Can atheists go to Jannah?

[Zainab_M]

 




We know the answer is NO. 

WHY?
Because this is a basic fact confirmed in the Quran dozens of times.   If a person dies in a state of kufr or disbelief (be it through atheism, agnosticism or polytheism or any other transgressive approach contradicting or rejecting Monotheism or Tawheed) will not be entitled to forgiveness on the Day of Judgement.  That simply means those folks DO NOT go to Paradise. It's the verdict of God Almighty in the Quran and no sheikh, no pharisee, no "jihadi" can change that.  Anyone who does not agree with it, should produce a Verse from the Quran to prove otherwise.  No other form of repudiation can be accepted.

"And whoso seeketh as religion other than the Surrender (to Allah) it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in the Hereafter." (3:85)

"Or do those who commit ill-deeds suppose that We shall make them as those who believe and do good works, the same in life and death ? Bad is their judgment!"  (45:21).   Kindly note, the expression "those who commit ill-deeds" refers to people without Faith, lack of Faith itself seen as an ill-deed which makes them different from "those who believe and do good works."

.. Just quoting two Verses out of many, many more expressing the same principle.


Acquiring knowledge & information requires you to be an avid reader.  This is a lengthy piece. If you cannot go through it in one go, never mind.  Bookmark it and read it over several days. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
There is a little known Saudi Sheikh whom they call an "intellect" named Hasan Farhan al-Malki.  He is showing yet another yellow streak of Wahabiism (portraying his own type of liberalism aiming at distortion of Islam, as usual).  In complete violation of Quranic tenets, this man gives the benefit of the doubt to atheists and polytheists claiming that they can have the prerogative to go to Paradise like anyone else even if they die as disbelievers.

Please note, this is the other facet of Wahabiism.  One side of it, which we all know, is peddled by the Wahab clerics for the common masses that highlights traditional radicalism.  The other brand, touted by ones like Al-Malki, caters to a strange notion of liberalism welcomed by the elites of the Arabian peninsula and so-called "progressives" who are interested in tailoring Islamic values according to their convenience to fit into their lifestyles.

To make a long story short, Hasan al-Malki who is referred as an ""intellect"" is playing games by spinning his words and replacing the clarity of the Noble Quran with the obscurity of his mind in order to delude naive and spiritually/morally lazy men and women looking for shortcuts and convenience.  In all such lectures where sheikhs and muftis incline to support disbelievers, the laggards who have made no preparation for the Hereafter are delighted with a wholehearted approval.  You will always observe that.

Though fortunately in the Muslim community at large, not many have fallen for it.  Hasan al-Malki is popular only in the circles of the so-called Progressive Muslims (a very small denomination masquerading as modernists within the Muslim global community), inclusive of Free Minds


INTOLERANCE OF THE BIGOTED ADMIN OF THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
Just to let you know, the behavior of the uploader of this video at Youtube (ID 'ShogunV') is outrageous.  The man is cranky, nasty, with zero tolerance for disagreements.  His biggest disadvantage is his lack of education.  While trolling my comments, he accuses me of "trolling" with rude interruptions and personal attacks (never on topic responding to any of my vital queries on the lecture).  Anyway, forget the sulky grinch. The bizarre creature is much too bigotedly ignorant for a civil, on-topic discussion.  And certainly not a practicing Muslim which he admitted himself confessing he wasn't into the Quran and he didn't care for Quranic quotes; speaking with references to the Quran was viewed as "hypocrisy" by this lowlife. 

VIDEO LINK AND SUMMARY OF THE LECTURE:
The video is at the following 2 links.  Duration approximately 6 minutes.  Short one so I'm sure everybody will have the time to view it.  Do watch it first, before proceeding to read the following details otherwise you might not properly decipher the write-up.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=166&v=Qj3JrYLYCQ8
                                OR
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/quranalyzeit/2015/04/05/watch-can-atheists-go-to-heaven-according-to-quran-a-surprising-answer-by-a-muslim-scholar/


HIGHLIGHTING THE SHEIKH'S LECTURE, POINT-WISE:

As you must have seen, the Sheikh has quoted certain Quranic Verses but hasn't explicitly connected them with his views. 

