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An English-language article based on a French article by Father Guy PAGÈS

Abbé Guy PAGÈS - La miséricorde de Dieu (jesus-messie.org)

The Dictionnaire du Coran (Éditions Robert Laffont) was hailed at its publication in 2008 by all kinds of critics. It is a collective work in which no less than 27 Muslim and non-Muslim authors participated. It was accomplished under the direction of Mr. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, director of studies at the École pratique des hautes études (Sorbonne), holder of the chair of Islamic theology and classical Qur'anic exegesis. In this dictionary of 500 entries, the word "mercy" does not appear (nor does the word “charity,” for that matter.)

Similarly, the word "mercy" does not appear among the 400 entries in the index of Islam for Dummies by Malek Chebel, nor is it found in the index of Danielle Masson's translation of the Qur'an (Éditions Folio Classique), which the University of Al-Azhar validated. This simple observation would imply that there is no mercy in Islam, contrary to what all Islamic propaganda in the West claims.

It’s hard to understand how the French Bishops’ Conference, during the Year of Mercy, wrote, "Let us celebrate our God rich in mercy," in a document entitled "Mercy in Islam." As if the Church could no longer speak of mercy today without referencing Islam and claiming that "mercy is quite present in Islam." Does the fact that most Qur’anic surahs begin by invoking “Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate,” prove that He is ontologically merciful and compassionate?

Mercy is of the essence of Christianity and is centered on the Incarnation of the Word of God, who came to redeem fallen mankind. We read in the Gospel according to St. John, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

This text is abhorrent to Muslims and constitutes the unpardonable sin of Shirk, i.e., "associationism." (Qur’an 4:48). The opposition to the redemptive mission of Christ reveals an anti-mercy motif in Islam. While the Christian God loves even sinners and commands us to love our enemies, Allah hates all types of sinners: the conceited (Quran 16:23; 28:76), traitors (Quran 22:38), corrupters (Quran 28:77), transgressors (Quran 2:190), infidels (Quran 3:32; 30:45), the proud (Quran 31:18), the unjust (Quran 3:57,140), the aggressors (Quran 42:40), the arrogant (Quran 4:36; 28:76), the corrupters (Quran 5:64), the bold (Quran 5:87), the traitors (Quran 8:58), the ungrateful (Quran 22:38), the presumptuous (Quran 31:18), the conceited (Quran 57:23), the disbelievers (Quran 2:276), and the Jews and Christians (Quran 9:28,30).

By rejecting the revelation of the Trinitarian God and the foundation of relationships and love, Islam teaches that Allah is the sole cause of everything, including the effects produced by secondary causes.

In Muslim-Christian Dialogues, Muslims point to “The Tolerant Ayas of the Qur’an” as proof that Mercy is an active motif vis-à-vis followers of other religions. Sura 2, Aya 256 says, "There is no coercion in religion!" This is used in interreligious meetings as proof that Islam is tolerant of other religions. Muslim jurists say this verse means "the right of non-Muslims to embrace Islam without any hindrances,” in other words, the duty to facilitate their conversion to Islam. Since "Allah has not imposed any hindrance on you in religion." (22.78) These Ayas don’t prove that Mercy is an active motif vis-à-vis followers of other religions.

In Christianity, Mercy is of its essence, as we have already noted. Divine Mercy was manifested in the Death and Resurrection of Christ and the proclamation of this Good News (the Evangelium) that brings salvation to the world. While Muslims invoke “Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate,” there is neither mercy nor compassion towards non-Muslims!

Sura 3, Aya 19 (Al ‘Imran): “Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam… And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (Aya 85)