Islam's View on Salvation

When Muslim scholars and laypeople alike consider the term “Islam” they often conflate the global and the local, the universal and the particular: is Islam the primordial religion of man centred on the worship of God, or is it the Muhammadan faith brought some fourteen hundred years ago? A proper reading of scripture reveals both perspectives are correct, in that Islam is the desired submission of all man, past and present, to God’s will, but also the particular manifestation in the example of the Prophet Muhammad and his community. Hence the Qur’an calls Abraham an “upright Muslim (one who submits to God) who associated not (with God)” (3:67) indicating “Islam” or submission to God is linked directly with an unrelenting monotheism. To Jews and Christians who say only they will enter heaven, the Qur’an retorts “Nay, whoever submits (aslama) his whole self to God and is a doer of good, he will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” (2:112), which applies generally to those pre and post-Muhammad. Other verses, however, indicate “Islam” specifically applies to the religion brought by Muhammad which involves the particular rituals of Islam, like the hajj. Qur’an 5:3 is placed amidst various verses about laws particular to Islam, and refers to “the day” (which according to traditionists was near the end of the Prophet’s life) on which God says “I am pleased with Islam as your religion”.

Hence, Islam as the universal and primordial religion of man manifests in particular ways depending on the local circumstances and temporal demands of the recipients of God’s revelations. This form of pragmatism explains the Qur’anic view of “supersession” – where particular parts of previous revelations are superseded by elements of later revelation (2:106).

When man first descended and multiplied on earth, they formed a single community worshipping God. The Qur’an says that they then differed with the truth by the direct will of God: “Mankind was but one nation, but differed (later). Had it not been for a word that went forth before from thy Lord [i.e. God’s pre-eternal will], their differences would have been settled between them” (10:19). Having foreseen this divergence, God told Adam when he sent him to earth to complete his mission as God’s viceroy (2:30) that “if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs, they shall be companions of the Fire; they shall abide therein” (2:38-9). And guidance came, when man differed, in the form of Messengers and Books: “Mankind was one single nation [worshipping One God, then they differed], so God sent Messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed” (2:213). These Prophets preached the Oneness of God and total obedience to Him, rejecting all false deities and immoral practices: “We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve God (alone), and eschew Evil"” (16:36); “Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me” (21:25) [see also 16:2]. But some inevitably rejected their message: “of the People were some whom God guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth).” (16:36).

This human potential to fragment and dissolute made it possible for God to bestow selectively His grace on those who accepted His guidance (although His universal mercy extends to all of creation, see Qur’an 7:156): “If thy Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute (the truth); except those on whom thy Lord hath bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them” (11:118-9). As such, God tests man so He “will certainly know those who are true from those who are false” (29:3). He “hath created life and death that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (67:2).

In so doing, God has sent many Prophets to all of humanity: “there is not a nation but a warner hath passed among them” (35:23). The hadiths recount that over a hundred thousand Prophets were sent. As an aside, Islam does not necessarily set a timeframe to this process. Although some early Muslim exegetes, like al-Tabari, influenced by Jewish and Christian accounts believed the universe to be less than ten thousand years old, there is no indication of this in the Qur’an or hadiths. The Qur’an says the heavens and earth were once united and God split them asunder (21:30) which coincides with modern understandings of the Big Bang; the Qur’an also explains the earth was spread out “after” the creation of the heavens (79:30); and that man was created from water (21:30), and was created “in the best of forms” (95:5), after many “stages” of creation (71:14). As for the length of man’s existence on earth, although the hadith do not directly mention the age of the earth, it indicates an old earth as the period between the advent of the Prophet and the final hour is prophesised to be miniscule in comparison to the age of man (Sahih al-Bukhari), putting man’s age in the range of tens of thousands of years if not hundreds of thousands.

