[Originally published in Turkish Daily News]
WARSAW – I was walking heedlessly in the Old Quarter of the Polish capital last Sunday until I saw a group of joyful singers on the street. Then I stopped and stared. They were about a dozen young Poles who were singing and clapping in the middle of a busy street and in the midst of a bitter cold. Soon, I realized that their art was very much related to their faith. As evangelical Catholics — a category which I just learnt that exits — they were praising God and calling on other people to do the same.
As a Muslim, I could well understand and relate to the theism of these Christians. They were, like me and my co-religionists, believing in a God who created everything that exists, and who cares for them. They were, like Muslims, praising the Lord for His grace and mercy, and trying to share this awareness with others.
But, Islamically speaking, were they on the “right path”? Or an erroneous one? And if the latter were true, were they condemned to divine disapproval, and even punishment? Would they, in blunter words, go to hell?
Matters of Faith
You might find this question totally irrelevant — and I would totally understand that. There might be a thousand valid reasons. Maybe you are a secular person who doesn’t believe in metaphysical categories such as heaven or hell. Maybe you are a Hindu who rather believes in Karma — a system of reward and punishment in this world, not somewhere else. Or maybe you are a deist who just believes in a Creator, but no revealed religion. Then, you would really not spend time contemplating what happens to which faith community after death.
But if you are a devout Muslim, or a devout Christian, then things will be different. Then you will be genuinely believing in the existence of heaven and hell, and thus wondering who goes where. And this will be important for not just matters of theology, but also society and even politics. For what we think about others often influences how we treat them.
Of course, both Islam and Christianity say that it is only God who has the ultimate authority and knowledge about these matters. But, on the other hand, both religions have an exclusivist tradition, which says that only their own followers will be “saved.” No wonder, for most evangelical Christians, “there is no way to God” other than via Jesus Christ. And for many Muslims, there is no other way to salvation other than that of Prophet Muhammad.
But is there any other way of looking at this question? Is there any chance to be inclusive, rather than exclusive, when it comes to divine grace?
As a Muslim, I have always thought so, and I have a good reason for it: There are verses in the Koran which explicitly say that all people who believe in God and do good things will be saved. Here is, for example, verse 62 of the second sura, i.e., chapter:
“Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in God and the last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”
The “Sabians” noted in this verse were a south Mesopotamian group which professed some sort of monotheism. From that point on, some Koranic commentators have concluded that the God demands only monotheism and “being good” for eternal salvation. But interestingly, this ecumenical interpretation is not what all Muslims are comfortable with. That’s why quite a few Koranic commentators prefer to “explain” the divine text by noting that Jews, Christans, “Sabians” and others will be saved “once they profess Islam.” Yet this doesn’t make sense, because if they convert to Islam, then they are no longer Jews, Christians or “Sabians,” but Muslims.
When I noted this contradiction to a strongly exclusivist Muslim scholar a few years ago, I got a political rather than a theological answer. “What will happen do you think if we say non-Muslims are saved, too,” he asked. “Then there will be no need for conversion to Islam.”
Apparently the question boils down to what kind of a God we believe in: one whose grace and mercy is all-encompassing, or one who favors only our own tribe? I tend to believe in the former. To be sure, I can still say that my religion is the best way to God — but it may well be not the only way.
Changing Turkey
Here is a final note which will make all this theological speculation relevant to contemporary affairs. Hayrettin Karaman, a respected professor emeritus of Islamic law, wrote about this topic about a month ago in his column in daily Yeni Şafak. In a series of pieces titled, “The Salvation Question,” he noted that Islam does not necessarily ask Christians and Jews to abandon their traditions. It rather tells them to keep their traditions while respecting Islam as a sister faith. “We can’t aim to attain a single religion, or making all religions one,” Dr. Karaman also reminded. “This is against the nature of things.”
Now, Dr. Karaman is a reasonably conservative scholar, and Yeni Şafak is a paper which is proudly Islamic, and sometimes even Islamist. Ten years ago, you would not expect to read such views either in this paper or other conservative publications in Turkey. But apparently things are changing. And no matter what you believe about heaven or hell, you can believe that this is a good change.
Salaam Alaikum Brother Mustapha,
The verse you refer to is speaking about those Jews, Sabians and the non-shirk trinitarian monotheist Christians that lived before Prophet Muhammad saaws and those afterwards who died having never heard of him.
The Prophet saaws said (sahih hadiths Muslim/Bukhari) that whoever hears of him (his message) and does not accept it will not achieve
heaven.
How many people after him partcularly in our age of easy access (academia, media, tv etc) to information can say this?
Assalamualaikum,
Is there any way for me to read the series of article “The Salvation Question” by Hayrettin Karaman, which you have mentioned?
Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks!
