A Brief Guide To the Study of Islam: Anthropology and Soteriology

V. The End of Creation

Islam is a way of life. But this way of life was always a wayto eternal victory, reward, and success in the form of promisedal-Jannah , paradise, or literally "Garden". This way leads through death and the grave, and God's judgement, before reaching its end with either eternal bliss or eternal suffering.

A. Death and the Grave

The continued existence of the soul after death is central to Islamic teaching. The Arabs believed that life continued, after a fashion, in the grave. The Quran makes only indirect reference to punishment in the grave (47:27, 6:93). However, the traditions of the prophet affirm the importance of the grave ("the grave is the first stage of the journey to eternity") and address directly the fears of life in the grave. By the time Islamic theologians developed the first creeds Islam had a highly developed doctrine of punishment in the grave (adhab al-kabr ). The tradition states that two angels,Munkar andNakir , will examine each person after death regarding Muhammed (or in a more elaborate form, God, Muhammed, religion, and direction of prayer). The faithful will give a satisfactory answer, and will be left to await the Resurrection. Some traditions suggest that the graves of the faithful will be mystically in communion with theKaba' or the grave of Muhammed, and that in this way they will find comfort and even bliss as they await the resurrection. Those without a satisfactory answer will be beaten continually in the grave until the resurrection, (except on Fridays). Some traditions excuse the righteous unbelievers from this punishment. Regardless of the specific elaboration of tradition, the primary emphasis is on correct belief as the hope for avoiding immediate punishment in the grave. It is a tradition in Islam that as a person dies they whisper theShahada , or basic belief in Allah and Muhammed.

In addition to the hope of avoiding punishment, and finding some comfort in the grave, Islam holds out the possibility of avoiding both the grave and God's final judgement. The prophets are taken directly to paradise upon their death. For ordinary Muslims this privilege is obtained when death comes through martyrdom, primarily when fighting on behalf of Islam. Women who die in childbirth, and those who die in the holy land on a pilgrimage, are also martyrs who obtain the entry into paradise directly after death. This hope has motivated many Muslims to embrace death for Islamic causes, with the modern suicide bombers of Hamas providing a notable recent example. A more benign effect has been to encourage elderly Muslims to put off making their pilgrimage until they are quite feeble in the hope of dying in the holy land, where many who have the means remain illegally after the pilgrimage is over.

B. The Final Judgement

The earliest revelations in the Quran emphasize the unity and majesty of God, and the certainty of God's judgement on those who have not acknowledged God as their creator and submitted to God's will. Muhammed's earliest preaching focused on the day of judgement which would mark the end of the world, and salvation from hell was a dominant theme. Belief in a day of reckoning (qiyamah ) and a resurrection of the dead to judgement (hashr ) is found in earliest Islamic creeds, and is universally regarded as an essential doctrine. The earliest revelations to Muhammed stress the certainty of God's judgement and of punishment in hell-fire for wrong-doers and paradise for the righteous. (88, 99, 101, and many others) Later revelations and traditions greatly expanded the Islamic picture of the last judgement. The most basic elements are:

the last day when the present creation will be annihilated,

the resurrection of the dead,

their presentation before God and the reading out of the complete record of all their good and evil deeds,

the rewarding and punishing of each person strictly according to the balance off their good and evil deeds,

the intercession of Muhammed on behalf of the faithful.

the sending of the successful to Paradise, and the losers to the fire and torment of Hell.

Muslims learn of these through accounts of the final judgement which are portrayed with vivid imagery. Most accept these accounts as literal portrayals of what they will personally face. Avoiding the terrors of hell, and indeed the uncertainty of the judgement day, both motivates Muslims to obedience in God's law, and to seeking to mitigate the effects of their sins.

C. Salvation

Within the Islamic tradition the specific Arabic word for salvation,hajat, is not often used. Instead humans at the final judgement are characterized as "winners" and "losers", as those who have succeeded and those who have failed. Salvation is moving from being a loser to being a winner, and thus obtaining paradise in the end. And this salvation is accomplished by taking the concrete steps, provided by God, which insure that at the final judgement a human life will have more good deeds than bad when weighed in the balance. Islam stresses that these steps are God's provision for human failure, so that while the immediate cause of salvation may be human actions, the possibility of that actions will lead to salvation comes from God's grace and mercy.

