He was trying to find his way.
While driving to the mosque for my Friday prayers, I saw him in my back view mirror, fidgeting with his GPS on a hot summer day. Driving up on Park Heights in Baltimore with a car full of children, this visibly Jewish man with a long wavy beard and thick black glasses was clad in a black suit. Say whatever you want, but this much was obvious: He had made some tough choices to please his G-d.
So why would your or my God not reward him for his commitment? What if this man was an organ donor? A volunteer firefighter? A caring neighbor? An honest trader? How could anyone declare with certainty that this man cannot go to heaven?
I don't know how, but people say this all the time: "He cannot go to heaven because he does not believe in [insert your Prophet or God's name here]." According to a 2008 Pew survey, one in five Christians in America believe that non-Christian faiths cannot lead to salvation. That number soared to 60 percent for white evangelical Protestants who attend church once a weak.
Frankly, I would have checked out of my faith, Islam, if it took such a position. Thank God (or Allah) that it doesn't.
Islam recognizes that the Jewish man mentioned above, who was probably lost and finding his way, is not alone; we are all trying to find "the way" in our own way. So it guards humans from the temptation of declaring who goes to heaven and who doesn't by proclaiming that "grace is in the hands of Allah. He gives it to whomsoever He pleases" (57:30).
Then why do people from almost every major religious tradition, including Islam, insist on some version of "I am the way and no one comes to God but through me"? They love to quote those parts of their Scriptures without a broader context. You know why? Because it's leverage -- it's self serving and it feels good. Did I tell you that a majority of such people are typically born into the same faith that they sell as "the way"?
On the contrary, Islam's holy Quran provides not one, but many ways to the heaven (29:69). Yes, some are straight -- like belief (3:85) and good deeds (5:10) -- while others are convoluted. It's like going to New York City. You could take the bridge, tunnel, ferry or simply fly into the Big Apple.
God's grace though, truly leads the way to salvation. "He forgives whom He pleases and punishes whom He pleases (5:19)" to me, assures that no matter which way you take, you won't hit traffic, accidents or bad weather.
To the Jewish man mentioned above, some Muslims may say: No way! How can a Jew or a Christian ever go to heaven? To them I present this from Quran: "Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians -- whichever party believes in God and the Last Day and does good deeds -- shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve (2:63)."
How can the Quran charge Jews and Christians of the notion of an exclusive heaven and then turn around to claim the same?
This is not a fringe interpretation, applicable to Jews and Christians only. Prophet Muhammad (sa) paved the way to salvation -- ultimately for all humans -- in a famous narration from the book of Muslim, "A man said: By God, God will not forgive so-and-so. At this, God said: Who is he who swears by Me that I will not forgive so-and-so? Verily, I have forgiven so-and-so and have nullified your good deeds."
Islam neither believes in an eternal hell nor in an exclusive heaven.
After the next traffic light, the Jewish guy driving behind me made a left turn. I came to the mosque, praying that may God guide him to the shortest, straightest, safest way to his destination.
Faheem Younus is an adjunct faculty member for religion/history at the Community Colleges of Baltimore County and a clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland. He can be reached at Faheem.Younus@Ahmadiyya.us
Follow Dr. Faheem Younus on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FaheemYounus
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Jesus Christ, the one and only true GOD, died for the sins of all of humanity. And when the Muslim repents and asks Christ to come into their heart and to forgive their sin, eternal life is then granted and guaranteed by the fact that Jesus died for our sins and then rose from the dead to be a living testament of the truth of the Gospel.
Muslim, don't play with eternity. It is forever... Muhammad is dead and saves no one!
Plus you and your fellow Christians ( all sects or just the one you belong to) have nothing to worry about. You are free to murder, adultery, steal, cheat, lie, not take care of your family, NOTHING, not even go to church. Is that why criminal always say on TV they are not worried because Jesus has forgiven them. There is nothing you can not do and to worry answering to God.
because like you said: eternal life is granted and guaranteed by the fact that Jesus died for our sins and then rose from the dead to be a living testament of the truth of the Gospel.
By the way thank you for your advise but we will take the hard road, try to pray 5 times a day to Allaah, try to do the best we can, constantly ask forgiveness for our sins since we don't want an innocent Prophet to suffer for us, fast during Ramadan, give alms and go on Hajj if we can afford it. And yet still wait Jesus (PBOH) to come back and kill the anti Christ and bring peace to the world.
