If your God is so Holy, why does He bribe people into following Him?
Human nature is that we think of ourself's first, in many daily transactions we are subcontiously thinking 'how will this benefit me'. To get out of this mentality is hard, Islam teaches mankind to want good for themselves, but this should not be at the cost of others, thus teachings like:
{The believers, in their love, mercy, and kindness to one another are like a body: if any part of it is ill, the whole body shares its sleeplessness and fever.}
Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2586, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6011.
{None of you believes (completely) until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.}
Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #13, and Saheeh Muslim, #45.
{Pay the worker his wage before his sweat dries.}
Narrated in Ibn Majah, #2443.
Anyhow, this is the essence of Islam, whilst one is allowed to persue financial status and so forth, he is encouraged to control his desires. Coming to the 'Bribe' this is incooperated in this. Most of people will want something for themselves, they will think when faced with prohibitions, "Why am I stopping myself from doing this, what am I going to get out of it" This is where some of the rewards come in, the man who might be weak in faith to realise that he will get something out of abstaning from certain things here.
You might think, well they should give that up anyway if they believe in God and so forth, and that is true, they should, and those who are firm in their faith realise that the biggest blessing is not the rivers of paradise, it is not the wives of paradise, it is not the musk of paradise, it is not the food of paradise. Whilst those are good, the biggest will be the blessing of seeing their Lord.
If I may give an example, the punishment for stealing. Many times I hear people say "Well if he is a true believer in G-d he would not steal" And that is true, if someone is of high enough faith and connected to G-d then he will not steal. (I am talking about a situation with regards to Muslims, of course I dont mean that every Athiest steals 
) But for those who maybe are weak in faith, or who might be new in Islam or have not practiced and find it hard to keep to the laws, for them the overshadowing possible punishment will keep them on the safe side.
I hope that made sense, so it is not a bribe as such. Rather, it is a motivation for those who find it hard to keep themselves from the bad in this life, it is a answer to the nature of man.
What's with all the threats in the Qu'ran?
I think that it is not so much threats as it is a warning. There are warnings, to remind mankind to do good and keep on the straight path. Furthermore if warnings are not issued then I am sure some people will exclaim "But you never said you'd do this!"
Should someone go to hell just because they were brought up into a different religion?
No, someone should not be send to hell because they were brought up into the wrong religion. Rather, whoever goes to hell will know that there was a straight path, for Allah said:
It almost bursts up with fury. Every time a group is cast therein, 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: 'Allāh never sent down anything (of revelation), you are only in great error.'"
And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!"
Surah Al Mulk Verses 8-10
So they will be asked did no warner come to you, and they will say yes indeed. Noone will be cast into fire unless a warner had come to him/her, showing the signs of Almighty God.
This same Message is repeated in Surah Al Isra Verse 15:
..And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning).
I feel that is enough to show that noone will be sent to hell unless they themselves have witnessed the signs of God and proof has been set against them.
Should someone go to hell just because they never discovered much about Islam?
Please refer to the above Plus there is a minimum level of knowledge required, and this differs, for example,
It has been narrated by Abu Hurayra that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, there is none from amongst the Jews and Christians (of these present nations) who hears about me and then dies without believing in the MEssage with which I have been sent but he will be from the dwellers of the Fire"
Muslim Book of Faith V1 Chapter 240
In the above narration we see that the Jew or Christian has to hear first. This is with regards of believing in Muhammad, there are other matters which can still prevent a Jew and Christian from entering paradise. Such as commiting shirk.
What proof have you got Muhammad was a real Prophet, what supernatural power did He have?
Let me combine this question with another:
The only thing Muhammad had to back Him as as being a true Prophet is a piece of writing.
Now, let me say first, that this is your assumption, you see, Muslims now days do not rave about the Miracles of Muhammad, except the Qu'ran, but why? This is because the Qu'ran is the only Miracle, from what I know, that can be proof for it's prophet this day.
In the past, Moses, peace be upon him, split the red sea, by the Power of God, also, he peace beu pon him, had his staff turn to a snake, by the Power of God, Jesus peace be upon him, healed people, by the Power of God. But those miracles, happened at that time and cannot be studied today, we cannot see Jesus healing those people, or Jesus rising from the dead, or rising someone else from the dead, we do not see Moses' stick changing, nor do we see the red sea splitting. Similarly, Muhammad's Miracles, apart from the Qu'ran, are not here now for us to test, this is why the Qu'ran is the Miracle which Muslims bring up all the time, since this is a Unique claim, a Miracle which is tangible, and testable by us right now, unlike the acts of Moses, Jesus and other acts of Muhammad. Let me first go further and show that Muhammad did do some miracles:
Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:
I was with the Prophet and the time for the 'Asr prayer became due. We had no water with us except a little which was put in a vessel and was brought to the Prophet . He put his hand into it and spread out his fingers and then said, "Come along! Hurry up! All those who want to perform ablution. The blessing is from Allah.'' I saw the water gushing out from his fingers. So the people performed the ablution and drank, and I tried to drink more of that water (beyond my thirst and capacity), for I knew that it was a blessing. The sub-narrator said: I asked Jabir, "How many persons were you then?" He replied, "We were one-thousand four hundred men." Salim said: Jabir said, 1500.
