The heart and soul of Christianity is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

Christ, out of his own free will, died in order to ransom sinners from the penalty of sin, which is death and judgment. Christians believe in the testimony of God’s inspired Word, the Holy Bible, that Christ did this in order to reconcile God’s perfect, infinite justice and love. (Cf. Ezekiel 18:4,20; Mark 10:45; Matthew 26:28; John 10:17-18; Romans 3:25-26; 5:6,8; 6:23; 8:31-39; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25-33; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18.)

Muslims strongly object to the idea of "one soul carrying the burden of another," as exemplified in the Qur'an in many places (see below), and therefore reject the thought that God would punish Jesus for the sins committed by others in order to maintain his justice and love. They view this as unjust since Christ, being sinless, didn’t deserve to die on behalf of sinful individuals. As Muslim scholar Dr. Jamal Badawi says:

The idea of vicarious sacrifice explains how God reconciled his attributes of mercy and justice and the wages of sin is death. Is it just that all humans coming from Adam be born with the stigma of sin because of Adam's mistake? Is it just to condemn a human in advance, even an innocent baby? Adam was created weak and imperfect and God knew this, if he sees a repentant human, is it just for God to say no, you must be perfect to enter paradise? Is it just that the innocent be killed and tortured to release the guilty? To say that the pure Jesus was killed to save the guilty does not make sense ...

Is it merciful for God, knowing man's weakness, to ignore repentance and require bloodshed? Is it merciful for God to kill his own Son? Is it not more merciful that God simply forgives sin without this blood sacrifice? It appears that Paul's theory is inconsistent with either the divine qualities of justice and mercy. (Source)

The focus of this paper is not to correct or address Dr. Badawi’s gross misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the theology of Paul and Christianity in general. Nor is it our aim to answer Badawi’s misplaced questions and straw men characterizations of our faith. The above link addresses Dr. Badawi’s arguments, as do the following articles: [1], [2]

What we would like to do here is present the Muslim view of vicarious sacrifice and substitutionary atonement. It may come as a surprise to some of our readers to find that the Quran and the Islamic traditions confirm the idea that Allah ransoms sinners by punishing others for their misdeeds.

We begin with the following Quranic passage:

Then We gave him the good tidings of a prudent boy; and when he had reached the age of running with him, he said, ‘My son, I see in a dream that I shall sacrifice thee; consider, what thinkest thou?’ He said, ‘My father, do as thou art bidden; thou shalt find me, God willing, one of the steadfast.’ When they had surrendered, and he flung him upon his brow, We called unto him, ‘Abraham, thou hast confirmed the vision; even so We recompense the good-doers. This is indeed the manifest trial.’ And We RANSOMED him with a MIGHTY SACRIFICE, and left for him among the later folk. ‘Peace be upon Abraham!’ S. 37:101-109 A.J. Arberry

According to the above, Allah ransomed Abraham’s son from being sacrificed by personally providing a mighty sacrifice. Note how others translate the phrase, "mighty sacrifice":

The only problem here is that the Quran doesn’t identify what this mighty sacrifice was. Was it some kind of animal? Was it the ram mentioned in Genesis 22:13? The problem with appealing to the Bible is that the Genesis account is actually a foreshadowing of the death of Christ in place of sinners, being the very Lamb of God foreseen by Abraham (see this article).

Thus, if we turn to the Holy Bible for clarification, then we must conclude that the mighty sacrifice that the author of the Quran was referring to is the Lamb of God, the beloved Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Muslim would be quick to respond and say that the Quran could not be referring to Jesus as the substitute since human sacrifices are condemned. Our response would be, where exactly does the Quran condemn the possibility of a human being dying in the place of another person? Now, a Muslim may wish to point to passages stating that a person's works can only benefit himself/herself (cf. 6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7).

The problem with appealing to this set of passages is that there are other passages that clearly contradict them, verses which say that a person can in fact bear someone else's burden (cf. 16:25; 29:12-13). For more on this issue please consult the article Who Suffers the Consequence of Sins according to the Qur'an?

Hence, if the Quran agrees that a person can bear the sins of others, then a Muslim has no valid objection against the death of Christ on behalf of sinners.

Furthermore, the ahadith state that Muhammad's intercession will merit salvation for Muslims in hell, despite all the evil they have committed:

Narrated Ma'bad bin Hilal Al'Anzi:
We, i.e., some people from Basra gathered and went to Anas bin Malik, and we went in company with Thabit Al-Bunnani so that he might ask him about the Hadith of Intercession on our behalf. Behold, Anas was in his palace, and our arrival coincided with his Duha prayer. We asked permission to enter and he admitted us while he was sitting on his bed. We said to Thabit, "Do not ask him about anything else first but the Hadith of Intercession." He said, "O Abu Hamza! There are your brethren from Basra coming to ask you about the Hadith of Intercession." Anas then said, "Muhammad talked to us saying, 'On the Day of Resurrection the people will surge with each other like waves, and then they will come to Adam and say, 'Please intercede for us with your Lord.' He will say, 'I am not fit for that but you'd better go to Abraham as he is the Khalil of the Beneficent.' They will go to Abraham and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Moses as he is the one to whom Allah spoke directly.' So they will go to Moses and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Jesus as he is a soul created by Allah and His Word.' (Be: And it was) they will go to Jesus and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Muhammad.'
They would come to me and I would say, 'I am for that.' Then I will ask for my Lord's permission, and it will be given, and then He will inspire me to praise Him with such praises as I do not know now. So I will praise Him with those praises and will fall down, prostrate before Him. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to; and ask, for your will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers! My followers!' And then it will be said, 'Go and take out of Hell (Fire) all those who have faith in their hearts, equal to the weight of a barley grain.' I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down (prostrate) before Him. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and ask, for you will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers! My followers!' It will be said, 'Go and take out of it all those who have faith in their hearts equal to the weight of a small ant or a mustard seed.' I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down in prostration before Him. It will be said, 'O, Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and ask, for you will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers!' Then He will say, 'Go and take out (all those) in whose hearts there is faith even to the lightest, lightest mustard seed. (Take them) out of the Fire.' I will go and do so."
When we left Anas, I said to some of my companions, "Let's pass by Al-Hasan who is hiding himself in the house of Abi Khalifa and request him to tell us what Anas bin Malik has told us." So we went to him and we greeted him and he admitted us. We said to him, "O Abu Said! We came to you from your brother Anas Bin Malik and he related to us a Hadith about the intercession the like of which I have never heard." He said, "What is that?" Then we told him of the Hadith and said, "He stopped at this point (of the Hadith)." He said, "What then?" We said, "He did not add anything to that." He said, "Anas related the Hadith to me twenty years ago when he was a young fellow. I don't know whether he forgot or if he did not like to let you depend on what he might have said." We said, "O Abu Said! Let us know that." He smiled and said, "Man was created hasty. I did not mention that, but that I wanted to inform you of it.
Anas told me the same as he told you and said that the Prophet added, 'I then return for a fourth time and praise Him similarly and prostrate before Him me the same as he [sic] 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to; and ask, for you will be granted (your request): and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, allow me to intercede for whoever said, 'None has the right to be worshiped except Allah.' Then Allah will say, 'By my Power, and my Majesty, and by My Supremacy, and by My Greatness, I will take out of Hell (Fire) whoever said: 'None has the right to be worshipped except Allah.'" (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 601)

If Islamic tradition allows for the ransoming of Muslims on the basis of the merits of Muhammad, then Muslims have absolutely no grounds to reject the Christian position that Christ merited salvation for sinners.

We even find Islamic tradition teaching that humans, specifically Jews and Christians, will be thrown in hell in place of Muslims:

Chapter 8: THROWING OF NON-BELIEVERS IN HELL-FIRE FOR BELIEVERS AS DIVINE GRACE AND MERCY

Abu Musa' reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When it will be the Day of Resurrection Allah would deliver to every Muslim a Jew or a Christian and say: That is your RESCUE from Hell-Fire. (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6665)

Abu Burda reported on the authority of his father that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: No Muslim would die but Allah would admit IN HIS STEAD a Jew or a Christian in Hell-Fire. 'Umar b. Abd al-'Aziz took an oath: By One besides Whom there is no god but He, thrice that his father had narrated that to him from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6666)

Abu Burda reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) 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. (As far as I think), Abu Raub said: I do not know as to who is in doubt. Abu Burda said: I narrated it to 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, whereupon he said: Was it your father who narrated it to you from Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him)? I said: Yes. (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6668)

Please note that these traditions clearly say that Allah will forgive the sins of Muslims and spare them from hell by punishing Jews and Christians in their place!

This is a form of substitutionary atonement and vicarious atonement, with the difference being that instead of punishing one person Allah punishes countless numbers of Jews and Christians in the place of Muslims!!!

So, we are forced to return the favor back to Muslims, specifically Badawi, and ask:

Is it just that Jews and Christians carry the stigma of sin because of the mistakes of Muslims? Is it just to condemn a Jew and Christian in advance? Muslims were created weak and imperfect and God knew this. If he sees a repentant human, is it just for God to say no, I must punish Jews and Christians in your place for you to enter paradise? Is it just that the innocent be killed and tortured to release the guilty? To say that Jews and Christians will be condemned to hell to save guilty Muslims just does not make sense ...

Is it merciful for Allah, knowing the Muslims’ weakness, to ignore repentance and require the eternal condemnation of Jews and Christians? Is it merciful for God to send the People of the Book to hell? Is it not more merciful that God simply forgives sin without this brutality and discrimination against people of different faiths? It appears that Muhammad's theory flies in the face of God's qualities of justice and mercy, since the damnation of Jews and Christians in the place of Muslims is neither just nor is it merciful.

Furthermore, seeing that Allah accepts the death of Jews and Christians, individuals who are far from being sinless, as a ransom for Muslims, then what possible objection could there be against the sinless and holy Son of God willfully dying on behalf of sinners in order to satisfy the justice of God?

For articles which deal with the issue of whether Islam teaches that persons ‘inherit’ sins from others and suffer judgment as a result of it, we recommend the following:

Moreover: How much sense does it make that Allah would not accept a voluntary substitutionary death (of Jesus) but force a substitutionary death on someone else? See the various Muslim theories regarding the crucifixion of Jesus discussed in the section "The Cross of Christ".

Articles by Sam Shamoun
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