Advanced search
Visit
6696
Last Updated: 2012/03/03
Summary of question
If the existing Christianity has been altered and God calls them as infidels, why does He heal their sick ones and gives attention to them?
question
If the existing Christianity has been altered and God calls them as infidels, why does He heal their sick ones and gives attention to them?
Concise answer

The fact that God, the Glorified, heals the sickness of Christians and gives attention to them is because of His common and encompassing grace and compassion which includes all humans. He heals their sicknesses and provides food to sustain them so that they may be guided in the right path, the path of felicity, prosperity, faith, perfection and divine knowledge. God created man free and let them do things of their own free choice. He tests them by bestowing His bounties on them so that it may eventually become known as to who chooses to tread the right path and who the wrong. The righteous and the faithful are separated from others.

In addition, some Christians have no knowledgeable about Islam and they are Jahil-e-Qasir [lit. inculpable ignorant]. They are intellectually incapable and weak and it can be said that if they adhere to the human principles, they will be among people who are saved from questioning and punishment in the Hereafter.

Detailed Answer

The answer to the above question is given in two parts:

A) Inclusiveness of Divine Grace and Favor

The divine grace and favors are perfect and needless of any restrictions and limitations. God, the Exalted, is Merciful and Compassionate to all. His creational love is pervasive and for the entire creatures. God's love and bounties are due to His love of the manifestations and expressions of His attributes and qualities of perfection. All are equal to Him from this perspective and if there is any difference in the grants and favors, it is because of the deficiency of the recipient. That is to say, some human beings do not have the capacity to accept the divine love and grace in the legislative world owing to the unavailability of the conditions, potentials and requirements. For instance, those who are deviated and whose hearts are closed to the truth, do not accept guidance, faith and divine attraction.

The grace and lordship of the Lord of the universe requires Him to prepare bounties for man so that he may be able to move on towards his divine goal which he chooses of his own free will.  He should benefit and seek help from material and spiritual bounties which God puts at his discretion so that he may be able to fulfill his religious duties and attain prosperity and salvation.  However, some people use these bounties only to attain their world goals; they forget their duties and obligations concerning the afterworld focusing their attention only to their worldly desires and ambitions.[1] The Holy Quran says:

If any do wish for the transitory things (of this life), We readily grant them - such things as We will, to such person as We will: in the end have We provided Hell for them: they will burn therein, disgraced and rejected. Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and strive therefor with all due striving, and have Faith,- they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to Allah). Of the bounties of thy Lord We bestow freely on all- These as well as those: The bounties of thy Lord are not closed (to anyone). [2]

Hence, God bestows His material and spiritual bounties upon most of His servants due to the fact that His compassion and blessings are pervasive extending even to the most sinful people so that they may turn to God and tread the right path. As per the verses of the Holy Quran, all human beings turn, at some stages of their lives, to God and pray to Him to solve their problems and difficulties. God helps those who turn to Him. Thus, when it comes to divine assistance and blessing in the sense mentioned above, there is no difference between [believing and non-believing] human beings; all of them are bestowed with divine bounties. However, what is important is how they act as they continue to benefit from divine bounties. In other words, are they grateful for the favors being done to them? The Quran says:

"Say: Who is it that delivers you from the dangers of the land and the sea (when) you call upon Him (openly) humiliating yourselves, and in secret: If He delivers us from this, we should certainly be of the grateful ones.

Say: Allah delivers you from them and from every distress, but again you set up others (with Him)."[3]

Thus, fact that God, the Glorified, heals the sickness of Christians and gives attention to them is because of His common and encompassing grace and compassion which includes all humans. He heals their sicknesses and provides food to sustain them so that they may be guided in the right path, the path of felicity, prosperity, faith, perfection and divine knowledge. God created man free and let them do things of their own free choice. He tests them by bestowing His bounties on them so that it may eventually become known as to who chooses to tread the right path and who the wrong. The righteous and the faithful are separated from others.

B) Some Christians are Jahil-e-Qasir [lit. inculpable ignorant].[4]

Although Islam is the right and easy religion and it is accepted and endorsed by the common sense and it is possible and easy to reach its reality, it is at ease with those who are not aware about the reality of Islam due to inculpable ignorance or ignorance out of incapacity. Obviously, since these people are not guilty in their ignorance, God, the Gracious, bestows his mercy and blessings upon them. If they adhere to human principles, God shall not subject them to punishment in Hell because divine punishment is for ‘Jahil-e-Muqassir’ (lit. ‘culpable ignorant’) who are obstinate non-believers. That is, Islam has reached them and they have understood its truthfulness; however, they are not prepared to accept the truth due to their obstinacy and stubbornness. [This group of non-believers deserves to be punished in Hell because despite having known the truth, they have chosen with their own free will to reject Islam. These non-believers, even though they may be of good conduct, could have attained salvation but instead have closed the path to salvation themselves as they have covered the truth and are rebellious and obstinate in relation to it. As a result, they have chosen their own predicament.]  As for those to whom the message of Islam has not reached or they have been denied access to the truth or who, due to lack of knowledge, have not been able to grasp the truth, such people are ‘Jahil-e-Qasir’. Those who are termed ‘Jahil-e-Qasir’ are non-believers to whom the message of Islam has not reached, or it has been presented to them in a very incomplete and untruthful manner. If they adhere to human principles, they will be among people who are saved from questioning and punishment in the Hereafter.

