Harsh Punishment For The Denial Of Truth
I already went through that discussion, it doesn’t really answer my question and the last comment in the discussion that was left unanswered only reinforces my concern/point.
I’m not sure how do you quantify ‘sternly’. Do we have any scale that tells us that when the magnitude of a punishment tips the scale to one side then it will be categorized as stern? Similarly, do we have any scale that tells us whether or not rape is a bigger crime than murder? None at all. Only God can make these decision on the basis of absolute justice, and He has told us that He will not render any injustice in this regard.
Do we have examples where theft/bribery/zina were punished worse than murder/rape/torture/genocide? If not then I think that is fitrah in work, no? That man is able to keep a distinguish between worst crimes from the lesser? But accepting your point for the sake of argument that humans are not perfect at making criminal laws, I do believe they have a natural sense of justice right? If they see injustice, they will dislike it as Ghamidi Sahab said in Meezan that man doesn’t like tyrants (if I’m remembering correct). Issue is that people who criticize Islam, say that based of their natural understanding of justice, they find the treatment of mushrik/kaffir/sarkash to be not fair in the Hereafter. How do we respond to that? That they should ignore their nagging feelings?
Are we not assuming too much here to claim that the likes of abu talib denied the prophet knowingly and willingly? If i give you a car to sell my product but you refuse to accept me as your employer and drive around my car even selling my product with other brands what kind of bonus you expect when you come back to me? Now replace the car with freewill and sales targets with the good deeds, you can now figure out why God has made belief in God as the primary condition to accept other good deeds.