Salvation in Islam

Salvation in Islam is very simple, straight forward and clear. It is to testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is His final messenger. A person must believe in the oneness of God, this is the same message the same formula for success as preached by all previous Prophets from Noah, Ibrahim, Mosa, Jesus and finally Muhammad. God has no partners, sons, daughters or associates in any way. This statement, the worship of one God must but be coupled with action, salvation is not attained merely by speech, there must be speech plus action based on that testimony in order to achieve salvation.

We are born saved

Islam teaches a very powerful concept, that ever person is born pure, the natural disposition of a person is Islam, meaning they naturally submit to one God, they are born without sin. This is a very powerful concept, because it means the default destination of every person is paradise, it’s only those who corrupt their pure innocent nature that will be doomed to the Hellfire. This also shows us that the God of Islam, Allah, is a God of mercy, love and compassion wanting paradise for all people, but it Is man that makes decisions as he grows up that will either bring him closer to Paradise or further away and closer to the Hellfire.

“No child is born but that he is upon natural instinct. His parents make him a Jew, or a Christian or a Magician.”[1]

Every person is born innocent and pure, qualified for paradise, saved but it that persons environment, parents, society that later influence and shape his thoughts potentially in a corrupt manner, away from true salvation.

 If a Muslim was to fall into sin, then the process of redemption is very simple once again, he repents by being regretful, turning away from that act and begging Allah to forgive him.

Christianity and Salvation

According to Christian doctrine, humankind is considered rebellious and sinful. The concept of original sin states that human kind is born already tainted by the sin of Adam and therefore separated from God, and in need of a redeemer. This is totally opposite to Islam, how can one possibly claim that a baby, child or young person be sinful when they don’t understand right from wrong, how can someone pay the price for the actions of another person. So, this doctrine assumes all people right from birth as sinners and doomed to go to Hell unless they accept Christianity. This is in total contrast to the mercy of Islam, the God of Christianity throws everyone in Hell accept those who accept a particular message, the message of a god of anger and punishment.

Sin in Islam

Whenever a person commits a sin, he and only he is responsible for that sin. Every person is responsible for their own actions. Consequently, no human being who has ever lived is responsible for the mistakes made by Adam and Eve. As a matter of fact, Allah forgave them

“Then Adam was inspired with words of Prayer by His Lord, so He accepted his repentance. Surely He is the Acceptor of Repentance, Most Merciful.”[2]

And Allah makes it explicitly clear that no one bears the sins of another.

“And no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden”[3]

The forgiveness of Allah

The God of Islam is a God of mercy, love, forgiveness and more importantly will go onto forgiving, repeatedly as long the person continues to beg Allah for his forgiveness. As humans we make mistakes, so we need constant forgiveness to make up for the human weakness within us. The Prophet informs us:

“Every son of Adam sins, and the best of sinners are the repentant.” [4]

The life of the human is full of tests, Allah promises us that he will test every one of us, the test maybe due to our wealth, children, health anything Allah decides to test us with. Some tests we pass and some tests we fail. Allah has created us with intellect and the ability to make good decisions. On top of all of that, Allah has given guidance, guidance in general, the basic skills of life and guidance with regards to our salvation, and that comes from divine revelation, the Holy Quran.

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is Allah’s final revelation and is applicable for all of humankind, all people, all places, all times. Throughout the Qur’an Allah continually asks us to turn to him in repentance and ask for His forgiveness. This is the only road to salvation.

“And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks God’s forgiveness, he will find God Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [5]

The Qur’an the book of Hope

The Quran is not a book of guidance alone, it is a book of hope. When one reads the Qur’an he feels as though Allah is talking to him directly. And the Qur’an gives hope to all people, a second chance in life with the condition of sincerity of course. Whether a person has committed heinous crimes like murder, stealing, gambling, adultery or even polytheism, Allah promises this person he will forgive this person as long as they truly regret what they did, abstain from it and submit to the worship of One God, Allah promises the person in this situation forgiveness.

“ Say, O Prophet, that Allah says, “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”[6]

Hasan Al-Basri, the greatest Tab’ie, from the second generation of Muslims, said this verse should be called the verses of hope. Allah gently with the most amount compassion invites his slaves to come back to him, and he promises them, irrespective of their sins, that he will most definitely forgive all those who want forgiveness and want to turn over a new leaf. 

Conclusion

Salvation in Islam is a simple concept and process. We can see from the above, Allah is merciful and opens the door of salvation for all sinners, but he also places the ball the humans court, they decide whether they want to be saved if so, then Allah lays the methodology for salvation for the sincere believer to follow.

[1] Hadith Abu Huraira. Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

[2] Al Baqarah 2:37

[3] Faatir 35:18

[4] Jami at-Tirmidhi

[5] An Nis’a 4:110

[6] Az-Zumar 39:53