Understanding 2:62 in the Qur'an

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Iqadeer posed an excellent question in Queer’s post on Jihad. He asked for a clarification of the meaning of the Quran (2:62), also Quran (5:69):

“Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.” (2:62)

“Lo! those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Sabaeans, and Christians - Whosoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.” (5:69)

I think these verse demonstrate the forgiveness and mercy of God. Those who “doeth right” or are “righteous” have “no fear”. Allah knows all, He knows what is in their hearts. And He will choose amongst them on the final day, according to the following verse:

“Lo! those who believe (this revelation), and those who are Jews, and the Sabaeans and the Christians and the Magians and the idolaters - Lo! ** Allah will decide between them on the Day of Resurrection ** . Lo! Allah is Witness over all things.” (22:17)

This demonstrates that Muslims do not have a monopoly on heavan, (at least to me), as Christians and Jews believed they did (and many still do).

These verses, although, should be read in accordance with others in the Qur’an, including:

“O mankind! The messenger hath come unto you with the Truth from your Lord. Therefor believe; (it is) better for you. But if ye disbelieve, still, lo! unto Allah belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Allah is ever Knower, Wise.” (4:170)

“Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them. He will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honour him, and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful.” (7:157)
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So it would be best, to guarantee that no fear shall befall upon you in the hereafter, to believe in the Prophet-hood of Muhammad, and to live your life in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an - live a righteous life. 4:170, states, “believe [in Muhammad’s Prophethood] it is better for you” and 7:157, those who believe in Muhammad “they are the successful.” Belief in Muhammad’s messengership is central to Islam and in fact an integral part of belief in Allah.

That being said we, as Muslims, we cannot (in my opinion) claim a monopoly on heavan (in accordance with 2:62 and 5:69). Although we understand that to live your life in the best way (4:170), we must profess claim in the Prophethood of Muhammad, we cannot claim that other groups will be guaranteed hell-fire. Such judgments are up to Allah, (in accordance with 22:17).

I’d appreciate your thoughts, I know opinion varies on the meaning of these verses.

Achtung :wink:

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Achtung
I've always believed the same.

Muslims are not guaranteed heaven just because we are muslim. I also believe that people who may not have a religious designation i.e. Christian, Muslim, Jew etc but believe in one god and do good….also can go to heaven.

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What? You have gone over to the Liberal Islam! Remember, your Fundamentalist Islam labels liberals as 'munafiqen' or heretics.

1) Brothers: Abdulla, Asif and Iqadeer - please RE-State your beliefs on this matter and that is:

"If you think Shia muslims, Qadiani, Hindu, Christian, Jews all will go to Paradise, then I believe you are wrong. Because Quran clearly tells us the condition for going to Paradise. And it clearly says one who rejects Quran is a disbeliever and will be the fuel of hell. It is surprising to see your comments as I already gave some ayats in support of what i said, were they difficult to understand??"

2) Iqadeer says in the post: What is 'Jihad'? I have re-produced a section from Iqadeer's post and it goes to the very heart of a Fundamentalist's psyche which is: Every non-Sunni & non-muslim is a kafir (infidel) and is toast. Iqadeer is complexed when Achtung is telling him that their Paradise will now have to be shared with people of other faith.

"Does that mean they all will go to paradise. What reason and motivation does that leave me to obey any injunctions of Islam?"

3) Rana Jahangir says in the post: Clearing out some misconception Indians have on this Forum (Politics Section of GupShup).

"Regarding the volunteers who go to Kashmir and die there. Most of those young volunteers are students of madrassahs(religous school). Before, many volunteers went to Afghanistan and died there. They are called "mujahideen" holy warriors who volunteer to go and die in Jihad to achieve "shahada". They are not paid a single penny. Yes they are told and they strongly believe that if they die fighting they will go straight to heaven. When I was 15 I was brain washed by a maulvi in a nearby mosque."
Yes, folks: maulvis/mullahs (muslim clerics)telling a naive follower: Die in the war against the Infidels and Paradise is yours.
"if a person dies or is killed and his beliefs were that of kafir (Infidel), he is a jahannami(Condemned to Hell)as per Quran".
Similar assurances were made by the late Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran when he sent thousands of young men to their death against the Iraqis. The Taleban leaders of Afghanistan and the para-military fascist group Sipah-i-Sabah of Pakistan, openly condemn Shia muslims as Infidels & Heretics and revel in the glory of: "if a person dies or is killed and his beliefs were that of kafir(infidel), he is a jahannami(Condemned to Hell) as per Quran".
No, Achtung - your fundamentalist muslims HAVE staked their sole claim on Heaven; what you are stating above is 'IN YOUR OPINION' only, and not the intrepretation of Fundamentalist Islam; your quote:
"That being said we, as Muslims, we cannot (IN MY OPINION) claim a monopoly on heavan (in accordance with 2:62 and 5:69.)"