He starts expressing his views that people of ancient times who died before the message of Monotheism (Tawheed) reached them are not kaffirs.  

The Sheikh also says that people of present times who are uneducated and ignorant and who do not know about the presence of the Quran are not kaffirs either.  He tries to explain this by citing an example of a non-Muslim rural woman from Sri Lanka working on the fields. 

According to Malki there are more people in Heaven from "other nations than from the Muslims" as if he knows the unseen.  He uses such statements to support his idea that atheists aren't kaffirs.

Verse 51:56 where Allah says that He created humankind and jinn to worship Him, Sheikh Malki brings up the query why we worship Allah, adds that the answer is in the Quran but does not elaborate.  He quotes V.51:56 but fails to explain how it has a bearing on the theme of his discourse, presuming atheists can also go to Heaven.

The Sheikh says "Kufr means 'covering up.'  And 'denial' alludes to covering up existence of Allah and believing in Him.  Well this is simple enough and everyone knows it.  It's the literal definition of Kufr.

According to Sheikh al-Malki, the Quranic interpretation of righteousness is primarily refraining from inflicting harm and aggression.

The Sheikh then stated that polytheism isn't just idol worship. It also includes idolizing rabbis, priests and dignitaries with the status of divinity.  That's correct. It's also something everyone knows.  Not a new discovery.

Then he brings the issue of earthly violence linking it to aggression and continues with the same aspect which he is continuously using with twists and turns to assert that disbelievers may also go to Heaven as they have superior non-aggressive qualities than Muslim nations.

The Sheikh quotes Verse 22:45 which says "worship preserves from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of Allah is more important." but never discusses this Verse linking it with the topic of his lecture as atheists do not remember Allah, because of which they are called atheists and they address their own selves as atheists.

Then Malki gives another spin to his words to buy naive minds, quote: "Quran does not say to be thankful that you maybe righteous, or be righteous that you may worship."  Needless to say, this notion completely refutes Quranic principles.  Will discuss under 'detailed comments to lecture' later in this post.

When reminded that Allah does not forgive the sin of ascribing partners, he replies  "It's the amount of polytheism Allah does not forgive" apparently implying that there is an "amount" which can be forgiven.  An obnoxiously false thing to say!  InshAllah, will discuss in the comments section of this post.  In the meantime, keep reading .... 

The sheikh finally puts the question:

"What is Islam in the Quran?"  He then adds, "According to Quran Islam is made up of 3 stages - dedication to the truth, as they may believe it or renounce it.  Second stage is submitting to the truth.  The third stage is the good deeds that reflect from the submission."  This is perfectly correct.

He goes further stating, "If you examine this kind of Islam (submission), do you find it in other nations or in us?  Honest dedication to information, submitting to true information, and good deeds that stem from it. This is the Quranic meaning of Islam."  Our analysis on the Sheikh's manipulation is unveiled in the comments section of this post.  Continue reading please.


DETAILED COMMENTS & ANALYSIS ON SHEIKH HASAN AL-MALKI'S LECTURE WITH DISCREPANT INTERPRETATIONS OF ATHEISTS GOING TO HEAVEN:

Only Allah can decide whether or not ancient folks who died before receiving HIS Message will go to Hell.  Furthermore, Divine Messages of Monotheism were periodically sent to humankind from the time of Prophet Adam.  But each time Allah sent His messenger with His Message, it ended up getting gradually corrupted by later generations of humans.  So, only Allah would know who precisely are the folks  that were left as heathens because they didn't get the Message and whether or not they deserve His pardon.   Malki is in no position to wrangle on such an issue, much less assert it with the sort of confidence he has displayed.

