Is it true that a non-Muslim can go to paradise if he commit good deeds?!

[A proud Muslim]

Hello there, I have just heard from a Muslim answering a question on Quora, that a non-Muslim  can go to paradise if he commit good deeds.

He says: "Allah makes it extremely clear that non-Muslims can go to heaven Quran 3:113-115:
There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him.

I may have been unclear on 2 levels. The first is the concept of People of the Book. People of the Book are not Muslims, but followers of other divinely inspired religions like Christianity and Judaism.

The second is the nature of the reward promised by Allah to these non-Muslims who happen to do good deeds. I only quoted 3:113-115, where Allah describes the reward in ambiguous terms but also declares that these non-Muslims 'are among the righteous' which is a term Allah reserves for those who go to Heaven. In 3:116-117 he contrasts them with idolaters who do not commit good deeds and will go to  Hell. The strong implication is that the reward for those who commit good is Heaven. Here are the verses together with 3:112 added to the front:

They have drawn God’s wrath upon themselves. They are overshadowed by weakness, too, because they have persistently disbelieved in God’s revelation and killed prophets without any right, all because of their disobedience and boundless transgression. But they are not all alike. There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him. As for those who disbelieve, neither their possessions nor their children will help them against God—they will be companions in the Fire, there to remain— and whatever they give away in this life will be nullified: a frosty wind strikes and destroys the harvest of people who have wronged themselves. It was not God who wronged them; they wronged themselves. Quran 3:112-117"

Here's the link to the question: https://www.quora.com/topic/Zakir-Naik-Indian-Islamic-preacher
Just search about Aziz Gilani's answer.

Could someone refute this please??

[QuranSearchCom]

As'salamu Alaikum,

Only a Muslim can enter Paradise, and the definition of "Muslim" to Allah Almighty is broad.  I have covered this in details at:

www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm

However, the current Muslims of Islam must follow the Covenant and the Laws that are given to them from the Glorious Quran and the Sunnah.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

[A proud Muslim]

As'salamu Alaikum,

Only a Muslim can enter Paradise, and the definition of "Muslim" to Allah Almighty is broad.  I have covered this in details at:

www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm

However, the current Muslims of Islam must follow the Covenant and the Laws that are given to them from the Glorious Quran and the Sunnah.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

Could you please refute his claims about those verses?
He says: "Allah makes it extremely clear that non-Muslims can go to heaven Quran 3:113-115:
There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him.

I may have been unclear on 2 levels. The first is the concept of People of the Book. People of the Book are not Muslims, but followers of other divinely inspired religions like Christianity and Judaism.

The second is the nature of the reward promised by Allah to these non-Muslims who happen to do good deeds. I only quoted 3:113-115, where Allah describes the reward in ambiguous terms but also declares that these non-Muslims 'are among the righteous' which is a term Allah reserves for those who go to Heaven. In 3:116-117 he contrasts them with idolaters who do not commit good deeds and will go to  Hell. The strong implication is that the reward for those who commit good is Heaven. Here are the verses together with 3:112 added to the front:

They have drawn God’s wrath upon themselves. They are overshadowed by weakness, too, because they have persistently disbelieved in God’s revelation and killed prophets without any right, all because of their disobedience and boundless transgression. But they are not all alike. There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him. As for those who disbelieve, neither their possessions nor their children will help them against God—they will be companions in the Fire, there to remain— and whatever they give away in this life will be nullified: a frosty wind strikes and destroys the harvest of people who have wronged themselves. It was not God who wronged them; they wronged themselves. Quran 3:112-117"

I look forward to your answers.

[A proud Muslim]

It seems that no one is willing to answer my question.

[AhmadFarooq]

Why do you want a "refutation" for this?

While a lot of Muslim scholars might believe that only "Muslims" will enter paradise, there are also other Muslim scholars (along-with individuals on this forum) who believe "non-Muslims" can get into paradise too. They might not use the same arguments as provided above, but their conclusions are similar. As Osama Abdullah mentioned the definition of "Muslim" and "non-Muslim" being a matter of difference of opinion for some.

[muslimforever2012]

In my view, Christians who follow the original Christianity (not Christianity Remastered 2.0, created by Paul) e.g, they follow the OT, don't drink wine, don't sin and over all, don't believe that Jesus is God or vice versa, God will be happy for them.