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Adbul wrote: "No, Achtung - ** your fundamentalist muslims ** HAVE staked their sole claim on Heaven;"

What do you mean by ** "your fumdamentalist muslims" ** . Are you implying that I have a following of fundamentalist Muslims. No offense, but your post makes no sense. It has nothing to do with my post. My post is discussing the meaning of a verse in the Qur'an. If you wish to discuss it, amicably, please respond with respect, otherwise you won't get the time of day from me or anyone else here in this forum. Most of us are getting tired of your relentless cut and paste posts.

Adbul wrote: "what you are stating above is 'IN YOUR OPINION' only, and not the intrepretation of Fundamentalist Islam; your quote: "That being said we, as Muslims, we cannot (IN MY OPINION) claim a monopoly on heavan (in accordance with 2:62 and 5:69.)"

Yes I said its 'in my opinion'. You just proved that you can read. Something many of us were questioning. Obviously their are differences in opinions, conservative, liberal, fundamentalist. Whatever label you want to put on them, they exist. I mentioned this in my original post.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my posts to further your campain to demonize Islam and Muslims, mixing fact with fiction. Further, don't bring what others said in un-related posts into mine.

Achtung

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Thank you for admitting that the remarks re:Paradise was 'ONLY YOUR OPINION' and does not reflect the views and intrepretation of Fundamentalist Islam. Islam's views on non-believers & paradise is as outlined in my response dated May 7, 1999.
Achtung-you tried to put a different spin to the subject of "non-believers and paradise", and chose to over-ride the mainstream intrepretations held by the Fundamentalist muslims. Based on your comments dated May 7, I'll urge that you ignore my posts.
Dear Readers: The Source of my posts on the following threads are very reliable, top notch journalists in their fields; The purpose of the thread is to EDUCATE & INFORM:
1)HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST WOMEN
2)HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES-MIDDLE EAST
3)TALEBAN-IS THIS THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM?
Please visit the above threads to view the posts and comments of Achtung & his associate Mr.Xtreme.
Wa'salam

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aDbulmaliCk,

Achtung has his own views and they are different to mine. Please do not call him my associate unless you can back it up with evidence. Otherwise you are nothing but a lying fraud.

The truth is that anybody who is not prepared to spit on the name of Islam and defame muslims worldwide, is in your view, a fundamentalist. Where do you get this term "Fundamentalist"? Quran? Sunnah? Or is it HMV, the Oxford dictionary? Give me your definition of Fundamentalist and then I'll let you know where I stand.

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Br AbdulMalick,
Do as your name says. You are but a servant of Malick i.e. the master of universes, and nothing more. Your western-liberal mind has decieved you into thinking that you can redefine the Islamic values and traditions that have been cherished and revered by muslims throughout the centuries. Your arrogance by rejecting the interpretation of Islamic ideas as barbaric and outdated is enough to declare you a heretic. What qualifies you as a judge to challenge these ideas that have remained unchanged throughout the muslim civilization. A mere college education in a westernized liberal institution?. Just because you may be living in a western country does not mean that you have to do as they say and say what they like. If prophet Mohammad were to return to this world today and carry his mission, you would be the first to denounce him as a fundamentalist, usurping minority rights. You and I both know the laws of Quran and shariat. Why argue?. If you do not have the courage or decency to follow sunnat by looking like prophet Mohammad and asking your womenfolk to wear hijab, then atleast do not invoke the wrath of Allah by mislabelling people who are trying to obey Quranic injunctions as fundamentalists. By the way, if obeying the Quranic injunctions and following the sunnat makes one a fundamentalist then I cheerfully assume this title without any concerns to my life from your western masters whose ideology you are championing.

