I had assumed that Christianity was the only religion that sent all non-believers to hell eternally but apparently Islam also does this.
I was wondering, for the Islamic sects that believe that all non-believers go to hell eternally, what is the mildest punishment that any of them receive? I had been told to check the Quran myself for this answer.
In the Qur’an, it says, “Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly 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).
Some Muslims interpret that to mean non-Muslims can enter paradise.
In the Qur’an, it also says: “Verily, those who disbelieve (in the religion of Islam, the Qur’aan and Prophet Muhammad) from among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) and Al-Mushrikoon will abide in the fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures” [al-Bayyinah 98:6]
Some Muslims interpret that to mean any non-Muslim who has heard of Islam and rejected it will enter hell.
There are probably other verses in the Qur’an that could be used to justify either position.
Actually that seems to be 2:62:
http://www.qurantoday.com/BaqSec8.htm
To me it sounds like some non-Muslims aren’t going to hell. What I’m concerned about is hell, not whether they go to paradise.
Thanks for the verses. I wonder if it means necessarily being in hell for an eternity and how severe the suffering is…
As a reference, here are some additional translations:
Sahih International
98:6
Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.
Yusuf Ali
98:6
Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures.
Sahih International
2:62
Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
Yusuf Ali
2:62
Those who believe (in the Qur’an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
BTW why do non-believers in Islam go to hell? From what I’ve heard of Christianity, the Christian reason is that all people are sinners and the price for sin must be paid, then Jesus paid the price. Maybe in Islam it just involves a punishment or reward and there is no doctrine about all men being sinful?
Yes, you’re right 2:62, sorry about that. As for hell, some muslims believe it is temporary. In my experience (I am a muslim), muslims have a wide range & variety of opinion especially on so basic an issue. Which is funny if you think about it, that the most variety of opinion seems to be on something fundamental, although I guess it could be argued that since it’s a “big deal issue” (I mean, it is hell afterall) that in itself would lead to more debate. Then there are muslims who believe it’s allegorical. One thing that’s pretty clear in the qur’an is that it is not okay for muslims to make definitive statements as to the “unseen” (meaning the nature of God, the afterlife, the future, etc). For a muslim, only God has knowledge of the “unseen” and the prophets because the unseen is revealed to them by God. So it would be weird for a muslim to say so and so is going to hell, or all x-y-z are going to hell. Or hell is this or that. But a hypocrite could do whatever they want and say anything. And some muslims, especially scholars, make statements about the above claiming that they are only referring to the Qur’an or ahadith itself and therefore are not personally speaking about the unseen or about God. Also, as a practical matter, muslims have individual beliefs and make statements all the time about such things, but most (that I know) are careful to add a caveat.
Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.
4:56
Severe suffering, based on the above.
Good question. My understanding is that there is no sense in Islam of original sin as there is in Christianity. Muslims don’t have the sense of being born into sin and death & needing a ransom or sacrifice paid for salvation. There is no single savior or saving event in islam. Instead, human beings continuously live and die good and bad things throughout history with intermittent revelation from God as to what is right and wrong along with punishment and reward.
*live and die doing good and bad things throughout history…
p.s. I do not think I am a fair representation of the average believing person. whatever that might be.
oops wrong thread
butterfiles: It sounds like to me that Islam is saying you’ve got to be well-behaved and believe in God to deserve paradise otherwise you deserve hell… i.e. you get saved by your own effort?
Not exactly. In Islam, you can’t be saved by your own effort since everything is contingent upon God. People cannot save themselves any more than they can create themselves.
It’s a tough religion. You have to believe, and do good, and not do harm…and still you’re at God’s mercy. And, you could do bad, and yet be forgiven by God. So it’s easy too because in Islam you are always rewarded for good and only sometimes punished for evil.
WTF? I was raised Catholic, and was never taught that non-Christians are doomed to hell. I don’t know what the scriptures say, I’m just going by what my teachers said.
I realize that isn’t the topic of the thread, but it was stated blithely in the OP and kinda grates.
My thoughts, too. Probably true of some sects, but not all. In fact, I’d say it is a minority of Christians who belong to sects that do.
