Will Mother Teresa go to Jannat (Paradise)?
“NO!”
This was the answer given to us, vehemently, by the speaker at a jamaat-e-islami enclave in Kolkata, way back in 2008.
“No matter how good and saintly you are, if you are not a Muslim, you are doomed to hell for eternity!”
Dr.Zakir Naik and other popular Wahhabi/Salafi speakers and writers say the same! And this is the mainstream stance too, although the scholars, like Yasir Qadhi, state this as a general rule, without passing judgments on individuals (like Mother Teresa in case here).
So is Shirk (worshipping others besides Allah) and/or Kufr (disbelief in Islam) a sure shot ticket to eternal damnation?!!?
Let’s explore!
The case of the polytheists
To begin with, the existence of God is an ambiguous and subjective issue, and so is religion in general. Hence belief/disbelief/religion followed/not followed is a matter of personal choice. And choice depends on prior individual inclinations/mindset, tastes/preferences, convenience, and future prospects. I’ve argued this at length in my article #24.
Therefore, mushriks who have consciously chosen shirk as their worldview, have their own reasons and philosophy for shirk; they have their own rationalization(s) for it, based upon their mindset/ inclinations/convenience. No matter how much you argue against polytheism, a passionate polytheist will come up with some or the other counter argument! Thus, their shirk cannot be indisputably refuted solely by reason and logic.
Therefore, only an unquestionable absolute authority can pass a decisive judgement upon it. For example, the shirk of the mushrikeen/pagans/polytheists of Muhammadan era Makkah and Madinah (in particular, and Arabia in general) could be labelled absolutely wrong only by God. And God did that via the Quran. He basically passed the judgment/hukm as if saying that ‘no matter what your philosophy and reasoning for shirk is, it’s wrong, and this is the Judgment from the God of the worlds; so you either take it and obey it, or be ready to perish (in this world as well as the hereafter)!’
The Meccans had ultimately come to realize and internalize that Muhammad was the Prophet of God and the Quran was the Book of God (although many chose not to formally accept Islam).1,2 Hujjat (proof) of the Quran was thus established upon them. Therefore the Quranic judgment/hukm from God upon their shirk was decisive and binding upon them. Thus, their persistence upon shirk despite God’s direct judgment was an open rebellion against God and hence an unpardonable crime! Hence God said in the Quran that he will not forgive (their) shirk in the next life, but can/will forgive anything else.3,4
And not just the afterlife, their crime was punished here on earth itself via the swords of the Muslims as they were militarily crushed after an ultimatum was given to them that they either adopt Islamic monotheism or face death! (Quran, 9:1-28)
But this Quranic rule doesn’t apply to later humans: Because, the shirk of later non-Muslims too is based upon some reasonable philosophy and whether their philosophy is wrong cannot be decisively judged now because God’s direct objective communication with man has stopped as no prophets are to arrive after Muhammad and no new revelation is to come after the Quran.
And the existing judgment contained in the Quran is not applicable and decisive upon them as the Quran is not a hujjat upon the later generations of non-Muslims, much less our generation(s), since the Quran’s status as a Book/Revelation from God is not clear to them. Hence their shirk being wrong is not clear to them, therefore it’s not a case of open rebellion against God, hence it’s not an unpardonable offence on their part.
Thus the polytheists of today can/will receive God’s mercy and attain salvation if they are good human beings, that is, if they fulfill the universally recognized criteria of goodness like not killing, not stealing, not raping, not giving false testimony, not cheating/ committing fraud, etc. In short, their salvation would depend upon their character, not upon their religion!
Shirk amongst Muslims: The above logic applies to the (minor) shirk within Muslims too. To understand what I’m talking about, just have a look at the mind numbing wars between the proponents and rejectors of istigatha (calling upon/praying to deceased prophets and saints for help)! Salafis consider istigatha to be a form of shirk but the Sufis don’t.
Even if I consider the Salafi position to be correct, yet the position of the Sufis isn’t baseless, being based upon none other than the allegorical or/and philosophical interpretation (taawil) of the Quran and the ahadith; and whether their taawil is wrong cannot be decisively judged because God will not send another revelation to inform us whether this alleged (istigatha type) shirk is indeed shirk! So, even if it is indeed shirk and the taawil is wrong, the shirk cannot be clearly established without revelatory judgment, hence the hukm of unpardonable rebellious shirk doesn’t apply to shirk amongst Muslims, if any!