As a result of the numerous revelations, many parallel revelations may have come. To the previous communities, each with their revealed scriptures, the Qur’an says: “To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to God; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute” (5:48). Upon the coming of Muhammad, however, the Qur’an functions as a “guardian” and “confirmation” of all previous revelations, protecting them from the forgeries of their custodians: “To thee (Muhammad) We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture[s] that came before it, and guarding them in safety: so judge between them by what God hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee” (5:48). Although many scriptures and Prophets had been sent, one family, the Israelites, are singled out in the Qur’an as being “favoured over the rest of mankind” (2:47) with “kings and prophets” (5:20). Revelation successively came to the Israelites, but they often rebelled and broke God’s laws. This succession ended with Jesus: “We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit.” (2:87).

Though previous Prophets were sent to their local communities, like Moses and Jesus were sent to the Israelites, Muhammad was sent to all of mankind with a universal message to confirm, correct and culminate all previous revelations: “We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings (of salvation), and warning them (against sin)” (34:28). All Prophets, however, in essence, preached the same: “The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - which We have sent by inspiration to thee - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other things than God, hard is the (way) to which thou callest them” (42:13)

As for individual salvation, man is required to remember and obey God. Each community was given a “divine law” (shir‘ah), which formed a body of moral instructions, often particular to the time. The Muhammadan law “superseded” previous laws, only insofar as it made them more suitable for a universal context. It however does not contradict previous revelations in the basic laws of worshipping God alone, respecting parents, being kind to the poor, the needy and orphans, avoiding murder, adultery and sexual immorality, and avoiding falsehood and lies (e.g. see 6:151-155, 17:23-39, 60:12, 16:90 and 4:58). Some of the minor details in dietary laws and prayer, for example, are modified. Since this “moral and ritual law” is received both in the form of God-given intuition (e.g. see 91:7-8 and 90:10) and revelation, no man is held accountable except by the most basic moral standards until the message reaches him: “Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another [but] We never punish until we have sent a messenger.” (17:15). The purpose of the divine law is to direct man away from a state of ignorance (jahilyya) and heedlessness (ghafla) to a state of submission to God (islam), constant remembrance (dhikr) and active awareness of Him (taqwa). The call of the Prophet is described in the Qur’an as something that “gives life” (8:24). Taqwa and dhikr are closely connected as they are the objectives of worship (e.g. see 2:21 and 20:14) and proceed from each other: “Those who have taqwa (conscious awareness of God), when a thought of evil from Satan assaults them, they remember [dhikr], when lo! they see (aright)” (7:201). Taqwa is the benchmark by which God judges man, not gender or race: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who has) the most taqwa. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).” (49:13). Taqwa creates a constant state of awareness and allows the individual to be confident in knowing the right from the wrong: “if you who have taqwa of God He will grant you a criterion (to judge between right and wrong)” (8:29).

Salvation is achieved by entering into the Garden in the eternal presence of God in the Afterlife: “Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. He who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will triumph: For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.” (3:185). Admittance to the Garden is solely by God’s special grace which He reserves for those who believe and work righteousness. Islam, however, recognises man’s weakness, hence God is ever-forgiving when man sins. Salvation therefore depends on man’s eventuality and God’s concomitant grace and acceptance: “verily thy Lord, to those who do wrong in heedlessness, but who thereafter repent and make amends, thy Lord, after this, is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (16:119). This description of soteriology can also been found in the Bible. For example, in Ezekiel 18, only the individual who sins will be to blame, but after committing his wickedness if he “turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all (God’s) decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him” (Ezekiel 18:21-22). Contrary to some Christian criticism of this view, it is not legalistic, mechanical or irrational; but it creates an interface between total reliance on God’s grace and man’s own ability to direct that grace to himself. Although some Christians are pessimistic about man’s ability to engineer states within himself, the Church’s eventual recognition of the need for canon law and the need for obedience to some form of law demonstrates that divinely authorised moral instructions cannot be done without. In Islam, although God’s grace is the ultimate source of salvation, faith and works contribute. The Prophet Muhammad said to his companions “The deeds of anyone of you will not save you.” The companions said, “Even you, O Messenger of God?” He said, “No, even I (will not be saved), unless and until God envelops me in His mercy. Therefore, do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship God in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course [i.e. do not be excessive in your works, as they are not the ultimate means to your salvation] whereby you will reach your target (salvation and the mercy of God).” (Bukhari)