[A proud Muslim]

Why do you want a "refutation" for this?

While a lot of Muslim scholars might believe that only "Muslims" will enter paradise, there are also other Muslim scholars (along-with individuals on this forum) who believe "non-Muslims" can get into paradise too. They might not use the same arguments as provided above, but their conclusions are similar. As Osama Abdullah mentioned the definition of "Muslim" and "non-Muslim" being a matter of difference of opinion for some.

Excuse me? First of all, I have never heard any scholar that said non-Muslims can go to heaven. Secondly, the Quran says several times that who doesn't believe in Allah, nor accept the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) will burn in hell forever.

[Dr Tazeen]

Muslim is the one who submits himself fully to Allah...his will as well as his practices.

and as Brother Osama has mentioned further, he is not
1.hypocrite or wicked
2.hostile towards Islam and any of the Muslim Prophets, and beliefs
3.polytheist

Regarding the verses about the followers of other religion ,the common confusion created could be dissolved if you see when the verses/surahs were revealed.

1.The revelation period of Surah Aal imran extends up to 9 AH.(this surah includes the verses you have mentioned and the verse that only Islam would be accepted)
2.Surah Baqarah including the verse for jews Christians etc , was revealed up to 2 AH
3.Surah Maida was revealed up to 7 AH.It includes the verse of finalization of Islam as well as the verse for Christians jews etc.

(revelation periods are noted from englishtafsir.com)

The tafsir Ibn e kathir includes the background of a verse for the acceptance of Jews, Christians etc, as a person who asked for his father or any other person and mentioned that he was righteous,so how he would be dealt, here this verse was revealed.That person had died before the advent of Islam.

Summing up, the conclusion would be that,

Anyone who was righteous before the Prophethood of Muhammad s.a.w.w and the revelation of the verse of finilization of religion Islam,would enter paradise, provided that he was not hypocrite, wicked, polytheist and hostile towards Allah or His Prophets or His books etc.He had to be rewarded fully in this world as well as herafter

Now, after the verse of finalization of religion Islam, and that only Islam would be accepted, there is no room for those who do not believe in Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w and His teachings.

[Dr Tazeen]

The revelation periods denote that the teachings in Surah Aal imran were the "latest ones" abrogating any other teachings for the same matter, revealed before

[QuranSearchCom]

Could you please refute his claims about those verses?
He says: "Allah makes it extremely clear that non-Muslims can go to heaven Quran 3:113-115:
There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him.

He said:  Allah makes it extremely clear that non-Muslims can go to heaven Quran 3:113-115:

Then he gives the text of the Noble Verses, which say that there are non-Muslims who are among the Righteous in the Sight of Allah Almighty.  This had been thoroughly elaborated on also at:

www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm

I may have been unclear on 2 levels. The first is the concept of People of the Book. People of the Book are not Muslims, but followers of other divinely inspired religions like Christianity and Judaism.

The second is the nature of the reward promised by Allah to these non-Muslims who happen to do good deeds. I only quoted 3:113-115, where Allah describes the reward in ambiguous terms but also declares that these non-Muslims 'are among the righteous' which is a term Allah reserves for those who go to Heaven. In 3:116-117 he contrasts them with idolaters who do not commit good deeds and will go to  Hell. The strong implication is that the reward for those who commit good is Heaven. Here are the verses together with 3:112 added to the front:

They have drawn God’s wrath upon themselves. They are overshadowed by weakness, too, because they have persistently disbelieved in God’s revelation and killed prophets without any right, all because of their disobedience and boundless transgression. But they are not all alike. There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship, who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous and they will not be denied [the reward] for whatever good deeds they do: God knows exactly who is conscious of Him. As for those who disbelieve, neither their possessions nor their children will help them against God—they will be companions in the Fire, there to remain— and whatever they give away in this life will be nullified: a frosty wind strikes and destroys the harvest of people who have wronged themselves. It was not God who wronged them; they wronged themselves. Quran 3:112-117"

I look forward to your answers.