The case of the ‘kaafir’
The logic applied to shirk, applies to kufr also; kufr being as a dishonest rebellious denial of the Truth despite it being clear to oneself; in other words, if I am convinced that God exists yet don’t acknowledge it by adopting theism, then I would be a kaafir. And after that, being convinced that Islam is the truth yet don’t accept Islam as my religion then I would be a kaafir.
Those who denied Islam during the Prophet’s time despite fully knowing that he was the messenger of God and the Quran was God’s Word/Speech, were labelled as kuffaar (pl. of kaafir). And like the mushrikeen/polytheists, they too were declared to be eligible for eternal damnation in hell!
Also, like the mushrikeen, the kuffaar amongst the Jews and the Christians were given an ultimatum that they either accept Islam, or pay jizyah as a tribute tokenizing their willing submission to the Muslims, or be ready to die by the swords of the Muslims (in the battle field)! (Quran, 9:29-35)
The same ruling (of eternal damnation or facing death here at the hands of the Muslims) doesn’t apply to the post-Muhammadan era and the current non-Muslims, because by and large, an overwhelming majority of them genuinely (ignorantly or sincerely) feel that Islam is not the truth or the only truth, hence they are not really kuffaar, they are simply ghair-muslimeen (non-Muslims), not rebellious deniers of truth against God!
Hmm! But then, what about those verses of the Quran that are generally quoted by the Islamic exclusivists to uphold the position that the non-Muslims generally as a rule cannot enter Paradise/Jannat?
Dealing with the exclusivist verses of the Quran
Quran, 3:85: And whoever desires other than Islām as religion, never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.
This verse apparently implies that anyone following any religion other than Islam cannot be successful in the next life!
But if you read the next three verses, it clearly says what I’ve contended above!
3:86-88: How shall Allāh guide a people who disbelieved (committed kufr, kafaroo in the Arabic text) after their belief and had witnessed that the Messenger is true and clear signs had come to them? And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people. Those (people), their recompense will be that upon them is the curse of Allāh and the angels and the people, all together; abiding eternally therein (in hell), the punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved. (Note: words in brackets are mine; not part of the original translation linked to.)
So you can see here that the people whom Allah has condemned to hell for a very long tenure (referred to as ‘eternity’ here), are those who had clearly recognized Muhammad as the Messenger/Prophet of God and the Quran as the Book of God, but in their arrogance and unjustly motivated desires chose to rebel against God by rejecting the Truth and not accepting Islam, hence committing kufr (kafaroo)! Thereby, as I’ve argued above, becoming eligible for (‘eternal’) hell!
Those of us who sincerely don’t recognize the Truth of Islam, don’t technically commit kufr hence don’t qualify to be damned to hell for eternity.
Is Islam the only Truth in the sight of God?
One of my close childhood friends once asked me, “Does God have a religion?”
In other words: Has God prescribed a Religion for all humans?
My answer is/was: According to the Quran, YES!
Quran, 3:19: Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allāh is Islām……
And that makes sense because Religion here is nothing but the set of correct answers to the most fundamental existential questions that bother every thinking human. Man seeks answers, and if God exists and if He communicates to mankind to provide the right answers (through messengers and books), then it’s logical to believe that He would have given the one set of answers that’s correct!
Now the Quran claims to be the (last) Book from God, and if this claim is correct, then the answers provided by the Quran form the corpus/‘religion’ named ‘Islam’ which in context here simply means ‘submission to (the answers from) God!
But is it compulsory for all humans to accept Islam?
NO! Because there are so many ifs involved here!
If God exists…….
If God communicates with humans……
If He sent messengers and books…..
And if the Quran is the Book of God and Muhammad the Messenger of God…….
Since probing these qualifying if-then statements is an extremely arduous task and getting an undisputable ‘yes’ to all these is impossible due to them being mired in ambiguity and subjectivity, accepting Islam is NOT necessary for all!
