Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Allah is All-knowing, so I presume He knows who will end up in hell and who will end up in heaven. God sends people to hell because they do things which he dislikes. And he probably knew they will do those such things even before they come into existence. So, God makes a faulty product and then punishes the product for working improperly? What kind of a justice is that? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Justice of Allah

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

My beloved brother in Islam, the Majestic Lord is Far Exalted and High Above ever making an error, or mistake, or fault in any of His Creation!!!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 67 Surah Al-Mulk verses 1-4:

1 Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion: and He over all things Hath Power.

2 He, Who created Death and Life that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might Oft-Forgiving.

3 He, Who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah), The Most Gracious; so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw (in anything of His Creation)?

4 Again! Turn thy vision a second time; (your) vision will come back to you, dull and discomfited, in a state worn out!

Everything the Majestic Lord created, is created to perfection; be it the sun, the moon, the heavens, the earth, the plants, the animate kingdom, the human beings, or be it anything else in existence! The Blessed Creator has created everything to perfection!

Your Question: Allah is All-knowing, so I presume He knows who will end up in hell and who will end up in heaven.

Indeed, the All Knowing Lord knows who amongst mankind will do deeds which will take him to Paradise; and who amongst mankind will do deeds whereby he will deserve the Hell Fire. Everything, absolutely everything of the past, present, and future is in the knowledge of the All-Knowing Lord.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6.474 Narrated by Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Taalib

While the Prophet (saws) was in a funeral procession, he picked up something and started scraping the ground with it, and said, "There is none among you but has his place written for him either in the Hell Fire or in Paradise." They said, "O Messenger of Allah (saws)! Shall we not depend upon what has been written for us and give up deeds?" He (saws) said, "Carry on doing (good) deeds, for everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created. So if he who is destined to be among the happy (in the Hereafter), will find it easy to do the deeds characteristic of such people, while he who is destined to be among the miserable ones, will find it easy to do the deeds characteristic of such people."

Your Question: God sends people to hell because they do things which he dislikes. And he probably knew they will do those such things even before they come into existence. So, God makes a faulty product and then punishes the product for working improperly? What kind of a justice is that? 

We should understand the clear distinction between the Lord being All-Knowing, and the Lord being All-Just! Indeed, Allah Subhanah knows from His Perfect Knowledge who will deserve Paradise and who will deserve Hell; and that is His Perfect and Absolute Knowledge of the past, present, and future!

But it is His Perfection in Justice that He allows man to choose, of his own intelligence and free will, whether he chooses to do good or evil. Allah Subhanah neither forces a man to do good, nor does He forcibly make a man choose evil; this the human being chooses with the faculty of intelligence and of the free will which Allah Subhanah has bestowed only on mankind (and Jinns), and to no one else in all of His Supreme Creation!

Thus, one should make a clear distinction between the Perfect and Absolute Knowledge of the All-Knowing Lord who knows the past, present and future of everything; and in His being the All-Just.

Allah Subhanah has bestowed on man (and Jinn) two things, which He has not given to any in His creation:

Intelligence and the Power of Reasoning

A Free Will to choose whatever path he wishes to take.

And Allah Subhanah has allowed, for a limited period, for man to choose the path of good or the path of evil. This path the man must choose himself with his own free will, and Allah Subhanah will neither force him to do good, nor force him to do evil…. And this is exactly what man will be judged on in the Just Court of the Supreme Lord! And this is precisely the ‘test’, which Allah Subhanah has ordained for mankind!

Allah says in the Holy Quran in Chapter 67 Surah Al Mulk verse 2:He, Who created Death and Life that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan