Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Those who did not recieve message - what will happen to them?

What will happen to those who did not receive the message of God?

By: Khurshid Imam
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A brother wanted to know regarding the fate of those people who did not receive the message of God. Will they go to paradise or hell? Following is the text of his question:
“There can be people who could not receive message of God, may be because they lived in remote islands, away from normal human civilization. Or there may be a few people who were not exposed to the messenger of God or the revelation of God. How will they be judged by Almighty God?”

One line answer is Almighty God alone knows.

We can’t be pretty sure if someone actually did not receive the message of God. We can’t even know how much someone received guidance from God, what was his mental capacity, to what extent he rejected, to what extent he understood and what will be his fate?

What we can tell are the principles for judgment by God and the laws God has described regarding His reward or punishment.
He alone knows what a human heart conceals. He alone knows knowledge level of a person. He alone knows the extent to which someone was exposed to the truth. We can only explain the principles of law of God.

Let us go through over some of the principles made by God.

1.     “Indeed, Allah does not do zulm [wrong] to the people at all, but it is the people who are doing zulm [wronging] themselves”. Quran 10:44
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ النَّاسَ شَيْئًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ النَّاسَ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ

Allah will not do injustice to anyone even in the least bit. Quran 2:279, 22:10, 4:49, 4:77, 17:71

2.     “On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear... It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns”. Quran 2:286
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا 

Ayah makes clear that Allah will not hold accountable to you for things that were beyond your control or beyond your reach. However, it also makes clear that you will be definitely held accountable for things within your control and limits.

3.     “On the Day [judgment day] when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done, and all the evil he has done, he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil”. Quran 3:30
يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُّحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِن سُوءٍ تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدًا بَعِيدًا 

On the judgment day, every person will wish that he had done more and more good deeds and few bad deeds. So here also, things within your control will be accounted for, knowingly whatever wrongs you did will be counted.

4.     “Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it”. Quran 99:7-8
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ

All deeds, whether good or bad, will be judged on the Judgment Day where Allah will be the judge.

5.     “And pursue not that of which you have no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning)”. Quran 17:36
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ ۚ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَـٰئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًا

6.     “Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord does witness all things?” Quran 41:53
سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ ۗ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

Allah keeps showing his signs to people in various ways. Signs of God are present throughout the universe, within oneself, in surroundings, through events etc.

Signs [Ayah] of Allah in the universe == WORK of God
And
Signs [Ayah] of Allah in the Quran === WORD of God

I and you cannot know how many signs a person has seen or felt, how much he understood, what his capacity to understand was and how many he rejected.

It’s natural to say that the criteria for God to judge people will be different. Of course someone living in a remote Island, who never got Quran or Hadees, will not be asked about zakat.
But whatever message reached to one, he will be held accountable for that.

7.     “Who receives guidance, receives it for his own benefit: who goes astray does so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would we send azaab i.e punishment until we had sent a messenger (to give warning)”. Quran 17:15
مَّنِ اهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ ۗ وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا

It is up to you to choose guidance or go astray. Law of Allah is that He never sends azaab to a people until messenger is sent there

8.     “Say: "Think you, if the punishment of Allah comes to you, whether suddenly or openly, will any be destroyed except those who do wrong?” 6:47
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ بَغْتَةً أَوْ جَهْرَةً هَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الظَّالِمُونَ

Law of Allah is: punishment or azaab of Allah will destroy ONLY those who are zalim i.e. those who cross boundaries set by Allah.

9.     “But those who reject our signs, - them shall punishment touch, for that they ceased not from transgressing.” 6:49
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَمَسُّهُمُ الْعَذَابُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ

Law of Allah: Azaab or punishment of Allah will touch those who rejected signs of Allah and they did not stop rebellion against Allah.

10.  “Nor was your Lord the one to destroy a population until He had sent to its centre a messenger, rehearsing to them Our Signs; nor are We going to destroy a population except when its members practice iniquity”. 28:59
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ يَبْعَثَ فِي أُمِّهَا رَسُولًا يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا ۚ وَمَا كُنَّا مُهْلِكِي الْقُرَىٰ إِلَّا وَأَهْلُهَا ظَالِمُونَ

Law of Allah: A messenger is sent to a people; when these people become zaalim i.e. those who transgress boundaries set by Allah; then Allah destroys them.

11.  “And your Lord would not have destroyed the cities unjustly while their people were muslih i.e. those who reform others”. Quran 11:117
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ لِيُهْلِكَ الْقُرَىٰ بِظُلْمٍ وَأَهْلُهَا مُصْلِحُونَ

Law of Allah: Even if people of an area are good, pious and following right way yet, if they don’t do dawah, if they don’t invite others towards goodness, piety and right way then they too can be destroyed by azaab of Allah. If there are some people in an area who work for inviting others towards right path then that place will not undergo azaab of Allah.

Conclusion:

1.     We can’t say what exactly will be the fate of one who did not receive the message of guidance.
2.     Reasons are:
a.      We don’t know who received how much of guidance.
b.     How much he accepted.
c.      What his mental capacity was to grasp the message.
d.     How much he rejected.
3.     Allah has provided his principles for holding people accountable, for punishing people etc in the Quran.
4.     Allah alone knows the fate of people.

Whatever has reached to someone that will be accounted for fully.

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Author can be contacted: imam.khurshid@yahoo.com     WatsApp: +91-8884542768
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