He said it himself.  The details of determining the reward are ambiguous.  That's because it is not a clear-cut black and white formula.  As I explained in great details in the following link, a person can be a "Muslim" in the Sight of Allah Almighty in the End.  The hostile enemies of Islam are something else.  But the normal people who are not polytheists, nor pagans, and they have doubts about the garbage religions that they follow, and they are not hostile towards the Muslims, and they are not evil-doers, nor hypocrites, nor false in their core, those might end up in Heaven:

www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm


I respectfully disagree with sister Dr. Tazeen on the abrogation point in the Glorious Quran.  I am one Muslim who believes this is a lie that was invented on the Glorious Quran.  This had been thoroughly proven here:

www.answering-christianity.com/abrogation.htm

I hope this helps, Insha'Allah.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

[Dr Tazeen]

Jazakullah brother,but the link is not opening further anyway.I would like to check your article In sha Allah 

Abrogation exists as for the laws in the verses of prohibition of alcohol.I have seen people who consider alcohol to be halal just because they do not believe in abrogation.

https://wordpress.com/post/rebuttaltoansweringmuslims.wordpress.com/119

[Dr Tazeen]

https://rebuttaltoansweringmuslims.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/quran-and-the-problem-of-abrogation/


this link is working

[QuranSearchCom]

As'salamu Alaikum sister Tazeen and all,

The link again is here:

http://www.answering-christianity.com/abrogation.htm

It has two links, one for abrogation in the Bible, and the other abrogation in Islam.  I addressed both in great details.

I hope this works, insha'Allah.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

[AhmadFarooq]

The interpretation believed by scholars who believe in the possibility of non-Muslims getting into heaven is that when the Qur'an talks about Islam as the only acceptable religion, it is in the context of a question that arose during the revelation of Islam.

Along with Muslims, Christians also believe that they follow the path to salvation, the path inspired by divine Scripture; regardless of what condition that scripture might be in, they believe that they were following God's book. Similarly, Jews were thinking the same. At some places in Muslim Scripture, Jews are even encouraged to follow their Jewish laws.

The question arose that among these different interpretations of the same original divine commandments, which path would be the correct path? Amongst these varying paths it was commanded by Allah that only the path shown by Islam is the correct path. As far as this verse is concerned, it does not mention any punishment for people who follow the other alleged paths to salvation.

Regarding the Qur'an verses which mention non-Muslims "will burn in hell forever", these scholars argue that those verses are concerning only those Kuffar who directly rejected Prophet Muhammad. They argue that the only people going to Hell we can be sure of, are the ones who directly rejected the Prophets during their lifetimes. Because when a Prophet lives within a people, they have the opportunity to get answers for each and every question they might have. When all legitimate questions that a person has, get answered and still he does not believe in Allah, then he is deliberately and maliciously rejecting the truth. For this sin, the punishment is Hell (whether it is forever or temporary is a different issue).

Additionally, the Qur'an clearly says that Allah can forgive all sins except associating partners with Him. According to this verse, especially the Jews (and maybe all other people except polytheists too) stand a good chance of having all their sins forgiven.

Regarding abrogation, when it comes to subjects such as limited allowance and then prohibition of alcohol and changing of the Qibla for prayers, there is hardly any difference of opinion on the matter. But when it comes to other issues, things become much more tricky and complicated which allows for high difference of opinion, especially when it comes to the alleged abrogation of Qur'an verses by the Hadith.

[A proud Muslim]

Anyone who was righteous before the Prophethood of Muhammad s.a.w.w and the revelation of the verse of finilization of religion Islam,would enter paradise, provided that he was not hypocrite, wicked, polytheist and hostile towards Allah or His Prophets or His books etc.He had to be rewarded fully in this world as well as herafter

Now, after the verse of finalization of religion Islam, and that only Islam would be accepted, there is no room for those who do not believe in Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.w and His teachings.

Thanks for clearing doubts.

The interpretation believed by scholars who believe in the possibility of non-Muslims getting into heaven is that when the Qur'an talks about Islam as the only acceptable religion, it is in the context of a question that arose during the revelation of Islam.

That doesn't make any sense. Just because that verse was revealed during the revelation of Islam Doesn't mean that it won't apply now. That's a flawed logic.

Along with Muslims, Christians also believe that they follow the path to salvation, the path inspired by divine Scripture; regardless of what condition that scripture might be in, they believe that they were following God's book. Similarly, Jews were thinking the same. At some places in Muslim Scripture, Jews are even encouraged to follow their Jewish laws.