The verse 2:62 of the Coran, repeated in 5:69, was a source of controversy between Turkish theologians in the 80s. In short, Prof. Dr. Süleyman Ateş claimed that the cited verses enable non-Muslim monotheists to go to heaven, whereas Prof. Dr. Talat Koçyiğit argued that these verses only referred to Jews, Christians and Sabians that lived before the advent of Muhammad’s message. Many people agree that Prof. Ateş won the debate, because he had the better arguments.
Even though Prof. Karaman is clearly conservative, he seems to follow a systematic, scientific method. I would not interpret any social developments into his statement, but I believe that he knows the details of the controversy quite well and thus he follows the position that has the convincing theological arguments.
I came to know about evangelical Catholics while researching about Bruce Ivins, the scientist who was allegedly responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks.
It’s simple that only Muslims who believe in God on the last day will go to Heaven. God is described in the Qur’an as He who ‘doesn’t beget nor be begotten’ This is in clear contradiction to the Christian idea that God is only ‘one of the three’ (same Surah says that he is the ONE) and that Jesus Christ is His son. (estafurullah)The Jews have swerved off the path too, so no matter how many or how big deeds they do, they are not in the name of God and this is to his dis-pleasure.
Being a believer in God is about believing in all of His prophets, from Adem to Muhammed and in between (peace be on them all) , and keeping in line with the teachings of Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammed’s commentaries.
Selamaleykum
I do not believe in any god. I despise islam and its prophet. I don’t care about anybody being “offended” by these comments. And I am happy this way!
In sum, Shaykh Karaman should have avoided the serious error of unintentionally making it seem like the importance of the message of the Prophet -alayhissalam- is in a way negligible and people can be saved without recognizing the truth of His message and without avoiding the intellectual felony (felony in the sight of God) of rejecting some of his messages. Those who hear of his message properly and do not believe in it will harm themselves and will have to be cleaned in hell through a punishment of burning.
However, as some classical Muslim scholars -though quite few in number- pointed out, ultimately and after a long time of punishment everybody will be taken by the Infinitely Merciful out of hell into a much lower form of paradise or something similar to it. First the full Muslim sinful believers, then the half believers, then those whose crime/lack of faith were greater and so on.
Mr. Akyol, why have you not published the first of my replies? I guess that you thought it was off-topic or too long. Could you please evaluate the outline of it below and, if possible, publish it as a user comment?
1. This hadith is from the Sahih Muslim: “By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad’s soul is, anyone of this community, Jew or Christian, who hears of me and then dies without believing in me, will be among the inhabitants of the Hellfire.”
2. According to most scholars, simple Christians and Jews and even pagans who never hear properly of the message of the last Prophet -peace be on him- and never have a real possibility to convert to Islam will not be held accountable for their failure to convert on the judgement day.
3. However, we should not think of Non-Muslims as burning in hell forever and consequently get upset at the mercy and wrath balance of God, for that doctrine is not as incontestable as we assume. As Abd ibn Humayd, a teacher of Imam al Bukhari the greatest imam of hadith, and later the famous scholars Ibn Taymiyya and his student Ibn Qayyim told us with much evidence, Allah speaks of no eternal damnation even for the unbelievers. This Ph.D. thesis given at the University of Michigan allocates a lot of space to both the scholarly argument for an eternal hell and the scholary argument for a non-eternal one. The section of the thesis that deals with this discussion starts at page 105.
Also those who can read Turkish could check the article “Azap” in Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi. Part of that article discusses the abovementioned scholarly discussion in shorter terms than the above-linked Ph.D. thesis that I found by searching on the internet and turned out to be very good.
Regards
Mehmed Mustafa
Parviz:
Are you a communist?
A little shocked how some ‘think’ here about non muslims.
Here a text to think about:
One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin. One who claims to be a messenger of God must have a superior character. He must stand above the vices of the people of his time. Yet Muhammad’s life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. He raped the women captured in war after killing their husbands and told his followers that it is okay to have sex with their captives and their “right hand possessions” (Quran 33:50) He assassinated those who criticized him and executed them when he came to power and became de facto despot of Arabia. Muhammad was bereft of human compassion. He was an obsessed man with his dreams of grandiosity and could not forgive those who stood in his way. Muhammad was a narcissist like Hitler, Saddam or Stalin. He was astute and knew how to manipulate people, but his emotional intelligence was less evolved than that of a 6-year-old child. He simply could not feel the pain of others. He brutally massacred thousands of innocent people and pillaged their wealth. His ambitions were big and as a narcissist he honestly believed he is entitled to do as he pleased and commit all sorts of crimes and his evil deeds are justified.
Why Quran is not from God:
Muhammad produced no miracles and when pressed he claimed that his miracle is the Quran. Yet a cursory look at the Quran reveals that this book is full of errors. Quran is replete with scientific heresies, historic blunders, mathematical mistakes, logical absurdities, grammatical errors and ethical fallacies. It is badly compiled and it contradicts itself. There is nothing intelligent in this book let alone miraculous. Muhammad challenged people to produce a “Surah like it” or find an error therein, yet Muslims would kill anyone who dares to criticize it. In such a climate of hypocrisy and violence truth is the first casualty.
