Guest Article:
Monopolising heaven
By: Nikhat Sattar
June 2017
The belief that non Muslims are kafirs, and that unless people of other religions, as well as atheists, accept Islam, they will all go to hell, is very common among Muslims. It has given rise to much arrogance, but more seriously, extreme violence against non Muslims. Not only do the Taliban and IS derive their ideologies from this; many Muslim sects believe that their sect is the chosen one, and therefore, all others are doomed to hell.
The Qur’an opposes these points of view completely. Over the last several hundreds of years, political dynasties of Muslim rulers have taken exclusive hold of Islam, branding all other nations and religions as the “other”. Those who will attempt to read the Holy Book carefully will understand that God is the Lord of all creation, and the Prophet is a mercy to all people. “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107)
According to Hasan bin Farhan Al-Maliki, a Saudi-based intellectual and scholar of Islam, it is possible that there could be more non Muslims in heaven, than Muslims. He bases this statement on the understanding that Islam is comprised of three elements. The first is total dedication to truth: questioning, searching with honesty of mind; secondly, it is the submission to truth, and thirdly, it is the doing of good deeds that emerge from the natural morality of human beings, as well as from knowledge of the truth. Today, people in the western world are generally more keen to search for truth, are more ethical with a better understanding of good and evil and their actions are more in line with righteousness, as defined in the Qur’an. An atheist who is seriously trying to probe and understand, who leads an ethical life and helps others, might be a better candidate for heaven, than a Muslim who closes his mind to the meanings of the Qur’an, is corrupt and cruel, but believes that he shall be forgiven because he was born into a Muslim household.
God says: “O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous -.”(2:21). Righteousness means not harming others and fulfilling the rights of God and other creations of the world.
Even when other nations and peoples have caused harm to Muslims, the Qur’an has urged the latter not to transgress. “And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” (5:2)
The Qur’an reinforces universal values of piety and goodness that are inherent in man. If these are present in someone who has not embraced Islam, either because he has not been exposed to its teachings, or they have not been presented to him in a convincing enough manner, he cannot be branded a kafir. As explained by eminent scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Muslims who belong to an era other than that of the Prophet, have no right to call anyone else a kafir. This was used only as a term for those who knew the truth, but denied it. Kafirs were present only during the times of prophets, who had presented God’s instructions to their people to the extent of conclusiveness (itmam-e-hujjat). This point of view is supported by Hasan al Maliki.
God has said that He will forgive all sins except “ascribing partners” to Him. Today, many Muslims, instead of relying on their own reasoning and reflection, follow religious leaders blindly (taqleed), and are thus driven them towards any interpretation of their choice. Indeed, in several cases, Muslims ascribe qualities of God to human beings. This situation is exactly the same as that depicted of the Jews during the days of the Prophet; “And they say: Our Lord! Lo! We obeyed our princes and great men, and they misled us from the Way. (33:67)”
There are Muslim societies today that are some of the most corrupt, uneducated and violent as well as intolerant towards new ideas, and thoughtful debate. Freedom of speech is often curtailed and the environment tends to be oppressive. Among these, a few that claim democratic governance are under influence of authoritarians. It is high time that well meaning Muslims reclaim their Holy Book and the true religion from politics and personal interests.
June 2017
The belief that non Muslims are kafirs, and that unless people of other religions, as well as atheists, accept Islam, they will all go to hell, is very common among Muslims. It has given rise to much arrogance, but more seriously, extreme violence against non Muslims. Not only do the Taliban and IS derive their ideologies from this; many Muslim sects believe that their sect is the chosen one, and therefore, all others are doomed to hell.
The Qur’an opposes these points of view completely. Over the last several hundreds of years, political dynasties of Muslim rulers have taken exclusive hold of Islam, branding all other nations and religions as the “other”. Those who will attempt to read the Holy Book carefully will understand that God is the Lord of all creation, and the Prophet is a mercy to all people. “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107)
According to Hasan bin Farhan Al-Maliki, a Saudi-based intellectual and scholar of Islam, it is possible that there could be more non Muslims in heaven, than Muslims. He bases this statement on the understanding that Islam is comprised of three elements. The first is total dedication to truth: questioning, searching with honesty of mind; secondly, it is the submission to truth, and thirdly, it is the doing of good deeds that emerge from the natural morality of human beings, as well as from knowledge of the truth. Today, people in the western world are generally more keen to search for truth, are more ethical with a better understanding of good and evil and their actions are more in line with righteousness, as defined in the Qur’an. An atheist who is seriously trying to probe and understand, who leads an ethical life and helps others, might be a better candidate for heaven, than a Muslim who closes his mind to the meanings of the Qur’an, is corrupt and cruel, but believes that he shall be forgiven because he was born into a Muslim household.
God says: “O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous -.”(2:21). Righteousness means not harming others and fulfilling the rights of God and other creations of the world.
Even when other nations and peoples have caused harm to Muslims, the Qur’an has urged the latter not to transgress. “And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” (5:2)
The Qur’an reinforces universal values of piety and goodness that are inherent in man. If these are present in someone who has not embraced Islam, either because he has not been exposed to its teachings, or they have not been presented to him in a convincing enough manner, he cannot be branded a kafir. As explained by eminent scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Muslims who belong to an era other than that of the Prophet, have no right to call anyone else a kafir. This was used only as a term for those who knew the truth, but denied it. Kafirs were present only during the times of prophets, who had presented God’s instructions to their people to the extent of conclusiveness (itmam-e-hujjat). This point of view is supported by Hasan al Maliki.
God has said that He will forgive all sins except “ascribing partners” to Him. Today, many Muslims, instead of relying on their own reasoning and reflection, follow religious leaders blindly (taqleed), and are thus driven them towards any interpretation of their choice. Indeed, in several cases, Muslims ascribe qualities of God to human beings. This situation is exactly the same as that depicted of the Jews during the days of the Prophet; “And they say: Our Lord! Lo! We obeyed our princes and great men, and they misled us from the Way. (33:67)”
There are Muslim societies today that are some of the most corrupt, uneducated and violent as well as intolerant towards new ideas, and thoughtful debate. Freedom of speech is often curtailed and the environment tends to be oppressive. Among these, a few that claim democratic governance are under influence of authoritarians. It is high time that well meaning Muslims reclaim their Holy Book and the true religion from politics and personal interests.
