Is Hell a myth?
C1. Of course hell is real. It is never a myth. God is most merciful but He is very severe in enforcing retribution. Does it depend whether people like hell or not! The Holy Quran repeatedly confirms this fact. God annihilated so many communities before and His annihilation process is still continuing. Does God stop those Tsunami, earthquake etc?! He has power over all things. He can save anybody from the midst of fire if He wants. Fire also has to obey His commands. He creates and controls natural laws. A believer never can believe hell is a myth. May Allah save me from Hellfire and grant me His upper Heaven.
http://www.progressive-muslim.org/
C2. From: Student of the Quran <>
Subject: [Progressive-Muslim] Myths of Hell / comment
To:
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011, 3:04 AM
Salamun Alaykum.
God's promise of hell is severe. But, do we know the other promises of God to avoid hell?
God clearly states what He does not love. He does not love the aggressors (2:190), corruption (2:205), disbelievers (3:32), unjust (3:57), arrogant show-offs (4:36), betrayer (4:107), evildoers (5:64), and so on. People who do not support God and do not uphold His commandments do not earn His love. If God loved us unconditionally regardless of our action, there would be an anarchy in the world.
The love of God is mentioned many times in the Quran. God loves the charitable (2:195), the repenters (2:222), those who are clean (2:222), the righteous (3:76), the steadfast (3:146), the good doers (3:148), those who trust in Him (3:159), those who are benevolent (5:13), and so on.
God knows that humans will abuse the freedom of choice out of ignorance. The All Loving God out of His Mercy sends down His messengers time to time to deliver His message of good news and warning to humans.
The All Loving God guides people who wants to be guided. For example, Adam committed a sin and Merciful God redeemed him (2:35-37). Moses killed a person and God forgave him (28:15-16). Jonah abandoned his mission and God guided him (21:87-88). Muhammad was almost diverted by the disbelievers and Merciful God strengthened him (17:73-75).
The All Loving God overlooks many of our sins.
[42:30] Anything bad that happens to you is a consequence of your own deeds, and He overlooks many (of your sins).
He gives ten times more reward for our righteous work.
[6:160] Whoever does a righteous work receives the reward for ten, and the one who commits a sin is requited for only one. No one suffers the slightest injustice.
He transforms our sins into credit if we repent and reform.
[25:70] Exempted are those who repent, believe, and lead a righteous life. GOD transforms their sins into credits. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
God the Most Merciful gives us a 40-year grace period so that we can understand His freedom of choice clearly.
[46:15] We enjoined the human being to honor his parents. His mother bore him arduously, gave birth to him arduously, and took intimate care of him for thirty months. When he reaches maturity, and reaches the age of forty, he should say, "My Lord, direct me to appreciate the blessings You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do the righteous works that please You. Let my children be righteous as well. I have repented to You; I am a submitter."
In the real world, we expect to get reward for our good work and anticipate punishment for our bad work. Why it is so difficult to understand the concept of heaven and hell promised by our Creator?
Thank you and may God guide me,
Muhammed Irtaza
[33:62] God's Sunnah is unchangeable
[39:23] The Quran is the best Hadith
http://www.islamawakened.com/Quran/
C3. --- On Tue, 4/19/11, Mike Ghouse <> wrote:
Is Hell Dead?
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-hell-dead.html Hell is not dead, nor will it die but dying it is.
Texas Faith is a weekly column of Dallas Morning News where a dozen religious panelists opine on issues facing the nation. I am blessed to be one sharing a pluralistic perspective on issues of the day. Is the bias or accusation universal or specific to a group? No group has a monopoly on good, bad and ugly things they do, and we are equally responsible for creating a cohesive society where you and I can live without apprehension of the other and live the life and let others live theirs. This weeks question is responded by 14 Panelists in the following link: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/04/texas-faith-is-hell-dead.html
Here is my take
Hell is not dead, nor will it die but dying it is.
Hell is different things to different people; to some it is a real thing where one burns on renewable ambers for eternity. At the other end of the spectrum it is pure anguish to some, and yet to some it ain’t there.
But one thing is certain, an increasing number of people believe hell is a thing of the past used as a deterrent to prevent wrong doing. The latest research from Barna Associates shows that only 32 percent of adults see hell as, "an actual place of torment and suffering where people's souls go after death.”
"I don't think fear, as a tactic, really moves people toward faith these days," Pastor Bill Hybels said. "So, tactically, I think there are better ways to interest the uninterested in the claims of Jesus Christ." Pope Benedict reiterates, "Jesus came to tell us everyone is wanted in paradise, and that hell, about which little gets said today, exists and is eternal for those who shut their hearts to His love."
People simply don't want to hear about Hell any more, they have enough of it in their own lives to listen to another one.
They are searching for a door to escape momentarily and prefer attending a Church, Mosque, Synagogue, Temple or other place of worship to hear about peace and hope, where no one is apprehensive of the other under the big tent. This phenomenon is part of the people regardless of their religion, some Muslims go to a Mosque at the tail end of a sermon to catch up with the prayers and avoid hearing about hell.
Author Theologian RC Sproul writes, "Many evangelical pastors have bristled at the thought of being labeled a "fire and brimstone" preacher and turned to a kinder, gentler approach.
Joel Osteen has captured that market well; he understands their needs and consistently delivers a message of hope to over 30,000 a week including me. People are also turning to silent mediation centers to get away from the hell pounding in the sanctuaries.
An empirical research is warranted to determine a correlation between decline in church attendance and the sermons of hell, hate and fear.
The hell is indeed dying individuals are discovering the myths of Santa Claus and the myths of Hell.
Bottom Line:
Here is a possibility you may want to ponder. Every item of the universe, life or matter is created to seek its own balance for survival. Matter is programmed to seek its own balance, where as humans are not, they have the free will to find that elusive balance through a variety of religious, psychological, social or common sense guidance.
In life when someone wrongs you, you cry out loud seeking justice in a variety of formats; it is indeed a balance seeking mechanism. Religions offer the scenario of hell or reincarnations in lower forms as a punishment; it gives hope to the victims of oppression that no one will go scot free and yet God offers an alternative plan; forgiveness. It is Central to the teachings of Jesus and found in every religious and spiritual tradition. In Islam, Quraan Guides one with this thought; the one God loves most is the one who forgives.
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Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is available to speak at your place of worship, campus, work, seminars and conferences. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Mike's work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
Source: Discussion in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/progressive-muslim/ group.
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