Hans,
I do not know about the details of Quran to challenge your arguments but you are right that contemporary Muslims have quite some “intolerance” towards criticism and appetite for violence. But if you ask “islamo-liberal” hybrid ideology, which unfortunately is the new “trend” in my country, “tolerance” is what we should seek in a democratic regime. I simply do not understand how they associate tolerance with democracy for the spirit of democracy is based on equality and not tolerance. Very sad for Turkey, very sad for Turkish women, very sad for the minorities and even the Muslims of different orders and sects… I urge all Turkish citizens and politicians to stop exploiting people’s beliefs for personal and communal gain.
Mr. Akyol
I appreciate your tolerance towards other people’s viewpoints but calumnies about people’s religious beliefs are not appropriate viewpoints.
The above comment by somebody who uses the nickname Hans is pure libel and insult to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). That person libels the Prophet (peace be on him) as “someone given to lust, a sexual pervert, a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer, an assassin” and throws many other disgusting libels at him too. Nobody has the right to slander another person, not even an ordinary person let alone a prophet whose wonderful teachings more than a billion people follow.
I am expecting you to correct your mistake and remove that comment which I think you must have approved by mistake. It is really shocking to see such a comment on your web site. Please, would you approve a comment that insulted Judaism in this way? Why are you tolerant with insults aimed at your own religion then? I am really shocked.
Evidently, there are some statements in the Quran that contradict each other, are cruel and inhumane or that contradict modern science. Alevism suggests this is because the third caliph Uthman (Osman), who directed the fixation of the Quran as a written document, actually ordered the content to be altered to serve his political interest. (Let’s think of statements like “kill them wherever you find them”).
As for the statements by “Hans”, I don’t believe them to be true, but it should be said that these have a long tradition. They are actually mentioned in the Sira and Sahih hadith, which speak of the Prophet having sex with Aisha (Ayse) when she was 9 years old, committing a massacre of some hundreds of men, and many other cruelties. Of course, the Sira and Hadith books were written much later than the Prophet actually lived. But unfortunately, many people in the world still ascribe much authority to them.
Oh, smart people like Hans, Cingoz, A. A. B. what insight and depth you show in your observations about Islam! But do research about Islam a little more if you in your utmost majesty want ever to deign.
Who cares about your comments except me. Poor me.
Mehmed Mustafa,
You must have misread my statements. Please read them again. I explicitly said I do not know whether Hans’s accusations are valid.
I do not criticize Islam. I criticize (including my other comments) “Islamo-liberals”, pedophiles, bigots, and etc. who abuse people’s beliefs for their own political, and economic interests. I also criticize only those Muslims whose sole defense cannot go beyond desperate cries for religious freedom when their beliefs are shamelessly abused by their own. I respect every religion as long as they operate within the institutions of democracy and limits of sanity. So when your religious beliefs are abused, I recommend you to speak up, and condemn the abusers rather than crying for respect and protection.
And who cares about my comments? Almost all non-Muslim countries who seriously doubt Islam is not a violent and thereby primitive religion, and is compatible with democracy. I think this is something you should be worried about too, but who knows?
I don’t use the nickname Hans, click on my name and you will see who I am.
I picked up some text of a organized group of ex Muslims.
I just found your website and read a bit, it seems that I have a very similar outlook on religion/some Turkish issues but I’m American.
This is what I’ve argued with those closest to me – that the Qur’an *does* say that Jews, Christians, those who believe in God, Judgment Day, and do good things earn salvation (of course, it’s up to God).
One cannot be putting what is said in the hadith over the Qur’an.
There is a verse that says only Islam is accepted as a religion (supposedly “abrogating” the verses you stated) – but as Muhammad Asad says in his footnotes, Islam simply means surrender – not Islam in the sense of a religion that we view it now with all of the historical content (Sunni,Shia,Hanafi,etc etc.).
How would it make sense that it’s only the Christians/Jews that never heard of Prophet Muhammad (saw) that the verses are referring to?
Even if it’s talking about the Jews/Christians at the time of the Prophet they still would’ve heard of him. The verses are very very clear in their meaning.
I’ve been researching Mohammad’s life and found out from safe sources that he was a pretty sick and evil person. A pedophile, assassin, rapist, camel pee drinker, and total crazy. When I see good people trying to justify his crimes, in order to keep their fate in fear of retaliation from fellow musllims, it makes me cry.
It’s a pitty everyone who follows the teachings of such an evil person live in fear. Think my friends. Your prophet was just an ordinary evil person. His god, if existed, would be a perverse god. Rebel against this perverse god of yours, he has no power to retaliate.