Praise be to Allaah.
We appreciate your question concerning the ideas that you have about
Islam, and we hope to discuss what you have written and correct some of your ideas, so as
to arrive at a firm conviction of the truth of the matter.
What you have mentioned about the Islamic belief about Paradise, and the
enjoyment of wine, women and song therein, falls wide of the mark. The pleasures of
Paradise are not merely physical in nature, they also include the joy of feeling safe and
secure, and of being content with God and being close to Him. The greatest joy of all in
Paradise will be seeing God, may He be glorified and exalted. When the people of Paradise
see the Holy Face of God, they will forget all other kinds of pleasures that they have
enjoying. There is in Paradise everything that will delight the heart and eye; no dirty or
evil talk is heard there, nor sinful speech. “No person know what is kept hidden
for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do.” [al-Sajdah 32:17 –
interpretation of the meaning]. What I am trying to say is that the delights of
Paradise are not limited to the kind you refer to in your question. They are far greater
than that.
You mention the idea that entrance to Paradise will only be granted to
those who heed certain prohibitions, which things they will enjoy in Paradise in the
Hereafter as a reward for avoiding it in this life. This generalization is not correct at
all. Islam is a religion which commands action, not just abstinence. Salvation can only be
attained through fulfilling commands, not just by avoiding things that are forbidden.
Moreover, not every luxury in Paradise will consist of something that was forbidden in
this world and is now being given as a reward. Some of the delights of Paradise will be
things that were allowed in this world, such as marriage, good fruits like pomegranate and
figs, etc., drinks like milk and honey, and so on. All of these are permitted in this
world, and will be delights to be enjoyed in Paradise. The bad qualities of things that
are forbidden in this world will not be present in their heavenly forms. For example, the
wine of Paradise, as Allaah tells us, causes neither ghoul (any kind of hurt,
abdominal pain, headache, sin, etc.) nor intoxication (see al-Saffaat 37:47). It does not
rob a person of his mental faculties, or cause headaches and stomachaches. It is quite
different from its earthly counterpart. The point I am making is that the delights of
Paradise do not consist only of allowing things that were forbidden in this world. It is
also worth pointing out that there are cases where abstention from prohibited things will
not be rewarded by being given their equivalent in the Hereafter, whether those prohibited
things are food, drinks, deeds or words. Poison, for example, will not be given as a
luxury in Paradise, although it is forbidden in this world. The same applies to sodomy,
incest and other things which will not be allowed in the Hereafter although they are
forbidden in this world. This matter is quite clear, praise be to Allaah.
The idea of being guaranteed Paradise, and that a person’s life
will be as horrible and unbearable as you describe if he has no such guarantee, is a
misconception which itself leads to the results you mention. If you were to say that every
person has a guarantee of Paradise, this would be utterly disastrous, because then
everyone would commit all kinds of forbidden acts, feeling safe because of this guarantee.
Many of the crimes committed by Jews and Christians have been done on the basis of this
guarantee, with documents of forgiveness from their priests. Allaah has told us about such
people (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they say, ‘None shall enter Paradise unless he be a
Jew or a Christian.’ Say, ‘Produce your proof if you are truthful.’”
[al-Baqarah 2:111]
For us Muslims, Paradise is not the matter of our own desires or
the desires of anyone else, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“It will not be in accordance with your desires (Muslims), nor
those of the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians); whoever works evil will have
the recompense thereof, and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allaah.”
[al-Nisa’ 4:123]
There follows a brief summary of the Islamic view regarding a
guarantee of one’s destiny.
Islam offers a guarantee to every sincere Muslim who obeys Allaah and
remains in this state of devotion until he dies, that he will definitely enter Paradise.
Allaah says in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meanings):
“But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall
admit them to the Gardens under which rivers flow (i.e., in Paradise), to dwell therein
forever. Allaah’s promise is the truth, and whose words can be truer than those of
Allaah? (Of course, none).” [al-Nisa’ 4:122]
“Allaah has promised those who believe and do deeds of
righteousness, that for them there is forgiveness and a great reward (i.e.,
Paradise).” [al-Maa’idah 5:9]
“(They will enter) ‘Adn (Eden) Paradise (everlasting
Gardens), which the Most Beneficent (Allaah) has promised to His servants in the unseen:
verily, His promise must come to pass.” [Maryam 19:61]
“Say: ‘Is that (torment) better, or the Paradise of Eternity
promised to the muttaqeen (pious and righteous persons)? It will be theirs as a reward and
final destination.” [al-Furqaan 25:15]
“But those who fear Allaah and keep their duty to their Lord
(Allaah), for them are built lofty rooms, one above another, under which rivers flow
(i.e., Paradise). (This is) the Promise of Allaah, and Allaah does not fail in (His)
promise.” [al-Zumar 39:20]
Islam also guarantees the disbeliever who ignores the commands of
Allaah that he will definitely enter Hell. Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):
“Allaah has promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the
disbelievers, the Fire of Hell, therein shall they abide. It will suffice them. Allaah has
cursed them and for them is the lasting torment.” [al-Tawbah 9:68]
“But those who disbelieve, for them will be the Fire of Hell.
