The gravest sin
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Associating
partners with God is the gravest sin. The consequence of this sin is that the
one who dies in such a state and has not repented dies in a state of disbelief.
This will never be forgiven by God. (This applies to major forms of
associating partners with God. There are lesser forms that do not lead to
disbelief, such as giving charity for other than God, obeying someone instead
of God and showing off one’s good deeds. However, major forms of associating
partners with God such as praying to other than Him and believing other things
are worthy of worship lead to disbelief. This however is a nuanced topic with
many variables to consider, I suggest further study on this topic, as it is not
the objective to go in to detail here.):
“Indeed, God does not forgive association with Him, but He
forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates
others with God has certainly committed a tremendous sin.” (Quran 4:48)
However, if one associates partners with God and repents
to Him and returns to the path of oneness, he or she will be forgiven, and
their transgressions will be transformed into good deeds:
“And those who invoke not any other deity along with God…
Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds; for those, God
will change their sins into good deeds, and God is Oft Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” (Quran 25:68 70)
The one who has associated partners with God and has
never repented, and dies in that state (and has no excuse), has essentially
oppressed themselves by closing the door to God’s mercy. Their hearts have
‘eternally’ rejected God’s guidance and mercy; therefore, they have alienated
themselves from the Divine. Those who reject God will plead to go back to
earth to do righteousness, but their hearts have ‘eternally’ rejected:
“[For such is the state of the disbelievers], until, when
death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My Lord, send me back that I might do
righteousness in that which I left behind.’ No! It is only a word he is
saying.” (Quran 23:99-100)
This self-imposed spiritual reality is a form of denial.
The person has denied all the just and fair opportunities that God has given
them to embrace His mercy and love:
“God has not wronged them, but they wronged themselves.” (Quran
3:117)
“This is reward for what your hands have done. And God is
never unjust to His servants.” (Quran 8:51)
It must be noted that according to Islamic theology, if
someone was not given the right message of Islam, and sought the truth, they
will have an excuse and will be tested on the Day of Judgment.[1] God is
The-Just and no one will be treated unjustly. This is why, when a non-Muslim
has passed away, it is considered un-Islamic to pass judgment on their final
abode (however, some scholars have said this may not apply to those who never
sought the truth or had sufficient knowledge of Islam). No one knows what is in
someone else’s heart and whether someone was given the right message in the
right way. However, from a creedal and societal point of view, non-Muslims who
died will be buried as non-Muslims. This does not mean that this is their
final judgement. In reality, God is maximally and perfectly just and merciful,
so no one will be treated unmercifully and no one will be treated unjustly.
People who have heard the message of Islam in a sound
and correct way will have to account for their denial. However, whoever dies
without having heard the message of Islam, or heard it in a distorted form,
will be given an opportunity to accept the truth. Echoing the principles from
the various verses of the Quran and the Prophetic traditions, Al-Ghazali summarises
this nuanced approach. He argues that people who never heard the message of
Islam will have an excuse: “In fact, I would say that, God willing, most of the
Byzantine Christians and the Turks of this age will be included in God’s mercy.
I’m referring here to those who live in the farthest regions of Byzantium and
Anatolia who have not come into contact with the message… They are excused.”[2]
Al-Ghazali also argues that the people who heard
negative things of the Prophet Muhammad, may God’s peace and blessings be upon
him, and his message will also be excused: “These people knew the name
‘Muhammad’, but nothing of his character or his qualities. Instead, all they
heard since childhood is that a liar and imposter called ‘Muhammad’ claimed to
be a prophet… This party, in my opinion, is like the first party. For even
though they’ve heard his name, they heard the opposite of what his true
qualities were. And this does not provide enough incentive for them to
investigate [his true status].”[3]
The true teachings of Islam are a barrier to extremism.
In my view, all forms of extremism are based on an ‘ideological hardness’ that
hardens people’s hearts. What I mean by this is that people adopt
non-negotiable, binary and negative assumptions about the world and other
people. This makes one group of people ‘otherize’ another. Otherization is
not simply labelling people as belonging to other groups. This is natural and
part of modern society. Otherization usually happens when one group describes
another group in a negative way and maintains that each member is the same. This
hardens people’s hearts and prevents them from positively engaging with other
people who seem to be different. Islam does not otherize people. It does not
assert that everyone who is not a Muslim is ultimately doomed or evil. The Quran
makes it quite clear that people constituting other groups “are not all alike”[4] and
describes some of them as “upright”[5].
The Quran also applies this concept to believers too; some are righteous and
some are not. Nevertheless, Islam teaches that every human being must be
treated with mercy, compassion and fairness.
Footnotes:
[1]
This is based on the following authentic tradition narrated by Ahmad and Ibn
Hibban: “There are four (who will protest) to God on the Day of Resurrection:
the deaf man who never heard anything, the insane man, the very old man, and
the man who died during the fatrah (the interval between the time of
Jesus (upon whom be peace) and the time of Muhammad, may God’s peace and
blessings be upon him. The deaf man will say, ‘O Lord, Islam came but I never
heard anything.’ The insane man will say, ‘O Lord, Islam came but the children
ran after me and threw stones at me.’ The very old man will say, ‘O Lord, Islam
came but I did not understand anything.’ The man who died during the fatrah
will say, ‘O Lord, no Messenger from You came to me.’ He will accept their promises
of obedience, then word will be sent to them to enter the Fire. By the One in
Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if they enter it, it will be cool and safe
for them.” There are other hadiths and verses of the Quran that indicate that
God will not allow anyone to enter hell until people have been given the
correct message of Islam.
[2] Al-Ghazali, M. A. (1993) Fayasl al-Tafriqa Bayn al-Islam
wa-l-Zandaqa. Edited by M. Bejou. Damascus, p. 84. An online copy
is available at: http://ghazali.org/books/fiysal-bejou.pdf
[Accessed 21st November 2016].
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
The Quran, Chapter 3, Verse 113. This verse refers to the ‘people of the book’.
However, the principle applies to all groups of people.
[5]
Ibid.