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Brother Iqadeer,
I enjoy reading your posts and in this particular post you mention that If Hazrat Muhammed Rasool-il-allah (pbuh)were here TODAY, then I would call our prophet (pbuh) a 'fundamentalist'. Brother Iqadeer, I would like you to read my response and think about it because you will see where we disagree and you won't feel so bad about me; here it goes: If our Prophet (pbuh) were here today then his Islam would reflect the present time and circumstances; our Prophet (pbuh) would not make us practice his Islam of 1400 years ago.
As I said before: Quran is allegorical and subject to intrepretations; it's intrepretations must change with the time. However, that's easier said than done -- Ijtihad (Process of Revisions) has been closed for any revisions of Al-Quran or the Sharia.
Wa-salam,
Abdulmalick

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AbdulMalick wrote

Quran is allegorical and subject to intrepretations; it's interpretations must
change with the time.<
There is part-fact and part-fiction in the above statement. Quran is not entirely allegorical. Only a portion of it is. The ayaats dealing with shariat and jurisprudence are extremely lucid. Such as the ones explaining the hajj, fasting(ramadan), marriage, divorce, adultery, division of legacy etc. Ofcourse, if you will read through the later chapters such as Noor, Zumur, and others you will find verses pertaining to Allah's attributes and acts, and mention of Arsh, kursi, Qalam, angels, which are all part of our faith in the unseen and can never be taken in literal sense or comprehended using our mental perception. We know that these things exist and are among the things regarding which Allah, in his infinite wisdom, deems unnecessary for us to have a physical vision of. This has always been the customary interpretation of such ayaats. I am quite unsure as to specifically what you desire to be interpreted differently in modern times. You also wrote
Ijtihad (Process of Revisions) has been closed for any revisions of Al-Quran or the Sharia.<
Yes, and there is a good reason for it. Had that not have taken place, people would be interpreting the Quran according to their desires and wild fancies. Its not enough to be just breathing and having a warm body to interpret the Quran. It requires deep knowledge of Arabic, Hadith, Jurisprudence and a few other disciplines to understand the context of why any particular ayaat was revealed. Also if it be allowed to interpret the Quran as I like it to be then depending on my inclination and motives, I may end up totally altering the true nature of Islam since I will be guided more by my desires than discovering the truth.
If our Prophet (pbuh) were here today then his Islam would reflect the present time and circumstances; our Prophet (pbuh) would not
make us practice his Islam of 1400 years ago.<

Islam has its own message that is more powerful than any other and its based on justice and good conduct. Prophet Mohammad was not sent as a conformist or pacifier but rather he came to shatter all belief systems and replace them with the one given directly by Allah. To this end, he strove passionately and was given victory by Allah. By material standards, Persia and Byzantine were more advanced than Saudi Arabia back then, but that did not make the prophet to tone down his message to accomodate their sensibilities. Wherever Islam was spread, it uprooted the old practices and instituted the shariat. Central to the message of Islam is the idea to forsake one's previous customs and practices by adopting Islamic principles in their entirety. Had that not been the case, we would have noticed the sahaba following their own brand of Islam that was tailored to suit thier individual predilections.

In the end, we must look at the need why we must interpret the Quran differently. If it be so for the sake of nonmuslims to attract them to Islam, Alhamdollilah, Islam is the fastest growing religion and claims converts from all races. When they convert to Islam, majority of them study it deeply and are well aware of its aspects regarding hijab, punishment etc. I have seen white women wearing hijabs and not feeling a bit inferior or outdated by doing so. The feeling to conform to the contemporary norms of the so-called civilized western society arises out of an inferiority complex that West knows best. Unfortunately, we have every day stories of violence, drug use, rape, and teen pregnancy to shatter this illusion. Even the Americans today are talking about lost family values. They plainly don't have any answers and majority of them are deeply alienated from the bigotry of the christian church here.
Islam also grants rights to the minorities as long as these minorities do not infringe upon the Islamic law. Americans don't care if you're from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or whatever, if you break their law. You heard about Michael Fay being flogged in Singapore and every body here decried Singapore for that. Republicans here did not think so. They thought he deserved it. If someone in United States burns a flag what happens to his bill of rights then?. Similarly, when you break Islamic injunctions in a Muslim country you are asking for trouble. You should know better.