Status of Non-Muslims in Islam.
Mu'
meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As
Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy
and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
What
about the millions of people in this world who are not following Islam. What is
their status? Remember there are very
good God fearing people in this world but just not muslims.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
We must make something very very clear. No race, no people, no religion
no sect, no creed, no nationality has been given exclusive rights to Paradise
by Allah in the Quran. Allah's formula for Paradise is very very simple. One
who worships His Lord and Creator, the One God alone, associating no gods with
Him, submits his will to the Will of Allah and is God-Fearing will deserve
Allah's mercy on the Day of Judgement. Allah will not forgive all the Jews,
simply because they are the descendants of most of the Prophets, Allah will not
forgive all the Christians, simply because they love and follow Jesus, and
Allah will not forgive all the Muslims, simply because they claim to be the
followers of the Last Messenger Mohamed (saws). For Allah, all human beings are
equal, all are His created slaves: except the one who is God-Fearing.... he is
the one most honorable to Allah.
Allah says in the
Holy Quran: Chapter 49 Surah Hujurat verse 13: O mankind, We created you from
one man and one woman, and then divided you into nations and tribes so that you
may recognize one another. Indeed, the most honorable amongst you in the sight
of Allah is he who is most pious (God Fearing) of you. Surely Allah is
All-Knowing, All-Wise.
So, please note very carefully, that Allah will not forgive one because of any
religion or race, but rather because of his knowledge and recognition of his
Creator, and his good deeds, according to the Quran. Thus if a person is born
into a Hindu family or a Jain family or a Muslim family, or any family for that
matter, he has to search for the truth himself.
The Prophet (saws) said in one of his traditions: A baby, when he is
born, is born on "fitrah"(on his natural religion), but his parents
make him into a Jew, or a Christian.
Now lets see if we can use logic and intelligence to drive the point home.
There are many things which are natural (fitrah) of human beings. When they are born, there is absolutely no
need of coaching or teaching the newborn baby to suck from his/her mother's
breasts. This is absolutely natural. However much science might have advanced,
and however much technology may have come up with teaching methods and aids,
tell me, how are you going to teach a newborn baby to suck life-giving milk
from his/her mother's breasts. Just imagine, for a moment, if the baby, for any
reason is not able to do this natural thing, he will probably die of
starvation!!!
Similarly, also, is the feeling of right and wrong in our hearts, which we have
learnt to call "conscience". We know deep down in our conscience
whether something is right or wrong. Stealing, cheating, backbiting, slander,
adultery, murder, etc. are all considered wrong in any religion and nation.
Charity, good manners, obedience to parents, building of hospitals, taking care
of orphans, etc. are all good deeds in any religion and nation. One might
argue, that these values are taught or acquired, but the fact of the matter is
that whatever one does, he knows deep down in his conscience whether it is
right or wrong.
So is also the concept of One God. This is a natural phenomena. It does not
matter, if the person is a staunch atheist. At the worst point in his life,
there comes a time, when he calls out to some supernatural being or force to
help him, although he may claim to be an atheist. This phenomena is in-built
into the human being by the All-Mighty God. And if you ask most religious
beliefs, Who created the heavens and the earth?, Who grows the vegetation?, Who
created the sun and the moons and the planets and the galaxy?, Who created
human beings and animals?, etc. the answer will always be in one way or another
... the One God.... Creator of the Universe and everything in it.
We can call all these things by any name we want, but the fact is some things
are "natural" or "fitrah" of mankind, as termed in the
Quran.
So if a baby born in a Hindu family or a Jew family or a Jain family, there
will come a time when he attains maturity, when he will try to look for a
deeper meaning to this life ... start asking questions about why are we here on
this earth? Is it all an accident? Are we here to live for 80-100 years and
then die and be burnt or be buried? And thats it!! Or is there anything else
after this worldly life? Is there a Creator who created this fantastic world
and everything in it? Then comes in the
natural thought of a "super-natural" being or "God". These
answers, the human being cannot get from experience, and thus he is prone
towards a belief or religion.
According to Islam, Allah, not only created man for a purpose, but sent
Prophets to guide them and sent books and laws to guide mankind unto salvation.
Please also keep in mind here that there are only three divine religions in the
world today, in the true sense of the word:
Jewism, Christianity and Islam. All the others are either movements or
mythology. If the man cannot find answers that apply to his reason and
intellect in his born religion, then he begins searching for the Truth, and
invariably he will find it.
But the problem with the world today is that we have become too shallow in our
thoughts and engrossed in luxuries and collecting wealth. We just dont give due
importance to the deeper meanings of life. We use all our intelligence and hard
work to live this life, but give little thought to the life hereafter. Maybe we
are confused about so many ideologies, all claiming salvation, and give up
using logic and reason, and just settle for the religion of our forefathers.
For everything else in the world, we do not do anything without reason!! When
we wear clothes, we check out the fashion, the material, the price, and then
buy them. When we look for a house, we check out the location, the re-sale
value, the price and then make our decision. When we buy a car, we check out
the company, the car itself, the value, then we make a decision.