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Al-Malki's view by quoting an example of a Sri Lankan village woman not knowing about Islam and therefore not being a kaffir is largely wrong particularly from the modern perspective, if not almost completely.  First, the Quran is meant for entire humanity.  Anyone can reach out to it.  Second, in modern times only a few of those who have been living amidst the generations of heathens in the depth of rural third world societies may not know of the existence of the Quran.  But I repeat, these are very few.  Thirdly, in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Burma etc. even villagers do know what the Monotheistic Religion is.  For this reason we often read and watch riots against Muslims in those countries.  In Burma (villages included) ethnic cleansing against the Muslim minority (Rohingyas) has been going on by the Buddhist majority in which until now 250,000 Muslims have been killed only because of their Faith.  Images of Quranic pages strewn and desecrated have gone viral around the cyber world.  This has been officially recognized as a genocide.  In 2014 similar copy-cat riots against Muslims by the Buddhist majority spread to both rural and urban Sri Lanka in which several hundreds of Muslims were killed, thousands injured and their properties destroyed. What does this prove?  Sheikh Malki's presumption that a Sri Lankan woman working on the fields is not a kafir because she doesn't know about the Message is a misconception in majority of such cases.  Most of them do know about the Message, but instead of reaching out to it, they want to attack and destroy it.  That's what modern history itself tells us.  It was a shocking oversight by a man who is supposed to be an "intellect."

The other category of people in modern times are the atheists, agnostics and polytheists who belong to wealthy families (including elites) with basic academic education and more in many cases.   They definitely are aware of the Quran and its ideology of Monotheism.  Yet they deny it and ignore it.  Not just that.  Many also nurture hostilities leading to verbal disrespect and  violence towards submitters.  Atheist Stephen Craig Hicks killed three young Muslim students in North Carolina on February 2015 because he didn't approve of their Faith.  The pastor, Terry Jones, burned the Noble Quran.  These are not isolated minds.  They make up an entire segment of their own.  If such folks aren't kaffirs then the weird Arab "scholars" might as well remove the term 'kaffir' from the Arabic dictionary. Sheikh Malki did not even talk about them.  That's because he knows that they are kuffar but won't say it for diplomatic purposes for which he made the first 6 minutes of this video.  On the contrary, Al-Malki quickly claims that people of Japan, USA and Europe are not kaffirs.  Of course, that's his blind assertion; he never explained why he logically presumed that nor did he mention who gave him the authority for such sweeping judgments and generalizations. 

While quoting Verse Verse 22:45 which says "worship preserves from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of Allah is more important." the Sheikh never connected it with the topic of his lecture.  Neither did he mention the fact that many of those 'educated' atheists whom he admires as non-aggressive, abhor the remembrance of Allah.  Nor did he  mention of the growing hostile trend of atheists toward people of Faith from the uneducated segments of the global community.  The manipulated allusions of Sheikh Malki show a distinct inclination that all pure atheists are real good souls and the best of humanity.  It's astounding to see the false conviction with which this man is taking the naive for a ride. 

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Quoting the Sheikh: "Quran does not say to be thankful that you maybe righteous, or be righteous that you may worship."  Needless to say, this notion completely refutes Quranic principles.  The Quran categorically tells believers to thank Allah for guiding them.  The Quran also makes it clear that righteousness without the thought of worshiping Allah is rendered useless in the Hereafter. A Quranic evidence of these two concepts are the following two Verses out of many more.

"Deem not your Surrender a favour unto me; but Allah doth confer a favour on you, inasmuch as He hath led you to the Faith, if ye are earnest."  (49:17).

"Whoso desireth the life of the world and its pomp, We shall repay them their deeds herein, and therein they will not be wronged. Those are they for whom is naught in the Hereafter save the Fire. (All) that they contrive here is vain and (all) that they are wont to do is fruitless." (11:15-16).

Verses 11:15 -16 above refer to the disbelievers who maybe non aggressive and hard working but they only work for earthly or materialistic purposes without any spiritual contentment. Thus their earthly good deeds get "date expired" when they arrive in the Hereafter.  On the other hand, if you do good deeds in this world with the thought of Allah in your heart, you will be similarly remembered by HIM in the Hereafter as Divine Justice never falters.  But if you forget HIM in this world, HE will grant you no importance in the next world; in that case you will only get the fruits of your earthly hard work as long as you're in this earthly world.  This concept has been affirmed, ratified and re-ratified in numerous Verses of the Quran from cover to cover.
 