And the Quran too appreciates this difficulty, hence it states that there is no compulsion regarding accepting Islam unless the truth of Islam becomes clearly manifest to someone5 as it did to its immediate addressees.6,7
Therefore, getting doomed to hell forever for not accepting Muhammad (and the Quran) is only for those who clearly recognize the Truth of Muhammad (and the Quran) yet rebelliously reject Islam out of arrogance or unjust motives. Those who genuinely don’t recognize the Quran to be the Revelation from God, will obviously not accept the Quran’s answers! Upon them therefore is no blame of rebellious rejection (kufr).
Just because a book claims to be from God doesn’t automatically mean that it’s from God! If I accept it to be from God, that’s my personal/subjective truth. Subjective because my judgment could be wrong! Similarly, others could find their own truths. Which one is exactly the Truth then?
There’s no way of objectively knowing it. Just like my considering biryani to be the world’s tastiest dish doesn’t make it the tastiest dish! Others have their own opinions on what the tastiest dish is. But then which dish is actually the tastiest, objectively?!!? There’s no way of knowing it! Rather, it’s not even an objective question!
Even if there is an actual ‘the tastiest dish’, we don’t have a way to determine which one it is practically. On epistemological terms therefore, there are many valid subjective opinions regarding this question.
Likewise, even if ontologically speaking there actually is an objective Truth (Islam as per the Quran), yet we cannot determine its truth objectively/indisputably, therefore, on epistemological terms, there are many valid truths/worldviews/ideologies/ religions.
Thus, ontologically, Islam (claims it) is the Truth. But epistemologically, it does not compel or make it necessary for everyone to accept and follow it (unless its truth becomes clearly manifest to someone).
A Merciful God would surely judge people only upon their sincerity and overall goodness based upon fitri (inherent) sense of right and wrong, that is, a universally recognized morality ingrained in man! As the Quran declared that man has an inbuilt sense of right and wrong:
91:8 – “then with (the knowledge of) right and wrong inspired it!”
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran.
“And inspired it (the soul) (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it.”
— M. Pickthall
So what applies to us later humans is:
5:48 – “…….To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allāh willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allāh is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.”
2:62 – “The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians – all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good – will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve.”
And I would dare to add to this list the good atheists and agnostics too, as eligible for God’s mercy, along with the Muslims, the Jews, the Christians, the Sabians, and also the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Jains, the Sikhs, the Parsis, and others! Those who sincerely believe in what they believe, and do righteous deeds, would have their reward with God, they will not be wronged, nor will they grieve (in the hereafter)!
But then why didn’t the Quran explicitly include all these other people?
Simply because the Quran in these verses here is talking to the Muslims and the ahle-kitaab (the Jews and the Christians), hence it includes only them and the Sabians (people whom they knew very well).
As regards the others, the basic rule is:
17:15 – “…….And We would never punish (a people) until We have sent a messenger (to warn them).”
The messenger comes and makes the proofs of God clear to his people, yet if the people rebelliously deny the truth, out of arrogance or/and unjust motives, then comes God’s punishment, both here and the hereafter.
Therefore, the ‘proofs’ not being evident/clear to us, it being 1400 years since the Prophet passed, we will not fall under the ambit of God’s punishment, in-shaa-Allaah!
What about da’wah then?
Da’wah or calling non-Muslims to Islam would be meaningless if many paths besides Islam are valid! Why does the Quran exhort Muslims to do da’wah then?
In fact, why did God send the Quran in the first place? Why would God send the Truth and then say it’s okay even if you don’t follow it?!!?
To answer the second set of questions first; from an Islamic POV, God sent the Quran simply to answer the existential questions that plague mankind. But reaching the answers is a subjective endeavour. The Quran appreciates this ground reality. Hence there’s no compulsion to accept Islam until one is fully convinced of its truth. Until one is able to reach the truth, other paths too remain valid!
And da’wah with such people should thus involve only sharing the message of Islam without the intention of converting them to Islam. It should be ‘sharing’ not ‘convincing and converting’, as I’ve said in my article #24:
“…..the whole business around trying to prove/convince people that God exists/doesn’t exist is stupid!……What can and should be done instead is ‘sharing’ why I believe/don’t believe that God exists! ‘Sharing’ instead of ‘convincing/proving’ will drastically reduce the faith inspired hate and venom from this discourse and make the world a more peaceful place to live in!”