Why is Allah Cruel?

Allah’s hatred toward Jews and Christians – the cruel, genocidal Allah who is supposedly also Rahmanur Rahim, the Most Merciful!

Sahih Muslim 2767’s hadiths clearly state:

From Abu Musa (ra): On the Day of Resurrection Allah will assign to every Muslim a Jew or a Christian and say, “This is your ransom (fikaak) from Hell.”

In another narration: When any Muslim dies, Allah will put a Jew or a Christian in his place in Hell.

In a third narration: Some Muslims will come with sins like mountains, Allah will forgive those sins and place them upon the Jews and Christians.

These are in the book of Sahih Muslim (Kitab al-Tawbah, chapter: Acceptance of the repentance of the murderer). Islamic scholars generally explain this as: “For every person a place in Paradise and Hell has been determined; when a believer goes to Paradise, his place in Hell is taken by a disbeliever.” They say that the disbeliever is deserving of punishment because of his own disbelief.

But from a human perspective this stands as a cosmic massacre by a cruel entity called Allah, a system of substitution or “alternative victim” on a universal scale.

Why this appears like a “cosmic genocide” or substitution-massacre

1. Transfer of blame
   The Muslim’s sins (even if like mountains) are forgiven. The burden of those sins and the place in Hell are imposed upon the Jew or Christian. In place of individual accountability, a group-based exchange is introduced. The salvation of one group depends on the permanent punishment of another group.
2. The Creator’s own design
   According to Islamic belief, Allah is the one who created everything; guidance and misguidance are in His hand. He Himself created the Jews and Christians and arranged that they would not bring faith (according to the concepts of Qudrat and Qadar). Then that same entity uses them as “ransom” for Muslims. Those who lived a just and righteous life in this world, if they are not in the “correct religion,” that is Islam, then their place is in Hell. This is, instead of justice, a kind of cosmic favoritism in favor of a chosen group.
3. Indiscriminate punishment
   There is no condition in the hadith that only bad Jews/Christians will go. “A Jew or a Christian” – in general. No matter how many good deeds they did in the world, their very existence seems to have been kept as material to “bear the heat” of Hellfire, so that the Muslim (even if sinful) is saved. This is a system of permanent punishment based on religious identity instead of personal deeds.
4. Moral double standard
   The same entity is called “infinitely merciful and forgiving,” yet forgiveness is reserved only for one group. The other group is used as an exchange. If this existed in human law, it would be called unjust substitution or collective punishment. On a cosmic level, even if it is called “mercy,” from an external perspective it is the permanent destruction of one group in favor of a chosen group.
5. Historical and social impact
   Such descriptions have helped create a negative view of Jews and Christians. They are portrayed as “inhabitants of Hell” or “ransom for Muslims.” Hindus are not mentioned, and it can be argued that in Muhammad’s known world they were not present, but the main problem is the principle itself: the permanent punishment of non-Muslims is the condition for Muslims’ salvation.

Summary

The hadith is usually glossed over in traditional explanations by saying “the disbeliever is punished for his own disbelief.” But according to the text it is clearly substitution: the Muslim’s place is vacated, a Jew/Christian goes there; the Muslim’s sins are forgiven, they are imposed on others. This is a group-based exchange instead of individual justice. From a human perspective, on a cosmic level this is a kind of genocide or substitution-massacre – where the eternal happiness of one group depends on the eternal torment of another group, and this system is created by Islam’s deity Allah Himself. And this Allah is supposedly Rahmanur Rahim, the Most Merciful!