Fear of Hell?-soothing words that helps

gospelmap} Hell is real.agreed.but ask yourself can you escape it with your own merits? Do you think God does nothing about sin when we cannot acutally pay the price thats so heavy? Does he merely keep watching and demanding that we pay its price when we cannot pay it? Oh ! if that is the faith you have where  allah demands us like a cruel master and not a loving father to pay the heavy price which you and I cannot pay then who need such a faith? I look to Jesus who like a parent Jump into the water to save me when I dont know swimming.That is why he is the savior God who came to save us from the penalty of sin when we are not able to pay it. why  not trust him now. [/QUOTE wrote: My Lord is The Merciful The Ever Forgiving, and if you can not swim, he gave man the ability to learn. So learn how to swim. Pay the price? do good and have faith in The Merciful Ever Forgiving. Judgement is to Him and He has even power to make sins into good deeds in the hereafter. Again Judgement is His not yours, and He is over everything The Almighty.

My Lord is The Merciful The Ever Forgiving, and if you can not swim, he gave man the ability to learn. So learn how to swim. Pay the price? do good and have faith in The Merciful Ever Forgiving. Judgement is to Him and He has even power to make sins into good deeds in the hereafter. Again Judgement is His not yours, and He is over everything The Almighty.

Nima,

I agree with the point Mary made that we need to recognize our God created us and then dedicate the good works we do in life to Him and His glory. I also agree with Community that people get caught up in fearing God rather than pleasing him.  Taqwa is Arabic which in short means that we love Allah, SWT, so much that we fear displeasing Him because of this love.

It is a love of our Creator, who is Goodness and Mercy and Justice and Eternity, who is neither male nor female, and has no beginning nor end.

I too feel that it would be harsh and unjust to create people just to punish us even though we do good works and have good, kind souls throughout our lives.  Some people feel that to be Muslim you have to follow the rules established called the Shariah and follow one of so called four schools of thought.  But I don't. 

We have basic, simple guidelines in the Quran that guide us.  And I personally, possibly to the shock of everyone here, do not believe many of the things literally as I am not a desert bedoin, and my life is very different than the lives of the women during those times.  But the parables set clear guidelines for me to follow also.

I don't look at sin as something against God as much as it is against my own soul.  These guidelines God made for us are merely things that will help us and our communities in our lives here on earth.  Just as traffic signals are there to prevent accidents, many of the Islaamic rules that we follow are there to prevent personal depression and social dysfunction.  God loves us and does not seek to punish us as a harsh taskmaster to a slave.  He guides us and protects us from the harms inherent in this world, if only we would listen and keep listening!

Community wrote: Hell is a certainty, there is no point in fearing it. Rather fear Him who has power over all things and who created you out of nothing, leave those who try to instill fears in you as to make you accept their given way to safety. The only safety is with The Almighty, so seek a way to please Him, strive to achieve the eternal peace with Him through mending works.

Hell is real.agreed.but ask yourself can you escape it with your own merits? Do you think God does nothing about sin when we cannot acutally pay the price thats so heavy? Does he merely keep watching and demanding that we pay its price when we cannot pay it? Oh ! if that is the faith you have where  allah demands us like a cruel master and not a loving father to pay the heavy price which you and I cannot pay then who need such a faith?

I look to Jesus who like a parent Jump into the water to save me when I dont know swimming.That is why he is the savior God who came to save us from the penalty of sin when we are not able to pay it. why  not trust him now.

Nima wrote: With that said let me say that I've heard Muslims say here that one has to be Muslim in order to attain that type of peace. Similar argument (even to a greater extent) also from Christians. My point here is that is goodness not enough for God eve if one doesn't understand or deny him? Is it not enough that a man is punished because he doesnt share a religion, a congreagation of some sort? there is a fear of hell because man is condemn even in light of his good nature and deeds all because he doesn't believe in the historical existence of prophetic figures.

Nima I�ll try to answer your question here and God willing Herjihad will answer you too. One who believes in the Oneness of God and obeys His commands is a Muslim. So no matter what you call yourself if you believe in the One & Only God and do not associate anything with Him then you are a Muslim.

Nima say for instance that your parents are providing you with everything � good food, a good house, love and plenty of money which you shower as gifts upon your friends. But while you receive the admiration of your friends for your generosity, you do not acknowledge any gratitude to your parents. Would this be right? I think certainly not! There is nothing worse than an ungrateful child and the parents would be extremely hurt and full of remorse.

Now God provides for you everything, absolutely everything � the air you breathe, the food you eat, the water you drink, the body you possess, the love of those relatives & friends and the list is endless. It is impossible to count God�s blessings on mankind. There is a verse in the Qur�an which says that if the sea was ink and there were seven such seas still the ink would not be enough to write the favours of God on mankind! And this is absolutely true! What we perceive is infinitesimal. And we don�t think enough and reflect how God produces that beautiful tree from that tiny seed which we scarcely saw. There is so much before us that we don�t reflect upon. After seeing and enjoying all that God has granted us how can we deny Him? No matter how good you are, when you don�t acknowledge the Creator who provided you with those conditions of goodness that you display, of what good are your deeds?

Your goodness should stem from acknowledging the Creator first and where will be your goodness if you yourself were miserable in pain and suffering? If all the above were denied to you?

Secondly, just as you are now most people are and have been. That is they did not know or grasp the existence of God who is the Creator of the Universe and everything beyond. Man in his foolishness worshipped everything - the sun, the moon, all sorts of animals and even human beings as god, instead of the real God. To correct man in his folly God in His kindness and Graciousness sent messengers to mankind. There have been thousands of messengers and only a few are well known. All these messengers brought home the truth of the existence of the One and Only True God, and that we should worship none but Him, that He was neither begotten nor does He beget, that we should associate none with Him. This was the message that was brought to mankind by Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed and many others (Peace be upon them all). Had it not been for them we would have continued in our folly of worshipping idols and other human beings etc. Therefore we have the highest regard for them (amongst human beings) and their teachings but we do not worship them.

I hope all the above answers your question that gratitude to God first and then to those who brought you the message is the first step one can take in order to achieve bliss and no matter how good you are if you deny the Provider, you would be lost.

Nima wrote: I don't fear hell as I have seen it personally in life a dif there is a mor terrible and agnoizin existence and I'm going there all because my good nature and good spirit is not enough for a deity then why am I prompted to believe in such a deity? 

Nima whatever you have seen of hell here are but tiny glimpses of the big picture. You may have seen volcanoes erupting and lava flowing, you may have seen the Tsunami, you may have seen the earthquakes � all on television. These are small reminders of the power of God and what one can expect when one denies His existence and associates anyone with Him, after the truth has reached them. It is easy to say that �I don�t fear hell�, but it is a lot more different there. As for me boiling water had scarred me a long time ago and I can never forget it. What if it was boiling oil? It would have been worse. But nothing can be worse than what we have been warned about and to prevent that God is not asking a lot. Just acknowledge His existence and live a righteous life.