Volume: 7, Book Number: 69, Hadith Number: 543
Narrated 'Abdullah:
We used to consider miracles as Allah's Blessings, but you people consider them to be a warning. Once we were with Allah's Apostle on a journey, and we ran short of water. He said, "Bring the water remaining with you." The people brought a utensil containing a little water. He placed his hand in it and said, "Come to the blessed water, and the Blessing is from Allah." I saw the water flowing from among the fingers of Allah's Apostle , and no doubt, we heard the meal glorifying Allah, when it was being eaten (by him).
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 779
In the above there's the miracle of the gushing of water from Muhammad's hands peace upon him, and the glorification of Allah by the food whilst Muhammad ate, there's a couple more but this is enough, and let me state, if one logically believes the authenticity of the records of Jesus' miracles then one has to logically believe the above's authenticity, but if one believes the above then one is not obliged to believe the authenticity of the recording of Jesus' miracles.
Even if Jesus in the Holy Bible was false, atleast the Bible stated he had power to preform miracles, Muhammad couldn't.
Muhammad couldn't? So what I posted above is what?
Furthermore, if you read the Bible, Jesus was given power, he of his own self could do nothing, J: 5:30.
The only thing Muhammad had to back Him as as being a true Prophet is a piece of writing.
Well, maybe the study of such a piece of writing would do the piece of writing justice. To claim that one of Muhammad's Miracle is with us now is unique within itself.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Islam is fake, the fact is that none of us know for sure.
I don't know what kind of surety you are looking for but that's something that is a personal choice.
If the Qu'ran is the truth why wasn't it written till 500 years after the Holy Bible? Surely if it was the truth it would have been written when human existence began? What happened to the people who died before the Qu'ran was written, did they go to heaven or hell?
Let me first put forward an example of the type of Question your asking;
Person comes upto you and asks, if God is perfect and creates everything perfectly, then why would he create such a slow animal as the turtle, the ability to run fast is something desired by many and some hold a sign of perfection, so this means that either God cannot create perfectly or that there is no God!
The logical mistake in the above is clear, the speaker's perception of what is perfect is dictating his ruling as to whether the turtle is perfect. You might wonder what has this got to do with the above question, well as similarly as the man in the example, assumed to know God's intention in creating the turtle, you are assuming that the Qu'ran coming before the Bible is what constitutes it's authenticity.
God worked through time and spoke to people through time and had those people deliever His message, He had upto till Muhammad, peace be upon him, given guidance to many, and that guidance was for a people and time, when Muhammad came, then it was placed so that Muhammad was to be sent to all mankind, meaning not just his own people as prophets and messengers before, and Muhammad's role as messenger was to stay with him until the end.
Why? I do not know. But, before the Qu'ran other books were given to nations including, but not restricted to, The Torah, The Zaboor, The Injeel, and several Scriptures, like of Abraham.
As for what happend to the people before the Qu'ran, some will go paradise and some will go hell, remember I spoke of the minimum knowledge required, well if they done good and stuck by that, if they follow the Warners and Messengers sent to them then they will be in heaven, Salvation according to Muslims is not dependent on knowing Muhammad, though if you hear of him and have the chance then accepting Him could become part of the minimum obligatory knowledge, this is why Allah says,
Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allāh and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve .
Surah Al Baqarah Verse 62
So it is clear that those in the past who done good and believed will have their reward with almighty G-d. Salvation does not always depend on knowing Moses, Jesus for the past, or Muhammad for now.
If the people who died before the Qu'ran was written went to heaven then why is this? After all, it wouldn't be very fair on the rest of us if they got into heaven without even having to follow Islam now would it?
As the quotation above says that they had to meet their conditions, remember, 'those who believe and do righteous good deeds' They were tested as we have and will be tested, Allah says;
Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: "We believe," and will not be tested.
And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allāh will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allāh knows all that before putting them to test).
Surah Al Ankabut Verses 2-3
So, noone get's a free ride to paradise. Allah is The Most Just, who does not bear a soul with a burden more than it can bear, the one who is Oft Forgiving for those who want the forgiveness.
And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, [i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islāmic Monotheism)] (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).
I hope I have made sense and whatever wrong I have done then it is my fault.
Eesa,
