Islam does not treat rape as a private mistake that can be waved away by pious words. It is a grave violation of God's law and of a human being's protected body, honor, and security, and repentance before God does not erase the victim's worldly rights.
What the critic is rightly worried about
The strongest form of the objection is this: if a preacher says, "The rapist may repent and enter Paradise," while saying little about the woman harmed, it can sound as if Islam cares about the offender's soul but not the victim's justice. The worry becomes sharper when people blame the victim's dress, or imply that a non-Muslim victim has no standing before an Islamic court.
That would be a serious moral failure. But it is not the rule of Islam. It is a confusion between God's final judgment, the sinner's possible repentance, and the court's duty to punish crime and restore rights.
Rape is not treated as consent or as the victim's sin
The Quran forbids coercion and places guilt on the coercer, not the coerced:
"Do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire chastity... And if someone compels them, then after their compulsion Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
Quran 24:33
The forgiveness here is for the coerced victim, not for the violator. The Prophet (PBUH) also made the sanctity of a person's body and honor a public matter:
"Indeed, your blood, your property, and your honor are sacred to you."
Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim
Classical jurists treated rape as forced unlawful intercourse, often with additional crimes such as assault, abduction, intimidation, or highway terror depending on the case. The victim is not punished for zina. Ibn Abd al-Barr and others report the settled principle that the coerced woman bears no legal blame when coercion is established. Many jurists also held that the rapist owes financial compensation, such as the woman's proper dower, alongside criminal punishment.
Repentance does not cancel the victim's right
Islam distinguishes between two kinds of rights: the right of Allah and the rights of people. A person may repent to Allah, and Allah may forgive whom He wills. That doctrine is not special protection for rapists; it applies to sinners generally. But when another human being has been violated, repentance is not complete while the offender refuses redress.
"Whoever has wronged his brother concerning his honor or anything else, let him seek his pardon today, before there will be no dinar or dirham."
Sahih al-Bukhari
So a statement like "a Muslim rapist can be forgiven and enter Paradise" only establishes that God's mercy is possible after true repentance, or after punishment, or by Allah's will. It does not establish that a judge should release him, that the victim should forgive him, or that society should treat the crime lightly.
Justice is owed to Muslim and non-Muslim victims
The Quran commands justice without tribal or religious favoritism:
"O you who believe, stand firmly for justice, as witnesses for Allah, even if against yourselves, parents, and relatives."
Quran 4:135
"Do not let hatred of a people cause you to be unjust. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness."
Quran 5:8
A non-Muslim woman's body and honor are not lawful targets. Blaming her for not wearing hijab is legally and morally irrelevant. Men are commanded to lower their gaze and control themselves; a victim's clothing does not create permission to assault her.
Proof standards for particular punishments can be strict, as in many legal systems, but that does not mean "no justice." Confession, testimony, medical evidence, circumstances, injury, threats, abduction, and other indicators may support discretionary punishments and compensation even where a fixed hadd penalty is not proven.
So the objection may expose bad preaching, bad courts, or cruel cultural attitudes. It does not show that Islam has no category for rape victims or that rape is merely a forgivable private sin. In Islam, the victim is wronged, the offender is accountable, and no talk of mercy is allowed to erase justice.