And just think, all they have to do is surrender their worthless pride, repent of their treacherous disbelief, do as Allah commands, and He will forgive them. Do this, and in His mercy, He will not hold their disbelief against them and the Wrath will be averted.
It's not as simple as that though, is it, my friend?
I am happy to surrender my 'worthless' pride. It's been through the mill over the last 55 years and so there's not much left of it. I can even obey the commands.
But to actually "believe" in a true and sincere sense... that is something I don't have direct control over.
There is simply too much that I find unbelievable.
One can't simply "choose" to believe something one finds unbelievable. One needs to be convinced of it's truth. (Can you believe Jesus is the son of God?)
I could "pretend" I believe, I suppose.
Would that be OK?