For further information in this regard, refer to the following indexes:

1. "Hell and Non-Muslims", question 15781 (site: 15505).

2. "Divine Justice and Lack of Knowledge about Shi'ism", question 18014 (site: 17647).

3. Tawbah of Muslims and Non-Muslims", question 1404 (site: 1424).



[1] - See: Tabatabai, Sayyid Muhammad Hussein, Tafsir al-Mizan, vol.13, pg. 66 – 68, Islamic Publications Office, Qom, 5th edition, 1417 A.H.

[2] - Al-Isra, verses 18 – 20.

[3] - Al-An'am, 63 & 64.

[4] - A person who is not guilty of being ignorant is he to whom the truth has not reached or the truth has been presented to them in an imperfect or unreal manner in a way that it looks real to them.

 

Question translations in other languages
Comments
Number of comments 0
Please enter the value
Example : Yourname@YourDomane.ext
Please enter the value
Please enter the value

Thematic Category

Random questions

  • Does committing some sins like suicide automatically entail entering Hell?
    7539 Theoretical 2010/09/04
    Some sins, due to their quality, leave no opportunity to repent and will lead their committers to the irreversible path of Hell, the same way falling from heights without employing a parachute or landing equipment will lead to the disintegration of the body or the same way falling ...
  • What are the conditions of divorce?
    9254 Laws and Jurisprudence 2012/01/11
    If you were interested in living with your husband, you should have made every effort to save the marriage. In fact, you could have done something to draw your in-laws' attention and make your husband love you. If you think you made every necessary effort, you should never think that ...
  • Whose saying is this: "Death is sweater to me than honey."
    7973 تاريخ کلام 2011/01/10
    This saying is widely ascribed to Qasim son of Imam Hasan Mujtaba (a.s.). It is said that when his beloved uncle, Imam Hussein (a.s.) asked him "My child, my nephew, tell me, how do you regard death and what do you think about getting killed?" He promptly answered: ...
  • What is Islam's viewpoint regarding reincarnation?
    14897 Traditional 2010/01/21
    A few centuries back in India a theory known as "reincarnation" was developed concerning the consecutive return of souls to this world after death. During the ages this theory was gradually taken into serious consideration by people all around the world and even became, for some, a part ...
  • Please explain the features the Quran mentions for an Imam.
    10893 Traditional 2012/01/17
    There are two types of Imamate (leadership of a society) mentioned in the Quran; First: “The Imams of light” who are the pious and righteous leaders and second: “The Imams of fire” who are the heads of Kufr (disbelief) and deviation. Many features have been mentioned ...
  • Was Hazrat Adam (P.B.U.H.) Black?
    35391 Exegesis 2006/11/25
                There are several interpretations in the Quran on the creation of man, which show that the creation of man had several stages, which were as follows:[1]  
  • Who was Salah al-Din Ayyubi? How did he become the champion of the wars against crusaders? What was his origin? Why and how did he destroy the Fatimid government?
    15602 تاريخ بزرگان 2015/08/04
    Salah al-Din Yusuf bin Ayyub who later became known as Salah al-Din Ayyubi, better known in the Western world as Saladin, is one of the most famous Muslim rulers and commanders in the Islamic middle centuries (or in the 12th century of the English calendar). He achieved ...
  • where did secularism or the belief in the separation of religious and civil affairs emerge from?
    7848 Modern 2008/11/19
    During the renascence Christian believers came to the realization that their religion, with all the shortcomings it had, could not meet the modern social and political needs; therefore, secularism took shape.Secularism can be considered as the legitimate child of western civilization since Christianity, having gotten distracted and intermingled with ...
  • What is sex change?
    8421 Laws and Jurisprudence 2012/08/23
    Although dictionaries do not provide a definition for "sex change", it means any change and transformation in a male, female or genderless in such a way that the current state is different from the previous one. Medically speaking, sex change is different from "genetic modification" ...
  • What kind of a book is "Mikyalul Makarim"?
    6926 شخصیت های شیعی 2014/01/20
    The book "Mikyalul Makarim fi Fawaed al-Dua Lil-Qaem" as the title of the book reads, has been authored regarding Mahdi, the Imam of Time (atf). This is one of the books written in Arabic in the fourth hegira century.[1] The book Mikyalul Makarim consists ...

Popular