Everald, the best explanation of God’s mercy that i have come across, that addresses the question of evil, is the following essay by Shaykh Nuh Ha Min Keller in reply to the question “What does Allah allow suffering and evil? What is evil?”:

http://untotheone.com/articles/qa/suffering-and-divine-wisdom/

I doubt you’ll find a much more comprehensive and coherent explanation.

salaams

greatfull..thank you for that real..life story
i..prefer the mosus/satan/revelation..it reveals very much
about both satan..and mosus...its mind opening

http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_901_950/story_of_moses_and_the_guide.htm

A small but poignent reminder of what people do when they have no guidance or fear of being held accountable for their actions:

"The teenage victim was one of 130 people treated by St Vincent's Hospital emergency staff into the early hours of New Year's Day.

"He was only one of many who were knocked unconscious," he said.

"Every hour we had at least two patients who had been knocked unconscious. There was a particularly nasty attack on a lady who was punched to the ground and then kicked. It's not just violence, it's brutality."

Staff also treated a higher than average number of victims of domestic violence as well as people who had injured themselves as a result of intoxication. There were also three heart attack patients and, at 5am, someone who had accidentally walked into the path of a bus.

"It was one of the busiest New Year's Eves we have had in terms of patient numbers," he said. "It was extra busy in terms of the number of patients with head injuries and the number of people suffering alcohol-related injuries."

He said a heavy police presence mitigated the number of violent incidents, which were still unacceptably high.

"Without the police it would have been a lot worse but they can't be everywhere all the time," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/its-not-just-violence-its-brutality-new-years-eve-aggression-keeps-medics-busy-20140101-305m8.html#ixzz2p7IMTfeP"

A belief in the Hell-fire would prevent this behaviour and so for me this represents another example of the Mercy from our Creator. In contrast, how many "ethics classes" or police patrols would you need to prevent this sort of behaviour?

Dear Grateful,

<<A belief in the Hell-fire would prevent this behaviour>>

Very true indeed, but belief in Hell-fire also has its down-side and is therefore only appropriate for some people, generally for those who are only starting their journey on the religious path.

While I do not deny for a moment the efficacy of the religious instruction to SOME people that "God sends those who drink alcohol to hell", I must also point its drawbacks:

1. It is harder for someone who obeys God out of fear to turn around and come to love God, the object of his fear.

2. It promotes the materialistic idea as if hell is a bad thing which should be avoided while heaven is a good thing which should be desired. This is OK for beginners, but this kind of materialism needs to be overcome at a later stage, or else one might wander in the wilderness of materialism under the delusion that they are very religious.

3. Scripture, being finite in volume, cannot give answers to what the will of God is in each and every life situation. Surely, beginners on the path of religion should be given firm and clear instructions, but ultimately one needs to learn and develop their inner sensitivity to the will of God.

Hi Yuyutsu,

Thankyou for the thoughtful response. Its always good to meet a fellow-traveller, so to speak. I'm in no position to answer your question because it is a question that only someone with the appropriate training should be answering.Perhaps the following excerpt from the above-mentioned article will address some of the issues you raise:

" Fear and hope, in these successive stages, remain the two wings of the traveller, for those most in love with the Beloved remain the most fearful of offending Him and being expelled from His presence. As Abu Madyan said, “Presence with Him is paradise, and absence from Him is hell.” The possibility of punishment and suffering remains a spur on the way of spiritual attainment, even at its highest degrees, until the traveller has both feet in paradise, and can see for himself the triumph of the transformations Allah has thereby wrought in him."

Imagine a child who fears misbehaving because he has learned (the hard way) that his father will return home and give him spank. Think of this child as your "beginner". As he gets older and starts to benefit from the discipline, at school and by keeping himself out of trouble, his fear is not of getting spanked but of upsetting his father. why? He loves his father and does not want to do anything that will see his father turn away from him. This is my, albeit limp, understanding of “Presence with Him is paradise, and absence from Him is hell.”

cont..

cont..

Also your statement "God sends those who drink alcohol to hell", is not accurate. One can be a believer and drink alcohol. You disobey your lord and you are aware that you are disobeying your lord. I'd suggest such a person is going to be more open to a reform than someone who is not a believer. The reason is that he can find hope in his belief, such as the following hadith

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’”

and..

Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, "Allah, the Exalted, has said: `I will declare war against him who treats with hostility a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (voluntary prayers or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) until I love him, (so much so that) I become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me something, I will surely give him, and if he seeks My Protection (refuge), I will surely protect him".

salaams