Far from the overly simplistic rhetoric we often read about in regard to how Muslim teachings view relations with non-Muslims, here is a short conversation between Sheikh G.F. Haddad and a questioner about his or her non-Muslim friends. It's a very interesting dialogue...
Q: Some of my non-Muslim friends are very nice people, and follow their religion well. Now here is my question, if they believe in God, and follow their religion, why would they be sent to hell and punished?? Didn't Allah create them as well, and wasn't he who placed them in a non-Muslim family? It's so sad to know what would happen to these innocent people!
A: Islamic Law considers them Ahl al-Fitra until the authentic message of Islam reaches them. Allah does not punish a people until He sends them a messenger and they reject him. In fact you may be that messenger for some of them, and your responsibility as a representative of Islam before non-Muslims is immense.
Q: Just like us, they are too strong believers in their own faith. They have been brought up in that religion, and it is impossible for them to even think of another religion to convert to.
A: Yes, there was a time I would have thought this the height of absurdity also, but little by little it changed until conversion became the height of logic and the right thing to do. At that point the terms "another religion" became superficial and only those of "the completion of religion" made sense. I also realized that belief in Islam in comparison to other beliefs is like maturity in comparison to childhood. So they may be "strong believers just like us" in the sense of one's emotional ties and conscientious adherence to one's convictions, but never in the sense of knowledge.
Q: Now think about it, we know that Islam is the correct path. We know this from reading the Quran, and other books. We know this from being told so. And most importantly we know so because we were blessed to be born in a Muslim family.
A: Are you being rhetorical? None of the above shows true knowledge, as I am sure you know. Knowledge in Islam is the upholding of Divine Oneness, then everything else that follows, to which reading and birth may or may not lead. It is different from merely being Muslim and imitating other Muslims, which is what you have described.
Q: Now let's look at the Christian culture, and the same can be said for them.....they also read their Bible, and learn more from their weekly church visits, so how can they (the faithful one's) even think of converting. I, like most Muslims would rather die, then even think of conversion, but then again the same can be said about people from other religions.
A: The comparison holds only if one is indeed a superficial Muslim who follows Islam out of some inherited habit or cultural notion of belonging, or purely material circumstance, which I am sure, or hope you do not.
There is no comparison. Islam imparts a knowledge that all of mankind was honored by the Creator, and that the Creator likes to be known for this and worshiped on the basis of truth-imparting knowledge. They have to focus on the person of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an and Law he brought, and ask themselves whether he was acting with divine sanction or out of his own human will.
Q: So why would this happen? Is it really their fault? Would Allah really punish them?
A: We are all answerable at different degrees. I have non-Muslim relatives who are just as dear or dearer to me than your Toronto friends are to you. Allah will grant success to those who repent to him sincerely and ask for dear guidance with true broken hearts, and He will not look at names and titles such as Christian, Muslim, Jew, Protestant, Catholic, Maronite, Orthodox, Sikh, Buddhist....
Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad ©
[2000-11-04]
