Islam and the Salvation of Others

Our noble predecessor, Salman al-Farisi, may God be well pleased with him, has a story that has always moved me. Salman was a quintessential seeker of God whose sincerity delivered him to many of the great saints of his age and, finally, to the feet of the Prophet ﷺ. He was born to a prominent Zoroastrian family in Persia but became fascinated by the Christians of his hometown at an early age. When he inquired with them about the best place to learn their religion, they directed him toward Syria. He departed without a second thought. Salman then spent the next few decades of his life studying under great Christian saints across Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. Each time one of his teachers passed, Salman would ask where to find another. However, his final teacher in Palestine told him that he knew of no others in the world following the religion of Jesus, peace be upon him, but that he should inquire with the merchants coming out of Arabia if a prophet had arisen in their land. If so, "this is the one who is foretold by Jesus, peace be upon him. Among his signs, you will see the seal of prophethood between his shoulders, he accepts and eats from a gift, and he does not eat from charity.” When Salman finally received the news of Muhammad ﷺ, he sold himself into slavery in exchange for passage to Madinah.

Once Salman found the Messenger of God ﷺ and embraced Islam, he told him about his beloved Christian teachers that ultimately led him to Islam: “They used to fast, pray, and believe in you, and they testified that you would be sent as a prophet.” However, when Salman finished praising them, the Prophet simply responded, "The did not die upon Islam." When Salman heard this, he said, “The whole earth darkened around me.” It disturbed him immensely to consider that their state in the afterlife might be in question. It was then that God revealed the verse, "Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve." [2:62] The Prophet summoned Salman to inform him of the good news from God and added: “Whoever dies upon the religion of Jesus and in submission before he hears of me is in goodly state. But whoever hears of me today and does not believe in me has perished.”

Like many of us, Salman's path to Islam first passed through another religious tradition. He knew and loved teachers who were not Muslim but who were nonetheless integral to directing his journey. The moment he embraced Islam was a result of their influence rather than a detour from it. So it is no surprise that he would have the same question as many of us who embrace the religion today: what is the ultimate fate of those non-Muslims whom we love? Does accepting Islam entail accepting that they are destined for damnation? We come to this religion because we recognize the beauty of the Quran or the simple truth of its message. But must of us cannot imagine accepting ill for our loved ones, even if they do not embrace Islam themselves.

Fortunately, the answers to these questions validate our recognition of Islam as a truly divine revelation while retaining the mercy that we expect from God. Indeed, the words that the Prophet ﷺ spoke to Salman after the revelation of the verse mentioned above point us directly to the nuance we need to understand. The coming of the Messenger of God marked a new form of revelation that was intended for all of humanity rather than individual nations. It established forms of worship that provide an exclusive path toward God by abrogating previous divinely-established practices. God refers to this reality when he says in chapter three, verse eighty-five, "Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them, and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers." However, as the Prophet mentions, seeking a way other than Islam is conditional not upon the moment in time of his first revelation, but upon "hear[ing] of me." Those who have not heard of him remain "in a goodly state."

We might ask ourselves who, in 2021, has not heard of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Yet this too has its conditions. It is not enough that people simply become acquainted with his name but that they truly understand who he is. Imam al-Ghazali, one of the foremost scholars of our religion from the tenth century speaks in detail on three categories of non-Muslim people from his day:

"In fact, I would say that, Allah willing, most of the Byzantine Christians and the Turks of this age will be included in Allah’s mercy. I’m referring here to those who live in the farthest regions of Byzantium and Anatolia who have not come into contact with the message. These people are of three groups: [i] A party who have never so much as heard the name ‘Muhammad’ ﷺ. They are excused. [ii] A party who knew his name, character and miracles he wrought; who lived in lands adjacent to the lands of Islam and thus came into contact with Muslims. These are blaspheming unbelievers. [iii] A third party who fall between the two. These people knew the name ‘Muhammad’ ﷺ, but nothing of his character or his qualities. Instead, all they heard since childhood is that a liar and imposter called ‘Muhammad’ claimed to be a prophet.... This party, in my opinion, is like the first party. For even though they’ve heard his name, they heard the opposite of what his true qualities were. And this does not provide enough incentive for them to investigate [his true status]."

If we were to take stock of our own day, we might conclude that category three, "those who know the name Muhammad but nothing of his character," is the only one remaining. News media and the internet has largely solved for the first category; and you would be hard-pressed to point out any "lands of Islam" that could actually serve as a guidance for non-Muslims on their borders. Yet category three has only grown in numbers (also thanks to news media and the internet). We might therefore invert our original question: who, in 2021, has actually heard of the Prophet Muhammad? Our non-Muslim grandmothers, friends, and former pastors very likely are not the types of "disbelievers" whom God condemns throughout the Quran--those who "rejected them [God's signs], although they inwardly recognized them, through injustice and arrogance." [27:14]

It is for this reason that we are actually forbidden, as Muslims, to assign particular individuals to salvation or damnation (including ourselves). God informs us only of the categories or groups of people who are to be saved or condemned--not of individual people. God alone is the knower and turner of hearts. This is why I say that our loved ones "very likely" fall into this third category of those who will be subject to His mercy. For, while we cannot claim to know with certainty, we are nonetheless called to have a good opinion of our fellow humans. And we are certainly called to have a good opinion of God, whose mercy goes beyond anything we have experienced. Salman, may God be pleased with him, did not relinquish his good opinion of his teachers, and God responded with a mercy that eased his heart.

And God knows best.