Substitutionary atonement in Islam: How Allah really forgives sin
Our Muslim friends’ critique of the Christian doctrine of substitutionary atonement, i.e. Christ dying for sin in the place of sinners, is mainly two-fold.
The first critique is that it encourages sin, or to phrase the question the way they would phrase it, “So this means we can freely steal, murder and fornicate? Afterall Christ has died for all our sins hasn’t He?”.
Issue here is that the Bible has already explicitly and exhaustively dealt with this very point,
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
(Romans 6:1)
Paul gives two reasons in that very chapter why this is the case, first, the Christian is dead to sin, secondly, if a Christian continues to sin, they make themselves slaves of sin (Romans 6:16). Please see my two-part article “Is grace a license to sin?” for a more in-depth analysis.
The flip side of this however is that it is Islam that teaches that a person can murder, steal and fornicate as long as they die saying the Shahada (Islamic declaration of faith).
“Abu Dharr reported,:
I came to the Apostle (may peace be upon him ) and he was asleep with a white mantle over him. I again came, he was still asleep, I came again and he had awakened. I sat by his side and (the Holy Prophet) observed: There is none among the bondsmen who affirmed his faith in La illaha ill-Allah there is no God but Allah) and died in this state and did not enter Paradise. I (Abu Dharr) said: Even if he committed adultery and theft? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: (Yes) even though he committed adultery and theft. I (again said): Even if he committed adultery and theft? He replied: (Yes) even though he committed adultery and theft. (The Holy Prophet repeated it three times) and said for the fourth time: In defiance of Abu Dharr. Abu Dharr then went out and he repeated (these words): In defiance of Abu Dharr.”
(Sahih Muslim Book 1 Hadith 179)
And again,
“Narrated Abu Dhar:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Someone came to me from my Lord and gave me the news (or good tidings) that if any of my followers dies worshipping none (in any way) along with Allah, he will enter Paradise.” I asked, “Even if he committed illegal sexual intercourse (adultery) and theft?” He replied, “Even if he committed illegal sexual intercourse (adultery) and theft.”
(Sahih Bukhari, Book 23 Hadith 1)
It is Islam that teaches people to murder in the name of Allah, to fornicate with “captives of the right hand” and engage in Mut'ah (temporary marriages with coital benefits). All of these otherwise heinous acts are sanctified as holy and halal acts in Islam.
But this is not the point of this article at all and I digress…
The second objection which our Muslim friends have to substitutionary atonement is that it is unjust. Why, they say, would a man bear the punishment for the sins of another man? Is it not unjust for a person to be punished for the sins of another? Hence the Quran says,
“And no burdened soul can bear another’s burden…”
(Surah 35:18)
First problem with this from an Islamic point of view is that according to the Quran, Allah endorsed the punishment of one man in place of another in at least one instance,
“And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.”
(Surah 4:157)
According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir on this verse,
“Isa (i.e. Jesus) went to his companions, who were twelve inside the house. When he arrived, his hair was dripping water and he said, `There are those among you who will disbelieve in me twelve times after he had believed in me.’ He then asked, `Who volunteers that his image appear as mine, and be killed in my place. He will be with me (in Paradise)’ One of the youngest ones among them volunteered and `Isa asked him to sit down. `Isa again asked for a volunteer, and the young man kept volunteering and `Isa asking him to sit down. Then the young man volunteered again and `Isa said, `You will be that man,’ and the resemblance of `Isa was cast over that man while `Isa ascended to heaven from a hole in the house. When the Jews came looking for `Isa, they found that young man and crucified him.”
So Allah facilitated the crucifixion of one of Jesus’ followers in the place of Jesus. Why was one man crucified in place of another with Allah’s blessing? Would this not be unjust going by the standard of our Muslim friends?
Again the Quran records that on the day of judgment, the disbelievers’ wives would be punished as well as them.
“(And it is said unto the angels): Assemble those who did wrong, together with their wives and what they used to worship
Instead of Allah, and lead them to the path to hell;”
(Surah 37:22–23)
Allah here is sending the wives of disbelievers to hell, not necessarily because of their own merit but because they are affiliated with a disbeliever. Is this not another instance of a person suffering for the sin of another?
Second problem is that in the Quran, there is some reference to Allah making some sort of sacrifice to redeem Ishmael.
“Then when the boy reached the age to work with him, Abraham said, “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I ˹must˺ sacrifice you. So tell me what you think.” He replied, “O my dear father! Do as you are commanded. Allah willing, you will find me steadfast.”
Then when they submitted ˹to Allah’s Will˺, and Abraham laid him on the side of his forehead ˹for sacrifice˺,
We called out to him, “O Abraham!
You have already fulfilled the vision.” Indeed, this is how We reward the good-doers.
That was truly a revealing test.
And We ransomed his son with a great sacrifice,”
(Surah 37:101–107)
As an aside, here we can see the hypocrisy and double standard of our Muslim friends when they talk about the Christian doctrine of atonement. They say things like,
“So God sacrificed God to God? Are you saying God killed God? That makes no logical sense!”
