by Dr. Ali Shehata
How do Muslims view Salvation?
As has been mentioned throughout this book, Islam is the religion that all the Prophets preached since it is submission to the One God. It would make sense then that the matter of salvation should be consistent throughout all the scriptures that God has revealed. This system of salvation can be summarized throughout all scriptures in one word—repentance.
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says “In repentance and rest is your salvation…” [NIV, Isaiah 30:15]
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. [NIV, Luke 5:32]
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” [NIV, Matthew 4:17]
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out [NIV, Acts 3:19]
Salvation in the Quran and Hadith
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed. {24:31}
Say: “O My Servants, those of you who have sinned against their souls. Despair not of the Mercy of God, for God forgives all sins! Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” {39:53}
The Prophet Muhammad pbuh also advised the believers thus,
O people! Turn to God in repentance and seek His forgiveness, for surely I make repentance to Him a hundred times every day. [Muslim]
Due to this great emphasis on repentance and righteousness in Islam, some people have the false notion that in Islam salvation lies only in doing righteous deeds. While certainly, the performance of good deeds is a sign of someone's faith and brings one closer to God and His Mercy, but salvation itself lies in the Grace and Mercy of God as is clear from the following statement of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh:
Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately; and rejoice, but know that no one's good deeds will alone earn him Paradise. The Companions asked, “Not even you O' Messenger of God?” He replied, “Not even me, unless and until God covers me in His Grace and Mercy.” [Bukhari]
Blind Faith?
One of the most common obstacles to understanding the above mentioned principles is the concept of blind faith, wherein people say, “You just have to believe,” or, “It’s a mystery.” And with such statements, some people close their minds and throw away the key, having convinced themselves that religion doesn’t have to make sense in order to be true. Could this be the case then? Is there any possible evidence against such a notion? Yes, there are a number of both scriptural and logical evidences that people neglect when retreating to blind faith. For example, in the New Testament it states:
For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. [NIV, 1 Corinthians 14:33]
Everywhere around us we look and see order and organization. Everyday people study natural sciences like those of chemistry, physics and geology—sciences which are founded entirely upon order, and the constant laws that the Creator has built the Universe upon. Does it make sense then that we should find reason, logic and order in everything but religion? Absolutely not! And once again, this idea is not supported anywhere. Consider the following words also from the New Testament:
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. [NIV, Romans 1:19-25]
So also in the Bible it states that the nature of God is clear and plain, yet people still seek to worship created beings and images as opposed to the Creator. Why? Because they have been misled by the very concept of blind faith.
The verses of the Quran reason with the reader to consider God's perfection, and direct the hearts to reflect upon the order and majestic clarity of His words when He asks mankind the simple question:
Do they not consider the Quran with care? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found in it much discrepancy and contradiction. {4:82}
Yet, God does not author confusion and He has blessed humanity with minds by which to reason and to reflect. He has made His signs clear, plain and abundant for anyone who truly desires to understand. Consider also these clear and logical verses from the Quran:
Do they associate with God as partners those who created nothing and who are themselves created? {7:191}
If there were in the heavens and the earth gods besides God, then there would be absolute chaos. {21:22}
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