The question arose that among these different interpretations of the same original divine commandments, which path would be the correct path? Amongst these varying paths it was commanded by Allah that only the path shown by Islam is the correct path. As far as this verse is concerned, it does not mention any punishment for people who follow the other alleged paths to salvation.

Christians believe in trinity, which, is not acceptable in Islam because that's like polytheism. Secondly the Quran told us that whoever follows any other religion than Islam will not be accepted.

Regarding the Qur'an verses which mention non-Muslims "will burn in hell forever", these scholars argue that those verses are concerning only those Kuffar who directly rejected Prophet Muhammad. They argue that the only people going to Hell we can be sure of, are the ones who directly rejected the Prophets during their lifetimes. Because when a Prophet lives within a people, they have the opportunity to get answers for each and every question they might have. When all legitimate questions that a person has, get answered and still he does not believe in Allah, then he is deliberately and maliciously rejecting the truth. For this sin, the punishment is Hell (whether it is forever or temporary is a different issue).

Evidence please, I highly doubt that there's any scholar who believes that those verses are only talking about the infidels during the prophet ( ﷺ )'s time.

[AhmadFarooq]

That doesn't make any sense. Just because that verse was revealed during the revelation of Islam Doesn't mean that it won't apply now. That's a flawed logic.

I literally have no idea how you came to such a conclusion. How does mentioning the context of the revelation of a verse, or the question that a verse is possibly answering, naturally conclude that the verse is no longer applicable?

When some individual or some exegesist mentions that alcohol was prohibited in the context that it caused social evils in the society or that Jihad was allowed in the context of defending against the Quraish, do you also accuse them of making no "sense" and using "flawed logic"? Or is this honour limited to myself alone?

Christians believe in trinity

With the risk of being accused of splitting hairs, what about the Unitarian Christians? Or as some Muslims argue there were many Christians who rejected the Trinity idea even up-to late first millennium CE. These Christians are argued to had been assimilated into the new Muslim populations of those times. See Dr. Jerald Dirks lectures.

Secondly the Quran told us that whoever follows any other religion than Islam will not be accepted.

I'm not a scholar so I may be making a mistake, but where does the Qur'an say exactly that? From my humble understanding, the verse is talking about the religion Islam being the only acceptable one, there is no mention of the people following other religions.

Additionally, what about the Jews? After all, the Qur'an clearly says that Allah can forgive all sins except associating partners with Him. Or did this verse also got abrogated?

Evidence please, I highly doubt that there's any scholar who believes that those verses are only talking about the infidels during the prophet ( ﷺ )'s time.

Go through this, and then tell me which Kafir you know to have received the correct form or interpretation of Islam, had no remaining unanswered questions but still rejected Islam out of malice or arrogance.

[A proud Muslim]

With the risk of being accused of splitting hairs, what about the Unitarian Christians? Or as some Muslims argue there were many Christians who rejected the Trinity idea even up-to late first millennium CE. These Christians are argued to had been assimilated into the new Muslim populations of those times. See Dr. Jerald Dirks lectures.

Hmm....Well, Christianity have been divided to many categories, so it would pretty hard to assume which one is the true unless you have read and comprehend the bible. The trinity category is most acceptable one beyond them, so maybe it's the one that really follows the bible.

I'm not a scholar so I may be making a mistake, but where does the Qur'an say exactly that? From my humble understanding, the verse is talking about the religion Islam being the only acceptable one, there is no mention of the people following other religions.

Additionally, what about the Jews? After all, the Qur'an clearly says that Allah can forgive all sins except associating partners with Him. Or did this verse also got abrogated?

What about this?
And whoever desires other than Islam as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. Quran (Al Imran:85)

Go through this, and then tell me which Kafir you know to have received the correct form or interpretation of Islam, had no remaining unanswered questions but still rejected Islam out of malice or arrogance.

I thought that you meant that kaffirs who did good deeds will go to heaven. Apparently I misunderstand you.

[AhmadFarooq]

The trinity category is most acceptable one beyond them, so maybe it's the one that really follows the bible.

I'm sure non-trinitarian Christians would like to fervently disagree on the matter.

And whoever desires other than Islam as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. Quran (Al Imran:85)

... Unless Allah chooses to forgive the "losers" (from what I understand).

[AMuslimDude213]

For how long has this discussion been going?