Questions like these and all the other strawmen they come up with are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the incarnation and the trinity. But we see a similar problem, which they have absolutely no issues with, in the Quran.
The Quran clearly says Allah offered a great sacrifice to ransom Ishmael. The question is who exactly is Allah sacrificing to? Is Allah redeeming Ishmael from Allah? Answer? “Allah knows best!”.
Now the above story is obviously an adaptation of the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 applied to Ishmael. From a Christian perspective, the request to sacrifice Isaac and his subsequent replacement with a ram (rather than a “lamb” as prophesied by Abraham) is a picture of the death of Christ as a substitute for men who are condemned by God to death. Hence when Jesus comes, John the Baptist says, “The LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world”. In Islam however, what is the point of this story? “Allah knows best!”.
In spite of the vagueness of the significance of this story within the Quranic narrative, one thing is clear; Allah definitely acknowledges something about a ransom and a sacrifice.
Things get a lot more interesting when we turn to the hadith,
“Abu Burda reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
There would come people amongst the Muslims on the Day of Resurrection with as heavy sins as a mountain, and Allah would forgive them and He would place in their stead the Jews and the Christians…”
(Sahih Muslim Book 50 Hadith 60)
And again,
“Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will deliver to every Muslim, a Jew or a Christian and say: ‘This is your ransom from Hell-fire.”’
(Riyad As-Salihin 432)
So in Islam, Allah does not simply forgive the sins of a Muslim bound for hell, rather he gives them a Jew or a Christian as a ransom and places their ransom in hell in their eternal stead. So what has happened here?
A Muslim rightly deserves the fire of hell, but instead a Christian or a Jew is thrown in it as a substitute. There is a somewhat imperfect substitutionary atonement at play here. Pause for a few moments and see if you can spot the problem here. For extra brownie points, see if you can spot the inconsistency with the Quran,
The Quran says “No burdened soul can bear the burdens of another!”. No soul burdened with sin can bear the burden of another soul burdened with sin! The Jew or the Christian would be a bearer of burden in his own right, so how in the world can he bear the burden of the Muslim? The only two options are either:
(1) Allah would have to punish the Christian/Jew doubly for both his sins and the sins of the Muslim he is ransoming, in which case, the Muslim has lost his right to object to the Christian gospel’s substitutionary atonement because this would be unjust of Allah
OR
(2) The Christian/Jew would only pay for his sins before Allah in which case there has been no real judgment or reckoning for the Muslim’s sin and the justice of Allah is imperfect since some sins are going to be allowed to slide. If our Muslim friends take this option, the whole ceremony as described in the hadith is a joke and a charade because the Christian/ Jew was already going to hell anyway so they cannot be a true atonement or ransom for the Muslims.
So every time our Muslim friends mock the substitutionary atonement of Christ and boast in the fact that Allah just forgives whoever he wants to whenever he wants to, they are actually telling us Allah is not a perfect judge. So Moses and David both killed men in the Quranic/Islamic narrative and Allah forgave them (Surah 28:15–16, 38:24). Where is the justice for the blood that was shed?
Let us circle back to the Quran’s statement,
“No burdened soul can bear the burden of another…”
Jesus according to the Quran is not a burdened soul! Jesus in Islam has no sin,
“He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son.”
(Surah 19:19)
According to the hadith,
“Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When any human being is born. Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.”
(Sahih Bukhari Book 59 Hadith 95)
Jesus is the only one in the Quran called “faultless” (Some translations say “pure” or “holy”). According to the hadith, Jesus is the only human being who Satan could not touch when He was born.
If there was one unburdened soul who could really and truly stand as a ransom for sin, it has to be Jesus and this is precisely the gospel!
Jesus Christ, the perfect man who deserved nothing but heaven because of His righteousness, unlike Allah’s token ransom Christian and Jew who are cursed and heading to hell anyway, is God’s ransom to redeem men from the hell they are heading to and rightfully deserve.
Jesus’ death on the cross, unlike the “clone Jesus” of the Quran, satisfies God’s righteous judgment on every possible sin from the sin of Adam till the moment Jesus returns. No sin has been allowed to slide or swept under the carpet. So in the Bible, God could forgive Moses and David because there was an ultimate payment for sin coming in the person of Christ, as it is written,
“…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed”
(Romans 3:25–26)
Jesus became the Lamb, the perfect Lamb without spot to redeem the world from sin.
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
(1 Peter 1:18–19)
My dear Muslim friends, the real atonement, the perfect atonement that guarantees you eternal life is not found in Muhammad or the Quran or the corpus of your religion. It is not found in any Christian or Jew. It is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one unburdened soul who is able to bear the burden of all of humanity, including yours. He is the one who says,
“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)
Please share this article with your Muslim friends. I do not care for the likes, comments or traction but I think there is a very key message in here that Muslims need to see. Thank you very much.