Catholics are so lucky they don't have to do anything because: The sealed Holy Doors that are opened by the Pope every 25 years for Jubilee, at which time many people pilgrimage to the Vatican to walk through the doors to have their SINS forgiven. Such a easy religion.
Just one question if Jesus is god because he was a miracle baby, than Adam must be even a BIGGER god, no mother or father.
By the way in case you wanted to know how highly we hold Mother Mary (AS) and Jesus (pboh) you want to spend some time listening to these stories, much higher than those who kneel to him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_BvLu2GyFw
Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate man who had no formal education in any science, language, religious or secular.
Quran speaks about a variety of branches of science like: Astronomy, Embryology, Hydrology, Geology, Sociology, Psychology, Oceanography, Law etc. including lots of scientific statements that were validated only recently and were not known in the time of the prophet.
It was not known about prophet Muhammad any scholarly tendencies or achievements until the age of forty (when he received the first verses of Quran). So, how this illiterate man suddenly brings about a book like the Quran including an ideological and religious revolution that changed history?
Why prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), if he authored the Quran, honor the virgin Mary (May Allah be pleased with her), the mother of Jesus (peace be on him) as the best woman over all women on earth over all ages until day of judgment (an honor that even not offered by the bible) while not mentioning his own family members with a single word and even not mentioning any name of them.?
If he had authored the Quran, why he didn't claim this authorship of Quran and consequently gaining higher prestige among his followers who may consider him as a God.
Why he mentioned Quran verses that reprimand him (as that of chapter 33, verse 37 if he wrote Quran by himself?.
Islam as a religion had begun not with Muhammad but it began on the day of creation, right from the first man Adam.
God had made Adam hi Khalifa vice-gerent on earth and after that time God had sent one prophetafter another to every people on the face of the earth
The message had been always the same
So all religions were essentially one
Muhammad or the Quran never claimed to cancel out previous revelations, but in principle one cult, one tradition, one scripture was as good as another.
What matters was the quality of one’s surrender to God, not to any human expression of God’s will.
People had no desire to desire another religion than Gods
All the prophets had confirmed, and continued God’s unfolding revelation of Himself.
As a matter of fact Jesus had prophesied the coming of a Paraclete( in Arabic Muhammad or Ahmad) The Quran says
Jesus son of Mary said, Children of Israel I am indeed messenger of God to you. confirming the Torah that is before me and giving good tidings of a Messenger who shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad Quran 61: 6
The only thing that made Muhammad’s revelation different was that for the first time God had sent a messenger to the Quraysh and a scripture in their own language
The intolerance springs not from the kind of doctrinal differences that have divided Christianity but from other sources.
At times I even think that so-called atheists and agnostics’ attitudes are partly a reaction to others’ self-righteous badgering and judgements from only their own limited point of view.
After all, one can’t truly judge and understand at the same time.
Many wishes for many Blessings, G-d Willing, Insha-Allah.
Thank you sir.
I should clarify that when I speak of ‘faith’, I’m not referring to a religion, but the intent, spirit (Arabic word, ‘niyah’) in all expressions of faith that can bring caring and respectful people together, despite major or minor differences in religion, or interpretations within the same religion.
It would be wonderful to be rewarded in heaven after a virtuous life, but the path to it can be enriched by respecting one anothers’ differences and similarities now, here on earth, in this life, in the face of so much fear, anger, greed and destructive mistrust that is often near us.
It’s not a perfect world, but wherever light can shine through the hard walls of anger, that’s where I want to be, along with others who share that wish….
The best to you and yours from over here in the hope of sharing this thought…..
Since the term huqb or hiqbah (of which ahqab is the plural) denotes no more than "a period of time" or "a long time" (Jawhari) –
According to some authorities, "eighty years", according to others, "a year" or simply "years" (Asas, Qamus, Lisan al-Arab, etc.).
But however one defines this term, it is obvious that it signifies a limited period of time, and not eternity:
This is in tune with many indications in the Qur'an to the effect that the suffering described as "hell" is not eternal
Unless God graces them with His mercy.