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Quoting Sheikh al-Malki ""It's the amount of polytheism Allah does not forgive" apparently implying that there is an "amount" which can be forgiven.  If this is what the Sheikh truly believes, he should have quoted a Quranic Verse as proof that only a certain amount of polytheism is unforgivable.  Would any of you know any Quranic Verse which makes such a concession on the transgression of a sin like polytheism ??   I do NOT know of any such Verse because there exists NO such Verse.  Whether you attribute one partner to Allah or 500 partners makes no difference.  You quit the bounds of Monotheism and step onto the corruption of polytheism the moment you attribute even a single partner to Allah.  Anyone who knows even the basics of the Quran and the essence of Monotheistic Faith would know that this fact is undeniable. 

---------

Now concentrate on the following paragraph please.  It's an ideal elucidation by the Sheikh playing with words to replace the Quranic clarity with obscurity of the crafty human mind with surreptitious motive.

The game playing begins.  He mentions Islam means submission alright, but won't explain the specifics of "submission."  He mentions honest dedication to information and submitting to it, but won't highlight the nature of that "information."  Without specifying these aspects, one cannot be sure of the type of "good deeds" he is referring to that "stem from it," because he hasn't given any details on his idea of "submission" and "information."  "Good deeds" according to such people could mean just about anything.  It doesn't necessarily mean the Halal acts stated in the Quran.  For many of these Sheikhs peddling the ideology of Arab elites of the oil-rich peninsula, fornication, same gender relations, drinking, going to Las Vegas for a night's gambling etc. are all permissible with similar twists and turns as displayed in this video for the defense of atheists.  Thus, they adamantly refrain from elaborating their ideology because the Quran supports nothing of it and they are aware of that.  They elude transparency to keep their offensive thoughts hidden and instead use generalization for preaching.  Al-Malki is playing the same sport in favor of atheists.  Since atheists do NOT abide by Quranic values, Al-Malki is compelled to stick to the strategy of obscurity otherwise his misinterpretations will be caught.

Simply "honest dedication to information, submitting to true information" as stated by the Shiekh is again a broad expression.  Unless it's analyzed one cannot guarantee the rise of "good deeds" compatible with the concept of righteousness in the Quran.  The Shiekh does not want to get into too many details on the issue of "submitting to true information" as he wants to downplay the concept of Monotheism which is the essence of Quranic principles and the most vital precondition for advancing ahead with the implementation of Divine Commandments.

According to Hasan al-Malki, other than being meek and non-aggressive, all other issues in the Quran are apparently insignificant. He has clearly discarded Monotheism as the first priority for Salvation.  He keeps underscoring "righteousness" but never highlights its vast and extensive sphere from the Quranic perspective, which is, BELIEF IN MONOTHESIM + GOOD CONDUCT = RIGHTEOUSNESS.   The crux of Al-Malki's preaching underscores the concept of human to human submission rather than humans submitting to God Almighty.


MISCELLANEOUS FACTS TO BE KNOWN:
This video is going around like a sliced hot cake in the circles of "Progressive Muslims" (Free Minds included) who have also claimed the following falsehoods:-

- drinking is allowed in the Quran.

- homosexuality is not Haram in the Quran.

- Paradise is a state of mind and not something factual or tangible.

- Fasting is not for 30 days but only for 10 days.

- Quran does not mention the Prophet (pbuh) was an orphan.

- Quran does not allude the Prophet (pbuh) was illiterate, their approach being that since the Prophet was not illiterate, hence the Quran's literary language isn't a miracle ....
and several more highly offensive rants brazenly contradicting the Quran.


If you care for the ultimate well-being of your soul, then beware of men with odious hidden agendas like Sheikh Hasan bin Farhan al-Malki just the way you need to beware of scums like Sheikh Mohammad Arifi who permitted rape and fornication of Syrian women by so-called jihadis and the murderer Abu Bakr Baghdadi of ISIL, favorite of Senator John McCain.  They all peddle the same Forbidden ideas and practices in their own differing ways to suit their different purposes, constantly at work seeking ways and means to distort or dismiss the contents of Noble Quran via their speech or so-called academic writings.


Related post:
Good conduct without belief NOT enough to enter Paradise

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Wa'salam my sis.  Sorry for showing up later than I promised.  Your points are awesome.

