Justice and mercy

If Allah is Merciful, Where is Justice?

The greatest character trait of Allah is supposedly mercy, but if Allah is mercy alone, where is justice?  The goal here is not to prove whether Allah is merciful or not based upon his actions as described in the Quran and hadith, but rather to put his nature and character in the theological framework of justice as well.

The hadith says that

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) having said:

By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them” (Sahih Muslim 2749).
In this authentic hadith, it is clear that Allah created sinners for the purposes of sin.  If you don’t sin, he will actually destroy you.  But then it says you will seek forgiveness and Allah would pardon you.  But is this just?
No imagine for a moment that you are a man, and another man comes to the house while you are at not home. He enters your houses forces sexual relations upon your elderly mother, your beautiful wife, and your precious daughter and does so in your own bed.  Then he unalives them and escapes.
The man is later caught and he goes before a judge.  You are screaming for the death penalty for his crimes.  But the judge tells him, “yes, you did wrong, but I am a merciful judge.  You are free now.”
You would erupt in fury.  Why?  Because while the criminal received mercy, you as the wronged person did not receive justice.  The judge might have been merciful to the criminal, but he increased the injustice for you.

Something happened recently that somewhat echoes this.  A man in was speeding beyond what was legal and struck and killed a child.  The person who did the crime was caught.  His sentence for killing the child?  A mere 120 hours of community service.  The father was so enraged that he picked up a char and threw it at the judge (read here).  While the person who killed his daughter received a huge dose of mercy, the injustice towards the father was multiplied.

If the judge only shows mercy, then he is not just.  The criminal may get mercy, but the one wronged has even more wrong heaped onto them.
Mercy and justice go hand in hand.  So how can anyone show mercy?
The only one who can truly show mercy is the one who has been wronged.  The power is in their hands and their hands alone.
If Allah simply shows mercy to those who have done wrong, then everyone who has been wrong has not been given justice.  Without justice granted by the person wronged, then injustice is multiplied.
Therefore Allah, if he is only merciful, is not merciful at all, but multilpies injustice.

What about Yahweh?  The God of the Bible?    Isn’t he merciful as well?

“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.’” — Exodus 34:6

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

At first glance, you might think the problem is the same.  If Yahweh shows mercy without justice, then injustice is multiplied.  Except that there is a huge difference.  Yahweh actually fulfills justice.

The God of the Bible acknowledges that all are sinners (Romans 3:10-10).  In fact, when you read the Bible, it is full of sinful people.  But from the very beginning, there has been the promise of justice.

Here’s the challenge.  If the God of the Bible is fully just, meaning that there should be a righteous indictment against every sinner (which is all of us), then there would be no one left standing.  As the Bible says, there is no one righteous, not even one (Rom 3).

What could God do?  How can could justice be served?  How can mercy be fairly granted so that injustice isn’t multiplied?

The only that would be possible is if someone paid the penalty of the crime themselves.  And that could only be done on the bases of three factors.

1) The person had to be without sin.  No sinner can pay for another man’s sin.  No debtor has the ability to pay another person’s debt.

2) The person had to be eternal.  One person only has one life to give to another person.  To pay for the sins of all humanity requires that the one who is paying for the sins has eternal, infinite value.

3) The innocent one had to be willing to do this voluntarily, since they themselves were not under condemnation or judgment.  It would have to be freely offered.

There is only One who fits all three of these qualifiers and that is Jesus.

1) Jesus was without sin.

  • “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” — 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
  • “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” — 1 Peter 2:22 (ESV)
  • “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” — Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

2) Jesus was eternal.

  • “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1 (ESV), “andd the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” — John 1:14 (ESV)
  • “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” — John 8:58 (ESV)
  • “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.’” — Hebrews 1:8 (ESV)

3) He paid for our sin out of his own free will

  • No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” — John 10:18 (ESV)
  • “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” — Ephesians 5:2 (ESV)
  • “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Mark 10:45 (ESV)

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was about one thing–taking upon himself the justice that we deserved.  That’s why Jesus of his own free will died upon the cross.  It is the message of the cross.

But wait.

Isn’t it true that the only one who is wronged is able to grant mercy?  How is this different than Allah just granting mercy?

The main difference is that someone does pay for the crime.  And not just 120 hours of community service.  Jesus gave his life for our crimes.  He took the death penalty upon himself.  He took our death penalty upon himself.

But there’s more.

Through Christ, to those who put their trust in him, they receive forgiveness of their sins before God.  He was the one ultimately wronged.  But what about the people that were wronged?

First God calls people to repent and sin no more.  That is the message of the gospel.  It begins with repentance.  Every person who preached the gospel preached repentance.

Second, that repentance is not just before God.  It is also a repentance before man as well.

Zachaeus exemplified this – “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” — Luke 19:8 (ESV)

Jesus said before you offer your gift, “First be reconciled to your brother…” — Matthew 5:24 (ESV)

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” — Romans 12:18 (ESV)

Paul also modeled this.  He said before the governor, Festus, that if he had done anything wrong, he was willing to pay the price, even death:

“If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar” (Acts 25:11). 

The theme of Scripture is because God has forgiven us, then we need to go, as far as it depends on us, to make it right before other people.  This is why when people come to Christ who have committed crimes, it is not uncommon for that person to go confess their crimes to others.

Third, since we have been shown great mercy on the basis of justice through Christ, we are to do likewise.  We are to show mercy to others on the basis of what Christ did for us.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
— Matthew 6:12

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
— Matthew 6:14

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
— Ephesians 4:32

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
— Colossians 3:13

In conclusion, mercy requires justice.  Without justice, mercy multiplies justice.  This brings us to Allah of the Quran and hadith.  If guilt is simply dismissed, where is the payment for wrongdoing?How are victims fully vindicated?  Where is their justice if God gives the criminal mercy and no one has to pay?

In the God of the Bible, we see that there is justice.  Jesus took the sins of mankind upon himself at the cross.  Justice has been served.  Someone did pay the price and that price was the death penalty, the highest price anyone can pay.

Romans 3:26
“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Justice was served.  And mercy is offered as a gift on the basis of justice being fulfilled.
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is like this.  Imagine a young man has committed a terrible crime worthy of severe lashings.
The boy is sentenced and he is to receive 100 lashes.  He is tied to a post.  His father steps in, and volunteers to take the boys lashes.  He ties himself to the post as well and shields his son with his body.
His son knows it was his guilt that is the problem.  But he has to experience his father taking the brutal lashes for his crime as he is whipped.
The father does so willingly.  With great love.  But he suffers terribly.  Such love breaks the rebellious spirit in the boy.  That someone else out of love would pay for his crime.
In the same way, when we know who it is that took our sins upon himself, it can break our rebellious spirit as well.  It’s the power of justice and mercy working together.