A child born into parents who were uneducated, never says or reasons that since
his parents are uneducated, he will remain uneducated. He wants to attain the
best education possible within his means and outdo his parents in this world.
Similarly if a father had one store he owned and ran all his life, a child
never claims that I will not open a chain of stores, because my father had just
one store!!
Also the son of a street-cleaner never claims that he will grow up to be
a street-cleaner, simply because his father was a street-cleaner!!
Then whey does a child born into any religion, just take up the religion
of his parent's choice?
The reason is that when it comes to following religion, most of us just keep
our reasoning at home, and blindly follow the religion we are born into. Even
though we may not get all the answers to our deeper questions, we just let them
be in a corner of our brain, and not "rock the boat", so to
speak! We just live this life like
animals: eat, sleep, re-produce, and die!!! But Allah has given man the faculty
to think and reason ... but man seldom uses it to search the Truth!!! If he
truly does search for the Truth, he will find peace and happiness in Islam, as
millions of converts and true Muslims, are living in today.
I have tried to answer your question using logic, and now lets go to the Holy
Quran and see if it answers the question.
Islam is a natural religion, and everything is based on logic. There is nothing
illogical about Islam and everything in Islam is based on wisdom and common
sense. The One God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in
between, created man for a reason. He made no mistake in the creation of the
heavens and the earth!! He made no mistake in the creation of the sun, its
temperature and its distance. Do you know that if the sun was closer to earth
by a small distance, we would all die of heat, and if the sun was at a little
more distance than it is, we would die of cold!!! He made no mistake in the
creation of the moon ... science tells us that the movement of the moon
controls the tides of the seas... if the moon moves a couple of degrees away
from its course, we would all be submerged in water!!! He made no mistake in
the creation of man ... his eyes are perfectly placed! his nose is perfectly
placed just above his mouth! His ears and mouth and hands and legs are
perfectly placed!! His internal systems are perfectly placed and function to
perfection for the appointed time!!! Look at everything else in creation... how
perfect it is.... Then how can we imagine, that this Creator who created
everything to perfection can make a mistake in guiding mankind unto him!!! In
His perfect knowledge
and wisdom, He made mankind and sent him to this earth. To guide him He sent His
Messengers and His books.... did He make a mistake here? I think not!!!!
Another aspect we must understand of the All-Mighty and All-Wise is that He is
also All-Just. All beings are His slaves ... they are all equal... He favors no
one over another, except the one who is more pious!! Do you think he will be
unjust to His slaves? Do you think He will have mercy on somebody simply
because he is related to his Prophets? Do you think He will have mercy on
somebody simply because he wailed and beat himself in love of a martyr? No... Never.... He is The All Just. He will
judge everybody according to the syllabus he has sent down. Whoever follows the
syllabus and recognizes it as such, and is God Fearing, that is the one, His
mercy is promised upon.
Thus our job as muslims today is to invite mankind to Islam and the Last Book
of Allah.. the Al Quran. First and foremost, we must live by it and then invite
mankind to it. If they believe in it and do according to the syllabus, fine...
they become our brothers in Islam. If not, they are allowed to follow any
religion they want to attain salvation, as long as they are convinced that they
will stand in the court of the Almighty one day and give account for their
beliefs and deeds on this earth.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Al Maidah verse
3: Today I (Allah) have perfected your religion for you and completed My
blessing on you, and have approved Islam as the way of life for you.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imran verse
85: And whoever adopts any deen other than Islam, that way shall not be
accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers!
Thus only those who believe and worship Allah alone, associating no
partners with Him, follow His Last Messenger, Mohamed (saws), follow the
teachings of His Last Book, Al Quran, does righteous deeds, and is God Fearing,
Allah has promised him His Mercy and Paradise.
Allah says in Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imran verse 131-137: And guard yourselves against that Fire which has been prepared
for the disbeliveers, and obey Allah and His Messenger: it is expected that you
will be shown mercy. Hasten to follow the path that leads to forgiveness from
your Lord, and to the Garden, which is as vast as the heavens and the earth,
and has been prepared for the God-Fearing people. They are those who spend their wealth freely in the way of Allah,
alike in prosperity and in adversity; who control their rage and forgive other
people. Allah likes such good people
very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed, or wrong their own souls by
the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly and ask for forgiveness from
Him for their shortcomings, for who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (The God Fearing people are) those, who do
not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with
forgiveness from Allah and with Gardens in Paradise beneath which canals flow,
and they will reside therein for ever: and how excellent is the reward of those
who do good deeds!
Allah has blessed us to be Muslims, but unfortuantely, we have never appreciated this great
blessing and mercy of Allah. We have
just never bothered to open and read and understand the message our Lord and
Creator has sent for our guidance. May
Allah make us of those who appreciate His Bounty and Blessing upon us. May Allah make us of those who read and
understand His Message – The Holy Quran, so that we can be rightly guided. Ameen.
Allah Alone knows Best, and He is the Only Source of Strength. May Allah keep you and your families and all of us in His Mercy and Protection.
May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
