Islam (mainstream Sunni especially) teaches:
From this:
Either Allah is the willing author of all evil and eternal torment (which makes Him morally evil by any normal standard), or He is not in exhaustive control (which contradicts the Quran). Either way, Islam’s conception of Allah collapses.
Let’s define evil here in a strict, philosophical sense:
An omnipotent agent who knowingly and needlessly causes or decrees maximal suffering, while having the power to prevent it or to bring about a better outcome, is morally evil or unjust.
P1. The Quran teaches that Allah creates human actions and controls human will.
“Allah created you and what you do.” (37:96) “You do not will except that Allah wills.” (76:30)
P2. The Quran teaches that Allah could guide everyone but chooses not to.
“Had We willed, We would have given every soul its guidance… but My word is: I will surely fill Hell with jinn and humans all together.” (32:13)
P3. The Quran teaches that Allah created many humans and jinn for Hell.
“Indeed, We have created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind…” (7:179)
P4. The Quran teaches that Allah freely forgives or punishes whom He wills, not constrained by anything outside Himself.
“He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills.” (3:129)
“I will inflict My punishment on whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things…” (7:156)
P5. Any omnipotent being who creates beings for damnation, decrees their sinful actions, and subjects them to eternal torment despite having the power to save them, is the ultimate author of evil.
P6. Islam simultaneously claims Allah is the Most Merciful, Most Just, and Loving (e.g., ar-Raḥmān, ar-Raḥīm, al-‘Adl).
C. Therefore, Islam’s own depiction of Allah (as the decreer of all things, creator of many for Hell, who could save all but chooses not to) logically implies that Allah is evil, which contradicts Islam’s claim that He is perfectly merciful and just.
So either:
In both cases, Islam’s core theology fails.
If we accept the Quranic text as the ultimate authority, we are forced into one of two untenable positions:
Then:
By any sane moral standard:
That describes a being who originates evil, sustains it, and maximizes punishment when alternatives were available.
So on this horn:
Allah, as described by the Quran, is evil/unjust.
Therefore, Islamic claims that Allah is “Most Merciful and Most Just” are false. Islam can’t just slap the label “mercy” on top of this and magically make it moral.
To avoid calling Allah evil, a Muslim has to deny one or more of the above realities. Common moves:
But the Quran says more than foreknowledge:
If humans have real, independent causal power over their actions, these verses are false or at least radically reinterpreted.
That undercuts exhaustive sovereignty and the classic Sunni view.
That contradicts 37:96 as understood by many classical commentators (“your actions” are created by Allah).
And still doesn’t fix 32:13 and 7:179—He still chooses not to guide them and to fill Hell with them.
Then “Allah is good” becomes an empty statement: it just means “Allah does what Allah does.”
You lose any meaningful moral content; you can’t then use “He is Just and Merciful” as an argument, because you’ve defined “justice” as “whatever Allah does,” including creating people for Hell and eternally torturing them when He could have saved them.
That is basically admitting: By human moral standards this looks evil, but we’re redefining good.
That’s not an argument, it’s a blank check. You’re still stuck with:
If any other agent did this and said “I have a hidden wisdom,” we’d call that agent evil.
So on this horn:
To avoid saying “Allah is evil,” you weaken or deny:
→ That makes key Quranic claims false or misleading.
→ The Quran is not a reliable revelation.
P1. If a being is omnipotent and omniscient, then nothing evil happens except by His will, permission, or decree.
P2. In Islam, Allah is omnipotent, omniscient, and creatively responsible for all actions and destinies.
P3. Allah freely chooses to create beings He knows He will damn, could have guided all but does not, and inflicts eternal torment on many.
P4. Any being who freely chooses unnecessary, maximal suffering for many when a better alternative is available is morally evil/unjust.
C1. Therefore, on Islam’s own premises, Allah is morally evil/unjust.
BUT:
P5. Islam claims Allah is perfectly just, merciful, and loving.
C2. Therefore, Islamic theology about Allah is internally contradictory and false.
The dilemma reveals a fundamental breakdown in Islamic theology:
If Allah is as the Quran describes (the determiner of all things who fills Hell by choice), then Allah is evil.
If Allah is truly Just and Merciful by any meaningful standard, then the Quranic description of Him is false.
In either case, the internal logic of the system collapses. The theology requires the believer to simultaneously hold that Allah is the source of all actions (including evil) and yet is perfectly removed from the moral responsibility of those actions—a position that defies the basic laws of logic and morality.