Some of the great Muslim theologians conclude from the above and from the similar phrase occurring in 11 : 107 (as well as from several well-authenticated sayings of the Prophet) that - contrary to the bliss of paradise, which will be of unlimited duration - the suffering of the sinners in the life to come will be limited by God's mercy.
Asad isn’t alone since the late Maulana Muhammad Ali of the Ahmadiyya sect argued along similar lines concerning the temporal nature of hell:
Another consideration which shows that this chastisement is of a remedial nature, is that, according to the Qur’an and the Sayings of the Prophet, all those who are in Hell, shall ultimately, when they are fit for a new life, be released from it.
And a saying of ‘Umar, the second Caliph,
"Even if the dwellers in Hell may be numberless as the sands of the desert, a day will come when they will be taken out of it" .
Thus there can be but little doubt left that Hell is a temporary place for the sinner, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and this also supports the view that the chastisement of Hell is not for torture but as a remedy, to heal the spiritual diseases which a man has incurred by his own negligence, and to enable him to start again on the road to the higher life.
The truth of this has been established from the Qur’an, but a tradition may also be quoted here which expressly speaks of the inmates of the fire as being set on the road to the higher life;
"Then will Allah say, Bring out (of the fire) every one in whose heart there is faith or goodness to the extent of a mustard seed, so they will be taken out having become black; then they will be thrown into the river of life and they will grow as grows a seed by the side of the river (Bu. 2 : 15).
This report is conclusive as to the remedial nature of Hell and establishes beyond a doubt that all men ill ultimately be set on the way to the higher life.
I am been charitable to you by not quoting verse of quran that contradict 2:63 and per naskh wa al mansukh abrogate 2:63
thank you.
Verse 2:63 is notoriously misquoted by the apologists. This Verse does NOT refer to the Christians and Jews as we know them today, but refers to the GENUINE followers of Moses and Jesus. Moses did not call people to worship an entity that allegedly rested or dwells inside of Heaven, and Jesus never considered himself God or "part God."
There is another issue here, however, and that is the matter of takleef (legal accountability). If the Message of a Prophet has not reached a group of people, then they would not be considered legally responsible and would not be punished for their disbelief in the Hereafter.
"Allah does not punish [in the Hereafter] until He sends a Messenger." (17:15)
The non-accountable persons will be admitted to Paradise, but they will not have the same level of pleasure. The bottom line is that Allah guides whomever He wills---Allah does not owe us anything. In general, you are correct, however. We (Muslims) believe that Paradise is exclusively for those (accountable persons) who are Muslims, and the proofs from the Qur'an and Hadiths are legion that prove the mendacious nature of the author of the above article.
17:15 is not applicable as you outline. Authors of the quran are completely unaware of the religious traditions of the east and thus from global perspective limited to semitic and arabic tribes.
All of this however requires a belief in the fictional story's of abraham (no historical evidence) thus for someone like me Islam like all religions known is man made.
"G_d/Allah/etc" being every human understanding how we are all interconnected and with all of reality and working together with each other and in accordance with reality = heaven :3
That's all that I see these texts to refer to, to get us all to work together = being expressed as G_d/Allah being the most supreme, to be held above all else etc etc :3
Those ancient writers were schmart peeps :3
"The only religion accepted by Allah is Islam." (3:19)
"Whoever takes for himself a religion other than Islam, it will ever be accepted." (3:85)
As for the Verse 2:62, it refers to those people who were GENUINE followers of the previous Prophets. From an Islamic perspective, the Christians and Jews do not worship God---they worship creations, things that rest, undergo change, dwell in a location, have a size, etc. Muslims worship the CREATOR of space and time and does not dwell therein. Allah exists without a place.
Furthermore, the Qur'an tells us: "Whoever does not believe in Allah AND HIS MESSENGER [Muhammad], then such a person is a disbeliever condemned to Hell."
Likewise, the Prophet said; "Any Jew or Christian who hears about me and my Message but does not believe, will be condemned to Hell."
In addition to the Christians and Jews, for instance, ascribing to Allah non-befitting Attributes, they reject Prophet Muhammad, which implies they are claiming God lied about Prophet Muhammad's Prophethood. Calling God a liar is itself kufr (disbelief). It is a clear matter: for a person to attain salvation, the person must believe properly in the Creator and believe in all the Prophets of Allah. The one who does not is a disbeliever who will not attain salvation.