On watching the weird video, I would add that hose who honestly tried to follow their Prophets in the past will apparently be rewarded. There's no such thing as oversight in Divine Justice.  The question is, what if there were many more folks who rejected their Prophets, and we know many did with confirmations from the Quran.  It's about those that this Saudi shiekh is trying to advocate for.

If I have no right to presume that a prostitute will go to Hell (and indeed I don't), then how does Farhan the genius know so well that atheists don't qualify for Hell?  And mind you guys, he isn't saying that atheists might not go to Hell.  He is more into categorical statements that they won't.  Of couse, he has presented absolutely NO Quranic Verse to confirm that.  He has only twisted & bent his speech and worst of all, spun around Quranic verses not connected to the topic, leaving many of his points unfinished in this sketchy interview.

It's not for us to answer such queries for the simple reason that only God Almighty has the accurate panoramic view of truth, history and the inside story of every soul from start of Earth until the time it ends.  He will take care of all such matters and decide accordingly.  Divine Justice is flawless and none will be wronged.  This HE has confirmed in the Quran which the Sheikh Farhan forgot and is trying to act as  mr. know-all.

Just to let you know, the behavior of the uploader of this video at Youtube (ID 'ShogunV') is cranky, nasty (as if going through male menopause) and his attitude is opinionated with zero tolerance for disagreements.  He interrupted me very rudely accusing me of "trolling" and stopped me from expressing my views/ clarifications on some relevant matters of the Quran which they were intentionally misinterpreting in the comments section.  Anyway forget the bugger.  I threw his bickering back on his face .......

These are the pharisaical so-called Prog.Muslims or FMs, sis.  Their response is positive only if you talk back after them.  Other than an affinity to lie, their field of expertise is their inability to agree to disagree.  Any dissent voice to their bizarre misinterpretations send them to cranky, nagging state of peri-menopause. You've already summed up their views at the end of your post very comprehensively, something which they label as "Quranic."  After all, we were there at FMs.  We know how they think and who they are.  They claim to follow the Quran yet if you quote anything from the Quran they throw into a fit accusing you of hypocrisy.  Neither do they believe in the human conscience, and of course there's no question of them accepting the fact about the dependency of the human conscience on the Quran for its development.  The PMs are the most pigheaded brutes you'll ever come across, even worse than Hadithists .. if at all there's any scope for that. 

As I read for myself, your points were excellent.  His confrontation was simply based on not having answers to those points so he began personal attacks with accusations of arrogance.  He didn't take up a single issue related to the topic you put forth.  This is precisely the stance of the Hadithists as well .. goes without sayin, eh?  A perfect example of a loser in bad taste.

[N. Truth Seeker]

I had been hearing about this strange man from certain bad circles who have the cheek to call themselves "Muslims" and who have also previously argued to justify drinking and homosexuality as "not forbidden in Islam."

Some of these lethal "progressives" have also attempted to justify this lecture by Hassan al-Malki by quoting Verse 2:62.

"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).

They never mentioned why they think Verse 2:62 conforms with al-Malki's talk (obviously because it doesn't) but just quoted it to show that al-Malki referred to Verse 2:62.  But he didn't.

Needless to state, Verse 2:62 carries a remarkable Message, Alhumdulilah, and al-Malki's lecutre as a blatant advocate of atheists does not conform with V.2:62.  Throughout those 6 minutes the man has been giving such whirls & twirls to his words that it would be hard for a naive viewer to gauge what he's precisely getting at.  But not for us.  As you can read in V.2:62, Allah Almighty categorically states that Salvation is for those who believe in HIM (that is Monotheism), the Final Day of Judgement, and perform good deeds.  While some atheists may perform good deeds, none of them believe in God Almighty nor in the Day of Judgement, consequently rejecting Salvation and Retribution.  If otherwise, then they wouldn't categorize as atheists.  So it's pointless claiming atheists believe in God.  They don't.  Atheistic concept prevails along the line .. "we live and we die and then turn into dust - forgotten."  The creation of the world has no further purpose for them other than trying to be good as per the interpretation of each man's conscience related to earthly life only (though many of them are also criminals, aggressors, partisans and racists .. all atheists do not necessarily perform their earthly responsibilities dutifully as in the case of any other category of humans .. Al-Malki forgot that too). According to them, beyond this world there's nothing.   I don't need to explain that V.2:62 does NOT support such ideas and therefore it does not include such folks.  If Sheikh al-Malki is that great an intellect, why didn't he take up this Verse and elucidate it carefully with an unmotivated approach?

