I happened upon a Christian missionary-type fellow the other day, sitting at what we Muslims would call a “dawah table”. Usually such a sight would not be of any interest to me, and I find writing against other religious people to be something entirely bothersome and unfit for somebody who dislikes arguing on the internet as much as I do (Seriously, I have no idea how so many people seem to enjoy such a headache-inducing activity), but he had a sign that caught my eye. On it were the words– in all capital letters, naturally– “ARE YOU GOING TO HEAVEN? FREE TEST HERE” I tried to take a picture as inconspicuously as possible, but naturally my camera flash had to go off. Thinking back on it, I should have just asked the man if I could take a picture of his sign, but I had neither the time nor patience to get in a conversation with somebody advertising his brand of the “good news” that day, though don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a thought-provoking conversation with those who hold beliefs other than my own, provided they show the same adab that I do. Anyways, to get back on topic, this is the sight that I beheld:

My mind immediately thought of a certain part of the Qur’an, a few ayat in the chapter named after the mother of the man this older fellow with a rather dour look on his face worshiped as God. Perhaps these ayat may not have been originally about Christians– the Jews or idolaters or any other brand of kafir seem equally likely to say such a thing, after all– but they seem quite relevant nonetheless. After all, how arrogant could a man be to say he knows who will enter heaven and he will enter hell?

أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالَ لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا Then, have you seen he who disbelieved in Our verses and said, “I will surely be given wealth and children [in the next life]?” أَطَّلَعَ الْغَيْبَ أَمِ اتَّخَذَ عِندَ الرَّحْمَٰنِ عَهْدًا Has he looked into the unseen, or has he taken from the Most Merciful a promise? كَلَّا ۚ سَنَكْتُبُ مَا يَقُولُ وَنَمُدُّ لَهُ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ مَدًّا No! We will record what he says and extend for him from the punishment extensively. وَنَرِثُهُ مَا يَقُولُ وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْدًا And We will inherit him [in] what he mentions, and he will come to Us alone.

– Surah Maryam, ayat 77-80

I do, however, understand the man’s reasoning behind the sign, and I imagine the test to see whether one goes to heaven or not is based off the oft-repeated question of the missionary: “Have you accepted Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) as your lord and savior?” Christians would of course respond to my assertion that one shouldn’t say they’re going to heaven until they’re actually there by saying that they had been promised salvation through believing in Christianity. Likewise, we Muslims believe that “Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence,” [9:72] but we must not fall into the trap of thinking that because we say la ilaha ilallah, we’re saved; yet we should also not despair of the mercy of Allah either, for Allah has said in a hadith that “I am as my servant thinks I am”, meaning that if we expect the mercy of Allah, we will (insha’Allah) receive it. The problem begins when we adopt the self-righteous attitude that we alone are saved and all the filthy kafir go to hell, quoting the hadith of the 73 sects to tell people that they better think the way we do, or they’ll burn for it!

Sadly, this type of attitude seems increasingly common with religious people, and it seems even the Muslims are falling prey to this brand of arrogance. This idea that we can be so bold as to say “You’re going to heaven, and you’re going to hell” smells of implicit shirk, where one makes their own judgement into a partner with Allah, when He alone decides such matters. The medieval Shaf’i muhaddith, Al-Dhahabi was famously quoted as saying “If I saw a man prostrating to a grave, I would not call him a kafir until I talked to him”, and yet modern man is so quick to condemn people to call his brother or sister a kafir or condemn them to hellfire. While there most certainly are boundaries of theological tolerance in Islam, and kufr must be clearly defined, we should not follow the fallacy of this missionary and tell people if they’re going to hell or heaven; it is not our place to do so. Likewise, Imam Malik (ra) said that if he found 99 reasons to believe a person is a kafir and one to believe he is not, he would go with the one reason over the ninety-nine.

The classical scholars of Islam had a reason for avoiding these declarations of takfir, something modern man has largely forgotten, that being the fear of Allah. According to one hadith, he who calls his brother a kafir will have the epithet returned to him on the day of judgement if he was wrong, and justly so. To say “I get to choose who is a kafir and who is a Muslim or to say who goes to heaven or who goes to hell” is to usurp the authority of Allah as al-Hakam, the judge, and thus smells of the crime of Iblis, who believed he knew better than Allah out of pride. I suppose you get the point by now, brothers and sisters, that this mentality is something that we must absolutely avoid, even in dealing with people who appear to have clearly fallen off of the straight path. Focus on improving yourself and your own position on the day of judgement before worrying so much about others. For the Messenger of Allah has said that he who has an atom’s weight of kibr, or pride, in their heart, will be unable to enter Jannah. I am not a preacher, and I am not good at preaching, but this is a message I feel needs to be sent, both to myself and the mystery readers of this tiny little blog. Fear Allah in your treatment of others, and show mercy lest you be shown no mercy.