Many converts from Islam to Christianity have
described the powerful impression it made upon them when
they realized through reading St. Paul’s epistles that Islam is
just a system of laws; it offers no salvation.
- Christians believe that God forgives all sins. Do
Muslims share this belief, or are there any unforgivable
sins in Islam?
There are three types of sin for which Allah will not
forgive sinners:
a. Attributing Partners to Allah. ‘‘Allah will not forgive
idolatry. He that serves other gods besides Allah has strayed
far indeed’’ (Sura 4:116). Attributing partners to Allah is
calledshirk. This specifically includes praying to Jesus
Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the
angels. All these forms of intercessory prayers are
considered forms of blasphemy in Islamic theology. Islamic
commentators, both classical and contemporary, state that
such prayers are blasphemous and unforgivable.
b. The Killing of a Believer. Under no circumstances
should a Muslim kill any other Muslim intentionally.
‘‘Whoever kills a believer purposefully, his reward is hell
forever. Allah is wroth with him and hath cursed him and
prepared for him an awful doom’’ (Sura 4:93). Numerous
Muslim theologians agree that this sin cannot be forgiven.
Non Muslims may find this a curious belief given the
numerous wars that have been fought between Muslim
countries (for example, the seven yearlong Iran Iraq War of
the 1980s), and also given the terrorist attacks on the World