This isn't an interview, it's an enactment.  Hasan Farhan al-Malki wanted to say this for the comfort for the debauches of the Arabian peninsula, and a host was selected to "interview" him.  That's why only the first 6 or 7 minutes have been given.  The rest of the episodes don't discuss this subject any more.  Malki did his dirty job in 6 minutes.

No wonder that sicko, ShogunV aka "holly shit" (doesn't even know how to spell his favorite swear word, trying to act flaunty), couldn't get close to answering even half a question from all the points Sister Zeynab raised.  It was total Waterloo for the guy. 

[Ruhi_Rose]

Catnip for laggards, this video is indignation for the conscientious.

I spent the last two days reading and re-reading this thread.  You've done a wonderful job Sister Zeynab, not just the details of this all-inclusive post that's remarkable but your patience too.  Added points by the MV team make the topic still more explicit.  Why don't those guys come and debate here and try to answer just one of the points raised in this thread?

I doubt if one needs to be a genius to guess the Sheikh is towing in favor of the House of Saud as inconspicuously as he can, being very circumspect in his statements.  It's like killing two birds with one stone.  FIRST, misinterpretations like these cheer the slowpokes who are never ready to face the next world. Sluggards jump with approval bubbling with joy.  It makes lewdest and weirdest feel that after all they aren't bad.  If at all any of them had been making some efforts to turn their lives around, are abandoned.  SECOND,  it serves as a waiver to the endless handpicked debaucheries in the House of Saud for whom it's vital to publicly be construed as the righteous & pious caretakers of Harmain Shareef who will go to Paradise.   

Hassan al-Malki doesn't even reflect once why Allah Almighty decided to take the responsibility upon Himself to safeguard the Noble Quran in a "guarded tablet" (Lawh Mahfooz) as the Quran states.  Unlike the previous scriptures where God trusted the people yet they altered their former Divine Scriptures with their own hands, corrupting them almost totally. The reason Allah has decided to protect His Final Scripture this time is to ensure its originality and the permanency of its presence; and the purpose of its presence is to make it available for humanity regardless of geographical boundaries.  The complete Quran is today available, translated in at least 47 languages while the important selected Verses have been translated in over 114 languages.  Al-Malki purposefully dismisses the comparison of those who presently have access to the Quran with awareness of its existence with those ignorant enough not to have heard of the Quran.  Indeed the latter are much fewer than the former.  The Sheikh is very clever.

[Ruhi_Rose]

This isn't an interview, it's an enactment.  Hasan Farhan al-Malki wanted to say this for the comfort for the debauches of the Arabian peninsula, and a host was selected to "interview" him.  That's why only the first 6 or 7 minutes have been given.  The rest of the episodes don't discuss this subject any more.  Malki did his dirty job in 6 minutes.

I was gonna say that myself .......  it's a setup.

[Zainab_M]

Many thanks sisters and brother for all of these additional, excellent points.  And that bit about this not being an 'interview' but a setup interview is spot on. 

These are Free Mind type of vile jerks.  They don't believe in Allah; they don't believe in the role of human conscience attuned to guidance through Faith; if you quote the Quran they lambast you with insults and accuse you of hypocrisy; they take pride in not taking the Quran as the Sole Criterion; and they zealously spread moral degradation in the name of Islam.  I wish them the worst suffering in this world and the next, InshAllah, ameen.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

InshAllah, ameen. 

This bugger, al-Malki, is a misguider who is surreptitiously, in the guise of a "scholar," struggling to dismiss every basic edict of the Noble Quran.

InshAllah .. Allah willing, Malki will find himself in Hell with the same kuffar he is protecting including ShogunV, the sick beast.