Neither will it have a complete killing effect on them so that they die, nor shall its
torment be lightened for them. Thus do We requite every disbeliever!” [Faatir 35:36]
Allaah will say to the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement
(interpretation of the meaning):
“This is Hell which you were promised! Burn therein this Day,
for that you used to disbelieve!” [Yaa-Seen 36:63-64]
Allaah will not go back on His promise to either the believers or
the disbelievers. He describes how both of them will be at the end of the Day of Judgement
(interpretation of the meaning):
“And the dwellers of Paradise will call out to the dwellers of
the Fire (saying): ‘We have indeed found true what our Lord had promised us; have you
also found true, what your Lord promised (warnings, etc.)?’ They shall say,
‘Yes.’ Then a crier will proclaim between them: ‘The Curse of Allaah is on
the zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers, etc.).” [al-A’raaf 7:44]
Everyone who believes and does righteous deeds, and dies in this
state, will definitely enter Paradise. Everyone who disbelieves and does evil deeds, and
dies in this state, will definitely enter Hell.
One of the great guiding principles of Islam is that the believer
should tread a path between fear and hope. He should not take it for granted that he will
enter Paradise, because this will make him complacent, and he does not know in what state
he will die. Nor should he assume that he is going to Hell, because this is despairing of
the mercy of Allaah, which is forbidden. So the believer does righteous deeds, and hopes
that Allaah will reward him for them, and he avoids evil deeds out of fear of the
punishment of Allaah. If he commits a sin, he repents in order to gain forgiveness and
protect himself from the punishment of Hell. Allaah forgives all sins and accepts the
repentance of those who repent. If a believer fears that the good deeds he has sent on
before him are not enough, as you suggest, then he will increase his efforts, in fear and
hope. No matter how many righteous deeds he has sent on before him, he cannot rely on them
and take them for granted, or else he will be doomed. He keeps striving and hoping for
reward, and at the same time he fears lest his deeds be contaminated with any element of
showing off, self-admiration, or anything that will lead to them being rejected by Allaah.
Allaah describes the believers (interpretation of the meaning):
“… those who give that (their charity) which they give (and
also do other good deeds) with their hearts full of fear (whether their alms and charity,
etc.) have been accepted or not), because they are sure to return to their Lord (for
reckoning).” [al-Mu’minoon 23:60]
So the believer keeps on striving, fearing and hoping, until he
meets his Lord, believing in Tawheed (Divine Unity) and doing righteous deeds, and earns
the pleasure of his Lord and Paradise. If you think about the matter, you will realize
that these are the right motives for action, and that righteousness cannot be achieved in
this life in any other way.
As regards what you say about original sin, this matter needs to be
approached from several angles.
Firstly: The Islamic belief concerning human sin is: the individual
bears the responsibility for his own sin; no one else should bear this burden for him, nor
should he bear the burden for anyone else. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And
no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden…” [Faatir 35:18]. This
refutes the idea of original sin. If the father commits a sin, what fault is that of his
children and grandchildren? Why should they bear the burden of a sin that someone else
committed? The Christian belief that the descendents should bear the sin of their father
is the essence of injustice. How can any sane person say that the sin should be carried
down the centuries by all of humanity, or that the children, grandchildren and subsequent
descendants should be tainted because of their father’s sin?
Secondly, making mistakes is a part of human nature. Our Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Every son of Aadam is bound to
commit sins…” (reported by al-Tirmidhi, 2423), but Allaah has not left man
unable to do anything about the mistakes that he makes. He gives man the opportunity to
repent, and so the hadeeth (words of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) quoted above concludes: “…and the best of those who commit sins are those
who repent.” The mercy of Allaah is clear in the teachings of Islam, as Allaah calls
His servants (interpretation of the meaning): “Say, ‘O My servants who have
transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the
Mercy of Allaah, verily Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” [al-Zumar 39:53]
This is human nature, and this is the solution to the problem of
sin. But to make this human nature, which is bound to make mistakes, a barrier between the
servant and his Lord which will prevent him from ever earning the pleasure of God, and to
say that the only way to reach God is through His sending His (so-called) son down to
earth to be humiliated and crucified while his father looks on, so that mankind could be
forgiven, is an extremely odd idea. Just describing it sounds so unlikely that there is no
longer any need to refute it in detail. Once, when discussing this issue with a Christian,
I said, “If you say that God sent down His son to be crucified to atone for the sins
of the people alive at his time and afterwards, what about those who had come before and
died as sinners before the time of Christ, and had no opportunity to know about him and
believe in the Crucifixion so that their sins might be forgiven?” All he could say
was: “No doubt our priests have an answer to that!” Even if they do have an
answer, it is bound to be concocted. There is no real answer.