It’s not explicitly stated* but one of the common themes of christianity is that you’re guaranteed a spot in heaven if you believe in god/jesus and don’t commit too any unrepented sins. There are several stories about sinful unbelievers** being punished or destroyed on earth (e.g. sodom, gomorrah, people not saved by Noah, etc.), but I don’t recall anything about disbelief being a sin, and a few quotes about deeds being more important than belief.
*according to what I remember reading in a childrens bible, back when I was a kid, and the few sunday school classes I attended. So, only slightly more reliable than a horoscope.
**meaning the sinner subset of the unbelievers group.
The Predestination versus Free Will debate was one of the larger debates of the Classical Islamic era, and it has a lot to contribute to this question.
The monotheism of Islam can be said to be a reaction to certain forms of Christian Trinitarianism (among other things) and while it has a certain elegance about it, it does raise its own questions. It is plainly written in the Qur’an (the speech of God - another big subject) that there will be a day of judgment. People will be judged for their deeds, and according to their deeds they will be rewarded or punished. However, God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knows - and is, indeed, present in - the past, present and future. Furthermore, God has the power to stop me from doing something. So if I do it, does that mean God allowed it? Am I the author of my own actions, or is God? If it is God, then how can he judge me? If it is me, then what can we say is not the result of God’s will?
Muslim scholars generally came to the conclusion that in order for God to judge, God must be just, in order for us to be judged, we must be free, and therefore, whatever evil is done by us is not God’s responsibility. However, this is not itself a good answer to the questions in the preceding paragraph. Ash’ari (a theological school of Sunni Islam) scholars argued that God creates all acts, both good and evil. We don’t create them. What we do is incline ourselves toward good or evil acts. And so they argued. A lot more development happened that I don’t want to go over, but basically, the general Sunni position settled around this idea that we have enough free will to be judged, but ultimately God has predestined everything, and we’ll just leave it at that.
So what does it mean to say that the position settled around something? Especially something so vague? How does a community defined in part by a theoretical (if not always in practice) lack of a religious hierarchy settle things? The answer lies in how creeds were approached in Islam. In the medieval Islamic world, creeds were almost always locally issued by private scholars and were documents that tried to focus on agreeing on what were the subjects of disagreement in the community. In other words, Islamic communities defined themselves through agreeing on what they were going to disagree about.
So an extremely basic position is outlined and debate (the Islamic word for theology, kalam, literally means discourse and refers to this debate) continues. Before the modern era, kalam was limited to scholars and was not for everyday people. On the subject of “do non-believers go to hell,” the Islamic community (to the extent that such a thing exists) agrees that there will be a judgment day. What happens to non-believers exactly is the ongoing debate.
Most scholars have not condemned 100% of non-Muslims to hell. This reflects the ambiguity in the Qur’an and Sunnah (Ways of the Prophet) on this matter that Butterflies mentioned. It also reflects different attitudes on the reasons different people have for not believing. Isolated island that has never heard of Islam? Guy living in NYC with Muslim friends but who has never read the Qur’an? Girl who was mistreated by Muslims? The non-Muslim scholar of Islam? All of these excuses are weighed differently. Trend-wise, the Maturidi theological school (Sunni, blended with Ash’ari over time, originally from Central Asia) claimed that God is evident and rationally discernible, so their views on the consequences of non-belief were harsher. The Ash’ari disagreed and were more lenient. Shia have their own range of thought.
All of that to say, there’s a lot of debate, like in Christianity. As for punishments, Muslims generally agree that hell is a place of fire and unimaginable punishments (though many try to imagine them). Good deeds can lessen your punishments, but at no point is it an enjoyable place to be. If anyone is curious, I can talk about whether hell is eternal or not in Islamic traditions (the short answer is, as usual, maybe), but I’m tired. Hope what I wrote makes some sense.
Yes, I think the whole thing can be summed up by: maybe. Maybe non-Muslims go to hell, maybe they don’t. Maybe it’s eternal, maybe it isn’t. Actually, what’s more clear to me at least based on Qur’an and supported by lots of ahadith, is that plenty of Muslims end up in hell, and of that, lots of people towards the end times, and overall, lots of women.
I’ve always had questions about free will & omnipotence both from a Muslim perspective (I am a Muslim) as well as from a Christian point of view.