Does Islam believe on natural revelation upon everyone?

[Grace Seeker]

i dont know what ignorant person told you that but its not true how could they go to hell if they have not heard the message of islam correctly?

Does Islam believe that there is a certain level of natural revelation that everyone has from Allah that all are held to, even if they have not heard the actual message of Islam?

[Uthman]

Greetings,

Consider Surat Al-A'raf (The Heights), verse number 172 of the Qur'an:

the meaning of which is:

And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware." [Saheeh International Translation]

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

And, remember, when your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins (min zuhūrihim, is an inclusive substitution for the preceding [clause: min banī Ādama, ‘from the Children of Adam’], with the same preposition [min, ‘from’]) their seed, by bringing forth one from the loins of the other, [all] from the loins of Adam, offspring after offspring, in the way that they multiply, [looking] like small ants at [the valley of] Na‘mān on the Day of ‘Arafa [because of their multitude]. God set up proofs of His Lordship for them and endowed them with [the faculty of] reason, and made them testify against themselves, saying, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yea, indeed, You are our Lord, we testify’, to this, and this [taking of] testimony is, lest they should say (in both instances, read third person [yaqūlū, ‘they say’] or second person [taqūlū, ‘you say’]) on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Truly, of this, Oneness of God, we were unaware’, not knowing it!

You can read further tafseer (explanation/commentary/exegesis) of this verse here.

This refers to an actual event which happened and it partly forms the basis of our belief in the Fitrah which, to summarise, is our belief that all humans are born with a natural disposition to believe in, and submit to, one creator. You can read more about the concept of Fitrah here.

[Sampharo]

^ Forgive me brother Uthman, but I don't believe that is what Grace Seeker was asking about, and actually may be confused by your answer into thinking that people who did not receive the message will still be held accountable for their non-belief in Islam and will be punished in Hellfire forever, which is not correct.

What you mentioned refers to "Fitrah" or basic instinct that is the result of us being shown the true message of Allah before our birth as descendents of Adam. We stay on it unless we are led astray as the sentence suggests.

This fitrah or instinct, is what many muslim reverts talk about when they say that familiar statement: "I read the Quran and suddenly everything made sense."

However, in shariah, a dis-believer is someone who receives the message and then rejects it, in this lifetime and with his adult conscious mind, not someone who did not stay on the Fitrah for some reason or the other and was never given messages of guidance. The ruling is that whomever does not receive the message of Islam properly (as in hears or reads the verses of the Quran and is told and informed the fundamentals of Islam):

"Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an apostle (to give warning). "[17:15]

See this extended article in islamqa by Sheikh Al-Munajjid explaining:

The fate of kuffaar who did not hear the message of Islam

Someone has asked me this question (she is about to
become a muslimah). Her statement: 'A lot of others will never meet a Muslim in person. Will they be held responsible for their ignorance? What exactly does this mean: "After the revelation of the Quran who ever receives this message & does not abide by it is a non-believer"?
i. Who is considered to have received the message?
ii. Isn't it possible for people to have not received the message even though the Quran is in existence?'

Praise be to Allaah.
It is part of the justice of Allaah that He does not punish any people until He has first sent a warning to them and unless there is evidence against them. Allaah does not treat anybody unfairly. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning).” [al-Israa’ 17:15].

In his tafseer (commentary) on this aayah, Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “These words, ‘…And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning)’ tell us of the justice of Allaah, may He be exalted, and that He does not punish anyone until after He has established evidence against him by sending a Messenger to him. This is like the aayat (interpretation of the meaning): ‘… Every time a group is cast therein [into Hell], its keeper will ask, “Did no warner come to you?” They will say, “Yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we belied him and said: ‘Allaah never sent down anything (of revelation), you are only in great error.’”’ [al-Mulk 67:8] and: ‘And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, till, when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened (suddenly like a prison at the arrival of its prisoners). And its keepers will say, “Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, - reciting to you the Verses of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of this Day of yours?” They will say: “Yes, but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!”’ [al-Zumar 39:71]…”

A person who has never heard of Islam or the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and who has never heard the message in its correct and true form, will not be punished by Allaah if he dies in a state of kufr (disbelief). If it were asked what his fate will be, the answer will be that Allaah will test him on the Day of Resurrection: if he obeys, he will enter Paradise and if he disobeys he will enter Hell. The evidence (daleel) for this is the hadeeth of al-Aswad ibn Saree’, who reported that the Prophet of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four (who will protest) to Allaah 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 ‘Eesaa (Jesus, upon whom be peace) and the time of Muhammad SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah 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.”

According to another report, he said: “Whoever enters it, it will be cool and safe for him, and whoever does not enter it will be dragged to it.” (The hadeeth was reported by Imaam Ahmad and Ibn Hibbaan, and deemed saheeh by al-Albaani, Saheeh al-Jaami’, 881).

Everyone who hears the message of Islam in a sound and correct form (and rejects it), will have evidence aginst him. Whoever dies without having heard the message, or having heard it in a distorted form, then his case is in the hands of Allaah. Allaah knows best about His creation, and He will never treat anyone unfairly. And Allaah is All-Seer of His slaves.


Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/1244/

[Grace Seeker]

Everyone who hears the message of Islam in a sound and correct form (and rejects it), will have evidence aginst him. Whoever dies without having heard the message, or having heard it in a distorted form, then his case is in the hands of Allaah.

And who among us, other than Allah, can determine whether or not one has received the message in its correct form?

For instance, even though I have read the Qur'an, I have read it in English as I don't speak Arabic. Between the problems of translation and the cultural lens through which I am by circumstance condemned to read any and everything I read, how likely is it that I or any non-native Arabic speaker has ever actually heard the message of Islam in its correct and undistorted form?

[Sampharo]

The whole matter of this is after death anyway so it's not up to humans to judge each other. However the message of the Quran does not require that you read the entirity of the Quran and understand and are convinced with all its interpretations. Just to know that Allah, the one god, who sent Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, has sent a message to worship him alone and call to the best of Morals and ethics, and this message being embodied in the Holy Quran, and then being able to have access to at least a coherent page of Quran, that counts to having received the message. It is your natural tendency then to seek more information if that is not sufficient for you, but if you reject it or ignore it, then that is disbelief.

In your case for example, after 4600 posts and three years on this forum, you are far beyond having received the message. So no, you cannot claim ignorance just because you are non-Arab, since you have read the translation and spoke to muslims.

Correct form free of distortion refers to people NOT having any access to muslims or the Quran, and think (like some ignorant Westerns) that Islam is the religion of the devil or that it is worshipping a moon god. If an individual never gets access to a single page of the Quran nor meet a muslim to learn the truth, that is someone who never received the message in its true form. If someone did and still propagates or refuses to even investigate further (like many Westerners) then their case is clear and evidence has been held against them.