If you really examine the Christian teaching on human sin with an open
mind, you will see that they say that God sacrificed His only son to atone for the sins of
mankind, and that this son was a god. If it was true that he was a god who was beaten,
insulted and crucified, and died, then this doctrine contains elements of blasphemy
because it accuses God of weakness and helplessness. Is God really incapable of forgiving
the sins of all His servants with just one word? If He is Able to do all things (and the
Christians do not dispute this fact), then why would He need to sacrifice His son in order
to achieve the same thing? (Glorified and exalted be He far above what the wrongdoers say
about Him!)
“He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can He
have children when He has no wife? He created all things and He is the All-Knower of
everything.” [al-An’aam 6:101 – interpretation of the meaning]
An ordinary man would not accept anyone harming his child; he would
come to his defence, and would never hand him over to an enemy who would insult him, let
alone leave him to face the worst kind of death. If this is the attitude of a mere created
being, what then of the Creator?
Thirdly, the Christian doctrine of original sin has a negative effect
because, as you have mentioned, it does not require any duties of man other than to
believe that God sent His son to this earth to be crucified and to die to atone for the
sins of mankind. Thus a person becomes a Christian and is to earn the pleasure of God and
be admitted to heaven. Moreover, the Christian believes that everything that happened to
the son of God was only to atone for his sins, past present and future, so there is no
need to wonder why Christian societies have seen such an increase in murder, rape,
robbery, alcoholism and other problems. After all, did not Christ die to atone for their
sins, and haven’t their sins been wiped out, so why should they stop doing these
things? Tell me, by your Lord, why do you sometimes execute murderers, or put criminals in
jail, or punish them in other ways, if you believe that the criminal’s sins have all
be atoned for and forgiven through the blood of Christ? Is this not a strange
contradiction?
You ask why, if the Muslims are the chosen people of mankind, they do
not spread their religion. The fact of the matter is that sincere Muslims have always
sought to do just that. How else could Islam have spread from Makkah to Indonesia,
Siberia, North Africa, Bosnia, South Africa and all parts of the world, East and West? The
faults in the behaviour of some modern Muslims cannot be blamed on Islam; those faults are
the result of going against Islamic teachings. It is not fair to blame the religion for
the faults of some of its adherents who have gone against it or gone astray. Are Muslims
not being more just than Christians when they affirm that the sinner is threatened with
the punishment of Allaah unless he repents, and that for some sins there is a deterrent, a
punishment to be carried out in this world as an expiation for the Hereafter, as in the
case of the punishments for murder, theft, fornication/adultery, etc.?
What you say about it be so easy to become a Christian, as compared to
becoming a Muslim, is clearly mistaken. The key to Islam is no more than two simple
phrases: “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa anna Muhammadan Rasool-Allaah
(I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allaah).” With these few words, a person enters Islam in a matter of seconds. There
is no need for baptism or priests, or even to go to a certain place such as a mosque or
anywhere else. Compare this with the ridiculous procedures of baptism which the Christians
do when they want to admit someone to the Church. Then there is the fact that the
Christians venerate the cross on which Jesus was tortured and crucified in great pain
– as they claim. They take it as a sacred object of blessing and healing, instead of
scorning it and hating it as a symbol of oppression and the worst possible way for the son
of God to die!
Do you not see that the Muslims are closer than others to the truth,
because they believe in all the Prophets and Messengers, respecting them all and
recognizing that all of them taught the truth of Divine Unity (Tawheed) and that each of
them was appointed by Allaah and sent to his people with laws that were appropriate to the
time and place? When the fair-minded Christian sees the followers of Islam believing in
Musa (Moses), ‘Eesaa (Jesus), and Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) and in the original Torah and Gospel, as well as the Qur’aan, and sees his own
people denying the Prophethood of Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
and rejecting the Qur’aan, wouldn’t his open-mindedness make him think that the
Muslims are most likely to be right?
You say that the Messiah said, “No one comes to the Father except
through me”. We need, first of all, to be sure that these words can truly be
attributed to Jesus. Secondly, this is clearly not true. How then could mankind have known
God at the times of Nooh (Noah), Hood, Saalih, Yoonus (Jonah), Shu’ayb (Jethro),
Ibraaheem (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and other Prophets? If you were to say that during the
time of Jesus (upon whom be peace) and up to the time of the Final Prophet, Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) the Children of Israel had no other way to
know the religion of Allaah except through the way of Jesus, this would be correct.
Finally, you quote the Messiah as saying, “I and the Father are
one”. This is clearly not correct. If we examine the matter objectively, without
letting our own desires get in the way, it becomes clear that the conjunction
“and” in the phrase “I and the Father” implies that two separate
entities are involved. “I” is one entity, and “the Father” is another.
If you say, “So-and-so and I”, it is obvious to any rational person that they
are two separate people. The equation 1+1+1=1 makes no sense to any rational person,
whether he is a mathematician or not.
Finally, I advise you (and I do not think that you will reject this
advice) to think deeply about what you have read, putting aside your background, any
pre-conceived ideas, your own desires and feelings of attachment to your religion or
culture, and to seek guidance sincerely from Allaah. Allaah Most Generous and will never
let any of His servants down. Allaah is the One Who guides to the Straight Path, and He is
Sufficient for us and is the best disposer of affairs..