrues just enough tokens to get into heaven. And likewise, good deeds are not rewarded when a person does not manage to get enough tokens and enters hell because of this deficit.

Logically, it is unjustified and unethical to punish or reward anyone for eternity and especially if judgement is made on a points-based system. The case in point: if Allah is indeed fair, then heaven and hell would be temporary and allotted based on actions, not on the overall score of a person or based on their beliefs. If god was truly fair, he would not judge people by their faith first and then their actions - people would be treated equally regardless. A person would be rewarded for the good they did and punished for the evil they did. And these punishments or blessings would not last forever. They would last as long as the quality or quantity of their actions justified. That would be more just!

2. Not All People Are Tested

Here I will describe why Allah's test is unfair due to not everyone being tested. First I start with some preamble to give some context to the argument:

A non-Muslim, or a Muslim who backslides or sins, will enter hell. But, the unbeliever will stay in hell for eternity. As for the believer, he is promised eternal heaven. How does a person enter hell? They disbelieve in god, practice polytheism or, if they are believers, they disobey god. How does a person enter heaven? They believe in god, worship and obey him. What is the purpose of life? For people to be tested and tried to identify if they are deserving of heaven or hell.

Now that we have reiterated these fundamentals of Islamic theology, I ask one more question: Do all babies and young children go to heaven if they die?

Many Muslims will immediately answer: Yes, of course they go to heaven! This is an emotional response. But, actually, scholars are divided on the question! Some Muslims say that it depends on the religion of the parents and some Muslims believe babies can and do go to hell regardless of their parent's religion! This is because the hadiths, the sayings of prophet Muhammed, state different things. There is a permeating logical fallacy concerning these responses so I will go through each one of them.

No, babies can go to hell: This might seem like an absurd point of view. (It is!) But some Muslims who follow the traditional Sunni Ash'ari school of thought, believe that Allah has ordained the fate of every individual and puts people in heaven or hell, not based on how they do in god's test here on Earth, but by how they would have behaved had they lived a full life.

The Prophet Muhammed was asked about the children of the polytheists, if they go to heaven or hell when they die, and he said, "Allah knows best what they would have done." [Sahih Bukhari: 1383, Sahih Muslim: 2660]

He implies that their judgement is preordained, regardless if they died before their time. But how can this be when the whole purpose of life according to Islam is to test people? Yet, Muslims of this ilk believe everything is already planned, predestined, and every outcome precomputed - that life as we know it is just a play, a charade, a meaningless simulation. God doesn't need to run the simulation to its completion because he already knows the end result, so he is justified in throwing innocent babies, potential adults, into hell as he knows they are evil before they act on their programming. The problem with this is it makes the whole point of life, the time and effort Allah says he put into creation, everything that ever happened or will happen, valueless and meaningless. Also, a virtual simulation cannot be compared to a product of reality and it would be unjust to allow one person to suffer this world, experience everything good and bad, and then deny the infant any knowledge or experience of good and bad, but throw them both into the same hell because of what the infant could have done. It is an absurdity.

There is a branch of Ash'ari Sunni Islam, and also amongst some followers of non-Ash'ari Sunni Islam, that believe that babies of Muslims die on the same religion of their parents and are therefore automatically granted heaven. And similarly, the baby born of a polytheist or non-believer goes to hell because they inherit their parent's religion! My point against them and their ridiculous bias is: for what sin was a baby born to a disbeliever that he should suffer hell because of it?! And religion is not inherited like biological traits! I say to them, if what you say is right and you claim that god is indeed most merciful, then he should only let Muslim parents miscarry and their children die because they would instantly go to heaven. Is this not more merciful? But we know deaths happen to children of believers and non-believers alike. I implore the Muslims to rethink their position on treating children of believers and non-believers differently, especially since it contradicts their notion of "fitrah".

Yes, all babies go to heaven: I would say the majority of Muslims believe this. There is a very well known narration that states that children of believers and non-believers go to paradise where they are loved and taken care of by prophet Abraham:

The prophet Muhammed was interpreting the dream of one of his companions: "The tall man whom you saw in the garden, is Abraham and the children around him are those children who die with Al-Fitra (the Islamic Faith)."; The narrator added: Some Muslims asked the Prophet, "O Allah's Apostle! What about the children of pagans?" The Prophet replied, "And also the children of pagans."
[Sahih Bukhari, Book 87, Volume 9, Number 171]

This sounds delightful and comforting. But there is a logical fallacy. Put aside your emotions and think about this - What would have happened if these children had grown up? That's right, they would have become adults, been tested, and some of them would have believed and gone to heaven, while others would have disbelieved and gone to hell! Is it fair that these children go to paradise without being tested while we who are unlucky enough to survive into puberty be tested? Then we sin and disbelieve and enter hell forever, while those infants enjoy paradise forever? Does this seem fair to you?

Indeed, the logical fallacy in both cases, whether the baby goes to hell or heaven, is that it bypasses the whole test of Allah on Earth. This presents a clear-cut example of how Allah's test is unfair because not all people are tested and are potentially rewarded or punished without taking the test! This is unfair to everyone who takes the test. The test therefore becomes meaningless. Let us not go into the fact that different environmental conditions affect our actions and beliefs - our parents determine our initial religion (if any); society dictates what is deemed good or bad; we have limited education and intelligence - some significantly more than others; we suffer poverty or enjoy affluence; and our mental health and physical state all play a part in shaping who we are, what we believe and how we behave. In this world, we are not tested equally, nor are we judged equally as I describe in the next section.