1. Sin and its Remedies

The Quran does not present a formal theory of sin (krait's is the general quranic term), but recognizes a difference between faults (dhanb ) and intentional sins (ithm ) The Quran suggests that those who avoid intentional sins will find forgiveness in Allah (53:111), and also offers forgiveness to those who repent of such sins or infidelity. Later Muslim theologians discussed extensively both the distinction between light (sagha'dir ) and heavy (kaba'ir ) sins, which acts belonged to each category, and how they could be remedied so as to avoid eternal punishment. One of the first divisions in Islam was the withdrawal of theKharidjites, who insisted that not onlyshirk (making something or someone equal to God), but heavy sins rendered a person an infidel (kafir ) and required repentance. TheMutalizites also insisted that punishment for heavy sins on the last day could be avoided only through repentance. The controversy centered around the importance of personal deeds versus the importance of belief in both maintaining membership in the community, and in achieving paradise at the final judgement.

The orthodox view, developed by theMurdji'ies , gave priority to belief for both membership in the community and attaining paradise. They stressed that each person is responsible for his or her own sins, and that no person can pay the price for the sins of another. (4:111, 6:164) Yet they were equally forceful in asserting that God is merciful and forgiving, and that no one should despair because of their sin. (12:87, 15:56, 39:53) A system of classification of sins then provided guidelines to specific remedies for sinful acts.[^13]

In the orthodox view thoughts are not sins, or are the lightest of sins, unless they are put into action. They are not taken into account on the judgement day. One tradition of the prophet states: "Allah does not take into account what the members of my community think, as long as they do not pronounce it or carry it out."[^14]

Dhanb , mistakes or faults, are overcome by removing the fault which caused them through knowledge and good works. One tradition (often quoted on the television in Malaysia at the time of evening prayers) stresses that "each footstep on the way to evening worship at the mosque overcomes 10,000 sins." For the believer there was no need to seek special forgiveness for such mistakes.

Heavy sins, normally those which involved consciously breaking God's commands, could be remedied through formally asking for forgiveness (istighfar ), and through restitution if a person had been wronged. Such sins, although avoidable, were regarded as ubiquitous in humans and necessary so that humans would rely on God for mercy and forgiveness. One tradition states that Allah would eliminate his community if it didn't sin, and create another people who would commit sins, ask forgiveness, and be forgiven.[^15] Another states that the prophet prayed for forgiveness several times a day, indicating that no one should think themselves above the possibility of committing heavy sins.

The ultimate sin, shirk, required repentance ( tawbah ), and the embracing of Islam through the confession of the one God, Allah, and the prophet-hood of Muhammed.

2. Intercession (shafa'a).

The concept of intercession (shafa'a ) is found in the Quran, but primarily in the denial that anyone can intercede for another on the day of judgement (2:48, 2:254). However, an elaborate tradition developed supporting the idea that Muhammed would intercede on behalf of the faithful who had committed heavy sins and been cast into hell, and would then lead them into paradise. In some traditions this power to intercede was extended to others, with some maintaining that the followers of all the genuine prophets would have their prophet to intercede for them on the day of judgement. In many parts of the Muslim world intercessory prayers are offered on behalf of the dead, although this has been a matter of great controversy between traditionalist Muslims and those seeking to restore a purer Islam based on only the original teaching of the Quran and Hadith.[^16]

3. Cleanliness

Islam recognizes that religion is not merely a matter of good and bad deeds, but of a relationship with or toward God which has a psychological dimension as well. Muslims may feel distanced or alienated from God not only by sins which can lead to hell, but by unintentional acts or circumstances (such as being touched by an unclean animal, or having impure thoughts about a person of the opposite sex). These make a person unfit to worship, and thus cut off from the primary means by which they live in obedience to God. As in Judaism these actions are circumstances are associated with cleanliness, and indeed in many Islamic languages holiness and cleanliness are interchangeable terms. The Quran and Hadith make many provisions for situations of uncleanliness, primarily through special forms of ritual washing in addition to those prescribed before prayer.

D. Conclusion

In the end Islam seeks to offer a way of life in which, by God's mercy, success at the final judgement is obtainable by all humans, and for the faithful is certain. The life which leads to success follows a way clearly revealed by God, trodden and further explained by God's prophet, and minutely analyzed by generations of Muslim scholars. For every possible misdeed along that way there is (by God's mercy) a corresponding act which will mitigate its ultimate effects. For every misstep there is a way back on track. There are Muslims who are racked with doubt and guilt, and who feel that nothing they do can overcome the burden of their sins. When no Islamic solution meets their psychological and spiritual needs many have found peace in the message of the gospel. However, the history of missions among Muslims has shown that the majority find within their own religion provisions for living toward God's end for the world which give them both confidence in their present life, and hope for the future. Finding ways to present the truth of the gospel, without denigrating the claims of Islamic teaching or offending against Muhammed, remains one of the great challenges of Christian mission.