Furthermore, you cannot find any texts on standard Islamic doctrine that claim that those accountable persons who believe insulting and degrading things about Allah or reject Prophet Muhammad will find salvation in the Hereafter. To the contrary, the books of doctrine make it clear that it is kufr (disbelief) to claim (or believe) that such people will be saved in the Hereafter. The bottomline is this:
Allah guides whomever He wills. Allah is the Creator of everything and does not owe us anything.
For what it's worth, the teaching about how to get eternal life (get to paradise) in Luke 10:25 is this:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, might and strength" - and -
"Love your neighbour as you love yourself"
So anyone could do these two things.
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Used in the metaphorical sense.
It has to be said that some Christians have a very simplistic understanding of what is meant by the incarnation.
When the New Testament writers - Paul, Matthew, Mark and Luke - call Jesus the "Son of God", they do not mean that he was God.
They use the term in its Jewish sense: in the Hebrew Bible, this title was bestowed upon an ordinary mortal - a king, a priest or a prophet - who had been given a special task by God and enjoyed unusual intimacy with him.
Throughout his gospel, Luke is in tune with the Qur'an, because he consistently calls Jesus a prophet.
Even John, who saw Jesus as God's incarnate Word, usually made a distinction, albeit a very fine one, between the eternal Word and God himself - just as our own words are separate from the essence of our being.
The Qur'an insists that all rightly guided religions come from God, and Muslims are required to believe in the revelations of every single one of God's messengers: "Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob ... and all the other prophets: we make no distinction between any of them" (3:84).
But Jesus - also called the Messiah, the Word and the Spirit - had special status.
Sufism was all about compassion. For the purpose,
Ibn Arabi’s classic poem about religious tolerance that is worth-quoting:
My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim's Ka'ba, and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran
I follow the religion of Love, whichever way his camels take
My religion and my faith is the true religion
We have a pattern in Bishr, the lover of Hind and her sister, and in Qays and Lubna, and in Mayya and Ghaylan
Rays of Hope
While accepting the current seriousness of religious conflict at the global level, there are promising sings of inter-religious understanding that may pave the way for religious harmony and peace in the world.
People, are increasingly reaching out to the traditions of other religions and the ice is melting.
God swt said: O Son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O Son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O Son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins as great as the earth, and were you then to face Me ascribing no partners to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it. (Hadith Qudsi)
There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end. (Quran 16:48)
Muhammad, pbuh, said: A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that. (Hadith)
Peace
All these Beautiful Names point to the Divine Essence (Al-Dhat) which is grammatically Feminine in Arabic.
We are called to make no distinction between the Holy Writs of the People of the Book. (3:84).
Wisdom (Sophia) is referred to with the Royal Feminine Pronoun throughout the Bible. In Arabic, we say "al-hikmah hiya thamînah "
(Wisdom, (s)he is precious).
The Divine Shekhinah is also Feminine. She is the Holy Spirit. She is
the Glory of the Lord. All in all, She is the Divine Presence and the
Royal Feminine would be used when referring to Her.
Ayat means signs. This alone is a call to contemplation and the Quran
speaks frequently of things that are known only to the ones who
contemplate on the signs.
Through contemplation, we find many opportunities to reflect what some
call the Yin and Yang. Without the Yin, the Yang cannot exist. When
one looks at the symbol, there is a Unity of the Two into One. And
within each, the other exists. When they are united, The Living One
forms life.
The yin and yang are found through contemplation of:
4:1
39:6
30:21
16:72
3:190
36:40
13:3
92:1-3
The Royal We contains the Royal He and the Royal She within the One who is not confined to gender and is in fact beyond gender.
Peace be with you.
Now all we have to do is convince the Middle East.
"Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians -- whichever party believes in God and the Last Day and does good deeds -- shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve (2:63)."
But some are left out: what if a disbeliever is an organ donor or a volunteer firefighter?
The Quran has this to say:
"But those who reject Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and treat them with arrogance, they are the dwellers of the (Hell) Fire, they will abide therein forever." (7:36)
"Verily, those who belie Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations) and treat them with arrogance, for them the gates of heaven will not be opened, and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle (which is impossible). Thus do We recompense the Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists and sinners). (7:40)
Non-exclusive in Islam is, apparently, still exclusive.