The claim: "Infinite punishment for the sins of a finite life is disproportionate; a merciful God would not do this."
The Qur'an's frame: mercy has primacy
- "Your Lord has decreed mercy upon Himself." (6:54)
- "My mercy encompasses all things." (7:156)
- "Do not despair of God's mercy; God can forgive all sins." (39:53)
The clause inside "eternal"
Even the verse stating hell's continuity carries an exception clause:
- "…they will abide therein forever, except as your Lord wills. Indeed your Lord does what He intends." (11:107)
This "illā mā shāʾa Rabbuk" clause leaves the punishment bound to God's will and mercy; indeed some scholars (even classically) debated whether hell is unconditionally eternal for all.
An honest limit
The mainstream view holds the punishment eternal for those who persist in denial — we do not hide that. But the Qur'an's mercy-first language and the exception clause of 11:107 do not compel the picture of "infinite, arbitrary cruelty." The nature of the duration (truly endless, "ages/aḥqāb," or open to God's will) is a theological debate; we impose no single reading.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.