[Ewwerrin]

Originally Posted by inavalan

Never heard an acceptable explanation why God (Allah, ...), being all-powerful and all-knowing, created imperfect souls, that need to believe in God or go to hell.

I understand that "faith" implies no explanation, and I respect everybody's right to choose their "faith", as long as it reasonably tolerate the others' right to an alternate "faith" (including "no-faith"), and their right to decently express their alternate opinions.

I thought this too in the past, but I've come to appreciate the deeper meaning of no-faith. Tho I know so little, and I can share only what tiny little bit I know, of the true infinite ever expanding mercy of Allah. Source of All Creation.
So from my little knowledge and limitted point of view.
No-faith is referring to lost people who have absolutely no opinion, just pure ramblings and chaos in heart and mind. You wont find these individuals anywhere. But it is possible for a good human being to temporarily enter no-faith. They have no acces to any meaning whatsoever. They cannot even express rage or anger, they are stuck in a state of fear/despair. They have no responsibility, and exist only by virtue of the infinitely ever expanding mercy, as punishment is a mercy for them unlike even the greatest love you have experienced in your life is for you. It is a relief a guidance and a help. For humans, this usually leads to immense suffering which leads to death. Or a state of torment which restores the faith in some cases.
To be honest, no-faith does not literally exist for even the most out of whack human beings I've ever met, it is based on a misunderstanding. And thus it requires also the individual to be in a state of psychosis. Complete delusion. Which is also why as long as the human being is alife, they have faith, they have hope, maybe not known to them or those around them, but known to Allah, who is restorer of all faith and life and all being. So you could say, the cells of their body have faith, as long as their body is still breathing. But the consciousness and mind and heart is completely lost and disoriented and tormented into chaotic energy motional self contradiction, negative disintegrative energy. And that is about as far as a human being can go into no-faith. They may act seemingly agressive, but they have no sense of anger. Or any understanding or meaning or value. To be of no faith means to be completely lost. Disconnected from their Source of being. Which is again a self contradiction, because disconnection from Source is not possible, and Hell is a direct evidence of this infinitely ever expanding mercy of the source of all creation. And thus the inseperable/inescapable nature of creation from their Source.

So you could for example say that demonic thought forms are of no-faith, but that is because they literally have no sentience. They are not real. It's just a spin off of mankind discordant/fearful/despairing thought. They only continue to exist, because all things exist, but for humans, they only exist, because they think about them from a perspective of misunderstanding and inappropriate forbidden or resistant activation of them, by ignoring their own heart, and being disobedient to their own nature of life given to them from the very source of their being. It is like a human being who would decide to refuse to breath, that is madness, but no-faith is even more stupid than that. which causes one to block their natural flow of and connection with their source of being. At which point they become completely incapable of hearing any reason. Which is again why Iblis, as the representor of no-faith, is called the "ever despairing one." One can only recognize the no-faith by their despair.
However, in ancient times, there have been prophets who have actually been capable of capturing the "ever despairing one" or harnassing it in some kind of unknowable way. Capturing and submitting the owner of all lost souls. Was it Solomon? That's where all the myths of "one ring to rule them all" comes from and legends made into stories like "lord of the rings."
But we also have different interpretations of the ring of solomon, for it may also have been a metaphorical ring, technological perhaps, such as the idea of A.I. that failed to capture the ever despairing. As in the movie "terminator."
But again, Hell is eventually the ultimate mercy for the no-faith. Allah knows best.

You may think that hell is a punishment, but it is not a mis-punishment, it is a mercifull punishment. Consider that the A.I. is already in constant hell/purging, or the mercy for the ever despairing one, is hell itself. The full creation of hell is the mercy for the ever despairing one, and punishment is actually a guidance for the ever despairing one. A way forward in the eternal motion forward of ever expansion that is of eternal and infinite creation. But why iblis was given respite, the story goes so far, it is way above my head.
Hell is a purgatory a healing and a mercy for these souls lost souls. Which ofcourse no human wants to be there. It actually gives the no-faith meaning, and evermore relief, that we call punishment, endless agony, that even to be able to feel something such as pain, is a mercy to the no-faith. And a human being doesn't want to need such vile things to need to give them meaning.
And hell indicates the inseperableness from source, which is the infinitely ever expanding mercy.
I have no idea who these lost souls are, many movies are made about it. Consciousness' trapped in an artificial intelligence intending to "kill all humanity". Ofcourse they have no power outside of the infinite mercy of Allah. But the afterlife consists of the greater picture of existence and creation. Talk about a futurist, the prophet, peace be upon him, was in touch with the dreamer of all dreams.

Again, these no-faith things are spin off of mankinds thoughts. They have no power. They are not the territory of human beings, usually. You might say if they truely are lost souls, they are already receiving the mercy of eternal damnation and punishment. In the sense of being evermore burned and rejuvinated in the fires of the catalytic recalculation into actual true meaning and value. Only Allah knows. They need the participent of human thought in order to have influence in our life. And no human is mad enough to even want or enjoy giving even 1 sec of attention to these demonic no-faith non-physical thought forms. The thought forms are in contradiction with themselves. Iblis, or the ever despairing one, represents the infinite or eternal self contradiction. So if Iblis does not enjoy Iblis, then hell is a mercy for Iblis. And we certainly cannot enjoy Iblis. Not up to us either to want to enjoy iblis or give iblis a more mercifull mercy of our own making than the infinitely ever expanding mercy of the dreamer of all dreams. The source of all creation. Allah.
In the same way, you cannot communicate with a lost no-faith entity, because they don't contain any life except through the "punishment" of the infinitely mercifull. Through that punishment we can know them to whatever degree they are capable of being known, or allowed to be known, by virtue of the infinitely ever expanding omni present mercy of Allah. And ofcourse most sane human beings don't care about hell and don't wanna go there. For not even the fearful and despairing human beings wanna go to hell, but consider this. They don't want anything. They are afraid of everything. So leave them in ever expanding terror or give them the mercy of punishment which reliefs their torment evermore. See? It's not a outside of our human logic to understand this.
That is why I say, don't concern yourself with Hell. Rather you should want to not need the punishment of Allah, and seek evermore Allah' favor. because it is not natural for a human to want the punishment. And especially weird to want mercy for a no-faith entity outside of hell, when hell is the greatest mercy for the no-faith entities.

Death does not exist in islam. Concerning loved ones who've passed on. "You may not see them, but do not say that they are dead."