Theological and Ethical Tensions

This part examines internal strains within Islamic theology proper: the character of Allah as the Quran describes him, the coherence of Islamic soteriology, and ethical rulings that sit uneasily with the claim of a perfectly just and merciful lawgiver.

1. 1

   Allah, the Best of Schemers

   The Quran repeatedly applies the verb makara — to scheme, plot, deceive — to Allah: “they schemed, and Allah schemed; and Allah is the best of schemers (khayru al-makirin)” (Quran 3:54; cf. 8:30; 7:99: “do they feel secu…

2. 2

   Predestination Versus Accountability

   “We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind” (Quran 7:179). “If We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come true: I will surely fill Hell with jinn and …

3. 3

   The Crucifixion Denial

   Quran 4:157 declares of the Jews: “they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them (shubbiha lahum)… they certainly did not kill him.” The crucifixion of Jesus under Pontius Pilate i…

4. 4

   Salvation Without Atonement — and the Transferred Sins Hadith

   Islamic soteriology is a scale: “those whose scales are heavy — they are the successful; those whose scales are light — they have lost their souls” (Quran 23:102–103), with no atonement, no mediator (2:48), and the axiom…

5. 5

   Women in the Quran and Sahih Hadith

   Quran 4:34 makes men qawwamun (in authority) over women and prescribes, for wives whose nushuz (rebellion) is feared: admonition, then abandonment in beds, then “strike them” (wadribuhunna). Quran 2:282 values a woman’s …

6. 6

   Eternal Hell, the Treatment of Unbelief, and Compulsion in Practice

   The Quran prescribes eternal torment, described with unusual physical specificity — skins roasted and replaced to renew the pain (4:56), boiling water, hooked iron rods (22:19–21) — for the sin of unbelief as such, inclu…