By: Aang Yulius Prihatmoko
Question
Allah created mankind. Some are born into Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian or Atheist families. If one is born in a non-Muslim family, then he does good in this world (maybe it might even be better than the Muslim), will in the afterlife he go to heaven?
(Nabila Haqullah, student of the Faculty of Dentistry, Brawijaya University, 2018 NIM: 185160101111001)
Answer
By: Ustaz Muafa (Mokhamad Rohma Rozikin / M.R.Rozikin).
No, he will not.
A man who has good behavior, spreads goodness during life in the world, provides fellow benefits, and contributes to humanity a lot, but does not believe in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and does not follow his religion, then in the hereafter must go to hell. All his goodness will be the dust that is sown in the afterlife. This is what is explained in the verses of the Qur’an and also the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Muslim narrated,
“By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire”. (HR. Muslim)
As for Muslim, even though his good deeds may be less than that of non-believers, as long as he is truly a believer and fulfills the rights and consequences of his faith, then in the afterlife, Allah would place him to heaven after punishing him for a while in hell due to his sins.
Does that make sense? Does that look fair?
The answer is yes, it is very reasonable and very fair.
As a parable, I will give the following example.
There was a farmer who had two plots of rice fields and he wanted to cultivate his rice fields. He said to the people, “Who is willing to hoe the fields from sunrise to sunset? I’ll give him a salary of USD 1,000?”
Then 10 people came to accept the offer and they worked. However, 5 of them were only able to work until 12.00, 3 of them were only able to work until 3:00 p.m., while only 2 people were able to work until sunset.
The kind owner of the rice field pays $ 1,000 to the two people who work until sunset. As for those who work until 3:00 p.m., he is willing to pay USD 800, while those who work until 12.00 are given USD 600.
Then 10 other workers came and suddenly hoeed the rice fields without being asked and without making a contract. After sunset, they came to the field owner and asked for their salary. Of course the owner became angry with them and was not willing to pay because they worked without being told and without agreements.
Such is the parable of people who convert to Islam and those who have not converted to Islam.
People who embrace Islam are like people who have made covenants and contracts with Allah so that in their good deeds they are entitled to a reward.
As for people who have not converted to Islam, they have never made an agreement with Allah, so that all their goodness is in vain because they have never done anything to please Allah. People who have not embraced Islam, in doing something, are certainly having worldly motivations (to get praise, fame, popularity, remuneration, fragrant name, be remembered as a good person, called a hero, recorded in history, given thanks, remembered as a good person, and others). Even if they claim that their good deeds make Allah happy and they hope for a return in the hereafter, then it only stops at the claim, not really what Allah wants.
Let’s think logically.
People who want to please others, so that their actions really please the people they want to please (not just a claim), first they have to know first what the people they want to please are happy about.
For example, if you want to please me by buying my favorite food, then first you have to know what my favorite food is. It is a lie if you want to please me, but you never seriously find out what food I enjoy. Suppose I don’t like kale, mutton, and slimy food but I like fried rice, shrimp, fried fishes, and lettuce. So, if you want to please me by giving kale and mutton, then that does not please me but remains a claim.
Similarly, people who want to please Allah.
All people who seek His pleasure, first they must know in advance what are pleasing to Allah and what He hates. To get this data, it is impossible for them to ask a pedicab driver or directly interact with Him. The only logical and most appropriate way to the reality of human history for centuries is simply to ask the messengers of Allah, namely who are commonly referred to as the Prophets and Apostles. The Prophets and Apostles are the official channel between man and Allah. They are the formal ambassadors of the Creator. They get revelations from Allah, so information from them is very valid and can be accounted for knowing what Allah loves and what He hates.
So, someone who is truly honest wants to please Allah must look seriously who the messenger of Allah is. If he has found him, then he must follow him, believe his words, and execute all the instructions.
Well, about 14 centuries ago, there was a man from an Arab land named Muhammad bin Abdullah. He claimed to be the last messenger of Allah. The man was known for his purity, honesty, trustful attitude, cleanliness of bloodline, and moral glory. He appeared to claim to be a messenger of Allah with lots of evidence. He could split the moon, exude water from the hands, multiply food, talk to animals, heal the eyes just by spitting on, and many other miracles. However, his greatest miracle was the Qur’an and this miracle applies throughout the ages that are ready to be tested by humans until the Day of Judgment to prove that the bearer is indeed a messenger of Allah.
Up to this point we can understand, if a person who is not Muslim is serious about loving Allah, pursuing His pleasure, and pursuing happiness to live after death, he should be serious about thinking and looking for evidence whether Muhammad was true, the Prophet of Muslims was truly a messenger Allah or not. At this point I dare to challenge, as long as you think objectively, scientifically, seriously, straight logically, surely it will be hard for you to reject the truth that Muhammad was the messenger of Allah. If you can accept this and testify to accept him as Allah’s messenger while following him, then you are officially converted to Islam.
So the main cause of non-believers going to hell even though they are well-behaved people is because they do not worship Allah. People who are serious about wanting to worship Allah as well as possible, they must find out what makes Allah pleased and that makes Him angry. To find this data, they must look for Allah’s messenger. If they are serious about seeking Allah’s messenger, then surely they will believe in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ so that they will automatically convert to Islam.
Wallahua’lam