3. Bias in Judgement

It is made clear in the Qur'an that Allah only wishes people to believe in him and be patient and obedient in suffering. But the unbeliever will suffer and not be recompensed and instead they will enter hell. In Allah's grand scheme of things, the trials and tribulations, sufferings and every good act performed by a non-believer amount to nothing. The life of the unbeliever means nothing to god no matter how many good things they did. They could have saved so many lives, invented new technology beneficial to mankind or prevented great evils being committed, but god does not care because he expects faith first and foremost before good deeds. If a person has rejected Islam, then Allah will cast them into hell fire. Only Muslims and believers in Christianity and Judaism before Islam are deserving of heaven in the eyes of Allah.
A Muslim may argue with me now and say that is not correct. They will say that Allah is just and does not do anyone the smallest injustice, not even to the weight of an atom (Qur'an 4:40), and considers all things on judgement day and is fair with all people. The Muslim may quote a verse such as:

[40.40] Whoever does an evil, he shall not be recompensed (with aught) but the like of it, and whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer, these shall enter the garden, in which they shall be given sustenance without measure.

In response I will explain that the context of this verse is Moses preaching to the Israelites, his flock of believers, and not a general statement about all humans including non-believers. In fact the verse emphasises the condition that the person must be a believer. This promise is not extended to unbelievers.

But then the Muslim will come back with this verse in an attempt to show that god is a fair judge:

[17.15] Whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray: nor can the bearer of a burden bear the burden of another, nor do We chastise until We raise an apostle.

From verse 17.15 it appears that people will only be punished if they have been sent a prophet or someone to guide them but they reject him. It appears to state that people are not going to be punished unless they have been sent a messenger from god. However, there is something inherently wrong with the statements of this verse because I would expect a good god to punish people for their evil actions and reward them for their good actions even before a prophet had come to them and whether or not they believed or disbelieved in god or his prophets. This is because deeds can be objectively seen as good or bad and if we can recognise that then we should expect god to and judge people fairly. This imbalance is emphasised in the same verse when it suggests that the only benefit or detriment for having committed good and bad deeds is to one's own soul and there will be no chastisement afterwards because a prophet was not sent to them yet. So the verse, instead of showing that god is fair and just, shows that he is neither fair nor just. It says that if an unbeliever did good, they get their reward on Earth and receive no heavenly reward and also if he did something evil, he does not get punishment in the hereafter. This contradicts the claims of Muslims about what they say their religion teaches and what it says about the justness of god.

I will clarify the stance of Allah using other verses from the Qur'an, clearer verses that contradict the Muslim's high image of god's apparent justice:

[18.103] Say: Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in (their) deeds?
[18.104] (These are) they whose labour is lost in this world's life and they think that they are well versed in skill of the work of hands.
[18.105] These are they who disbelieve in the communications of their Lord and His meeting, so their deeds become null, and therefore We will not set up a balance for them on the day of resurrection.
[18.106] Thus it is that their recompense is hell, because they disbelieved and held My communications and My apostles in mockery.

So it should be clear now that by the will of Allah, all labour or good works of a disbeliever are lost and Allah will not consider even them! In fact, he says he will cast them into hell fire without fair trial, judgement or consideration! How can god call himself fair and just, or even beneficent and merciful (Al-Rahman and Al-Raheem) when he shows fairness only to believers? Even the most mean of human beings will show more compassion and fairness than Allah who is ready to impose eternal punishment on good people only because they disbelieved. A fair judge would give every person a fair trial. So let me now ask you: Is Allah truly "the greatest judge" (Qur'an 34:26)? Does Allah truly "not do injustice to the weight of an atom" (Qur'an 4:40)?

Conclusion

So we have seen that the whole idea of a divine test here on Earth is not logical. Firstly, we explained the ethical contradiction of the idea of eternal heaven and eternal hell because eternity is not a fitting time period for rewards and punishments for a limited life. And we stated that the allocation of heaven or hell based on  the number of points a person accrues is not sensible because it ignores the good things and bad things they did. Secondly, we saw that Allah does not test everyone, so this is unfair to everyone being tested. And finally, we showed that Allah is not a fair and impartial judge because he treats believers with fairness and compassion and unbelievers harshly and with no compassion.

I imagine, you the reader, as a normal human being with a sense of compassion and justice, recognise that "the reward of goodness is naught but goodness" (Qur'an 55:60). However, Allah sees things differently and is biased so offers this reward only to people who believe in him. This negates his goodness because he does evil to some and favours some and does not judge everyone equally. We deduce that fairness and morality, as understood by Allah, are inconsistent with objective notions of justice and impartiality.

I wonder if Muslims are able to recognise the folly of worshipping a god who claims to be good, just and merciful but contradicts his own claims because he bears such a huge grudge against those who disbelieve in him? If you, as a Muslim, believe the premise that "an essential attribute of god is his goodness", then, once you read the verses above showing you that god is unjust, the only conclusion you can arrive to is one of these two: 1. "God is not all good", or 2. "Allah cannot be god".

So it is clear in Islam that god does not judge by the good deeds of people equally. First, he judges a person by their faith and if they pass that condition, he considers the rest of their actions. The absurdity of this is that a Muslim who did nothing worthwhile or beneficial in their whole lifetime and even committed sins will go to heaven and enjoy eternal bliss, and a non-Muslim who did mostly good and excelled to benefit thousands of people's lives will suffer eternal hell. The teachings of Islam present with faulty theological reasoning that contradict the goodness and fairness of its own god.