Greg00:
I have heard conflicting answers to this question everywhere I go. So I am just asking for a straight answer here. Do Muslims believe it is possible for Non-Muslims to go to heaven and if so what are the prerequisites (if any)? I have heard people quote the Koran on this subject to support both side and am very confused.
Peace be upon you all
I’d like to post the answer with some details because this is very important topic for brothers christians:
Can a non-Muslim go to Heaven?
To avoid any confusion in the matter I think the best way to address this question is by dividing it into two parts:
- Can a non-Muslim who received the message of Islam as brought by Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and denied its truth and died on a state other than the state of Islam, ever be admitted Paradise?!
- Can a non-Muslim who did not receive the message of Islam and died on a state other than the state of Islam, be admitted to Paradise?!
Now, the answer to the first question is what Shaikh Muhammad bin Saleh Al Munajjad described as very clear in his reply. On the light of both the Quran and Sunnah this person is never going to enter Jannah…and Hell would be His final abode…& there is clear cut evidence for this from both the Quran and the Hadith of our beloved Prophet Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
In the Quran Allah the Most Exalted the Most High says:
Verily, those who belie Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) 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 Mujrimûn (criminals, polytheists, sinners, etc.). (Al-A’raf:40)
Then, who does more wrong than one who utters a lie against Allâh, and denies the truth [this Qur’ân, the Prophet (Muhammad SAW), the Islâmic Monotheism, the Resurrection and the reward or punishment according to good or evil deeds] when it comes to him! Is there not in Hell an abode for the disbelievers? (Az-Zumar:32)
Allaah (swt) tells us that the keeper of Hell will ask the kuffaar as they
are approaching Hell:
“Did there not come to you your messengers with clear signs?” (40:50)
The response will be that they deserved Hell because they disbelieved in the Messengers and their Message:
"They will say, “Yes indeed; a Warner did come to us, but we rejected him” and said: “Allaah never sent down any [Message] you are in nothing but a great error!” (67:9)
Concerning those who disbelieved in the Qur’aan, Allaah (swt) says:
“for We have sent you a Message from Our own presence. If any do turn away therefrom, verily they will bear a burden on the Day of Judgement. They will abide in this [state] and grievous will that burden be to them on that Day”. (20:99-101)
Concerning those who disbelieve the Qur’aan and associate partners with
Allaah (swt), Allaah (swt) says:
"Those who reject the Book and the [Revelations] with which We sent Our
Messengers: but soon shall they know, when the yokes [shall be] round their necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along. In the boiling fetid fluid, then in the Fire shall they be burned. Then shall it be said to them,
“Where are the deities to which you gave part-worship in derogation to Allaah? They will reply: “They have left us in the lurch. Nay, we invoked not, of old, anything [that had real existence].” Thus does Allaah leave the unbelievers to stray. That was because you were want to rejoice on the earth in things other than the Truth, and that you were want to be ignorant. Enter the gates of Hell, to dwell therein and evil is [this] abode of the arrogant”. (40:70-76)
Concerning those kuffaar (disbelievers) and mushrikeen (polytheists) who regarded their gods as equal to the Rabb of the Worlds, Allaah (swt) says:
"Then they will be thrown headlong into the [Fire] - they and those straying in Evil and the whole hosts of Iblees together. They will say there in their mutual bickerings: “By Allaah, we were truly in an error manifest, when we held you [false gods] as equals with the Rabb of the Worlds” (26:94-98)
Concerning the fate on the Day of Judgement of those who disbelieved, Allaah said:
“If you do marvel [at their want of faith] strange is their saying: “When we are [actually] dust, shall we indeed then be a creation renewed?” They are those who disbelieve in their Rabb! They are those around whose necks will be yokes [of servitude]. They will be Companions of the Fire to dwell therein [for aye]!” (13:5)
To be continued…