Nelson Mandela, revered statesman and anti-apartheid leader, dies at 95 http://news.y

I am sad he died a Non-Muslim for he was indeed a good man.

^what a tragedy to die as nonmuslim.

May rest he in peace.

Thanks for his endless work for better and more tolerance world.

A great man indeed, who has changed and touched many lives.

What does Islam teach about a man like Nelson Mandela, who was a good man but died (presumably) a non-Muslim?

Greetings and peace be with you truthseeker63;

No doubt presidents from around the world will acknowledge the deeds of Nelson Mandela, sadly they do not have the wisdom or the courage, to do as he has done.

In the spirit of praying for peace in our world

Eric

The truly exceptional quality about Mandela is the way he spent all those years in prison, yet he came out with less bitterness than when he went in. I never saw a revengeful act or word from him. What strength.

(And compare it to the little man next door that is Mugabe.)

His life is also a great example of how a peaceful strategy can beat a violent one. He began his career using terrorist tactics and got nowhere. In later life, his peaceful tactics and generosity swept all before him.

South Africa is a far more prosperous country today because he won by peaceful means, than if he had won by war.

format_quote Originally Posted by glo

A great man indeed, who has changed and touched many lives.

What does Islam teach about a man like Nelson Mandela, who was a good man but died (presumably) a non-Muslim?

Islam teaches that they will be in Hell, if they did know about islam and yet didn't become Muslims or if they were polytheists. The biggest example is Prophet Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib who helped Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم all his life but didn't accept Islam. Abu Talib died an idolator. The Prophet will intercede for him on the Day of Judgment but his intercession will not take Abu Talib out of Hell. A hadith states that due to the Prophet's intercession, Abu Talib will have the least punishment in hell. His feet will be in coal and with this, his brains will boil.

Of course, we can't say what the end of Nelson Mandela will be because his inner faith is known to God alone. Was he Christian? Did he commit polytheism (by making Jessu God or equal to God or God's son)? Did he reject Islam? etc.

A Muslim friend of mine wrote this:

"If we establish that being Muslim is "one who surrenders to God," I think we'll likely find out on the Day of Judgement that there are some Muslims who may find out they really were not, there may be some non-Muslims who find out that they embodied what it means to surrender oneself to the Almighty and they may indeed find out that they are "Muslim."
Even the Quran says in 2:62: "The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians and the Sabians—all those who believes in God and the Last Day and do good deeds—will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve."
Personally I see deeds mean quite a lot, human labels mean nothing. In the end, God and only God will judge. There likely will be some people considered Muslims who end up in Hell, there are likely non-Muslims who will end up in heaven. God knows best."

Would you agree?

It is amazing to hear and understand just how much loved Nelson Mandela was - and not just by his own people.

Independent, I agree. Anybody who can be wrongfully imprisoned for 27 years and come out without bitterness is a remarkable person indeed!
He is quoted to have said this:
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

Allah subhanna wa ta aala decides who gets Jannah, not the Muslims.

if you're sad that someone died as a non-Muslim, what excuse will you give to Allah?

the reason there are so many nonMuslims in the world can be traced to one simple thing, the Muslims.

how do we know that Allah won't reject our Islam, thus providing all the non-believers with an excuse for not accepting what was seen to be Islam by them.

i saw a lecture by a sheikh that i really, really like. when asked about Mother Teresa, he said that she's going to hell because she wasn't a Muslim! astargfirullah!
he caught himself a few minutes later and clarified that we don't actually know, Allah knows.

if it's sad that that there are so many nonMuslims, the state of the Muslims is sadder by far...

ma salaama

It breaks my heart every time when I think that Abu Talib will go to Hell. What he did for our Prophet means more to us than what anyone else might have done in the world. But that doesn't change the facts. He died a disbeliever and not even Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم , to whom he was most dear, can help him.

It's true that a person's belief is known to Allah alone and only Allah will decide who deserves Heaven and who deserves hell. Also, only Allah knows a person's faith at the time of death. But it is also true that those who reject Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم ,after learning about him, are disbelievers. In Islam, only belief in One God is not enough. It is also necessary for a person to believe that Prophet Muhammad was the final Messenger and Prophet of God. Those who don't, even if they otherwise surrender to God, are not Muslims. Those who reject Prophet Muhammad (don't believe in him) are disbelievers, kafir.

Only God knows Nelson Mandela's faith and end. We not judging that. We should only be concerned about our own end. And that is why it's important to know that those who reject one or both parts of the testimony of faith are kafir and will go to hell. The testimony of faith (shahada) is "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

format_quote Originally Posted by WRITER

Islam teaches that they will be in Hell, if they did know about islam and yet didn't become Muslims or if they were polytheists. The biggest example is Prophet Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib who helped Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم all his life but didn't accept Islam. Abu Talib died an idolator. The Prophet will intercede for him on the Day of Judgment but his intercession will not take Abu Talib out of Hell. A hadith states that due to the Prophet's intercession, Abu Talib will have the least punishment in hell. His feet will be in coal and with this, his brains will boil.

So basically the same as the Christian view. ---

^^ Don´t you generalize now when writing as "people here say he deserves eternal suffering"? Whose are those people in this thread whose have wrote that? We all? Or just one? I was thinking that "people" is a plural form... maybe my bad English again.

Greetings and peace be with you all,

I have listened to comments by George Bush Snr and Jnr, Obama, Tony Blair, David Cameron, they all admired Nelson Mandela, None of them had the courage to do as he had done, and their lives were not even under threat.

Nelson said he would die for his beliefs, it seems all these other leaders squash their own morals, to do the things they do, none of them had the courage to stand as Nelson Mandela stood.

When any of the above leaders die, they will not receive the recognition that Mandela receives, yet they are all more powerful than he ever was.

In the spirit of praying for moral courage for all our leaders

Eric

It makes me sick to the core that the hypocrite leaders of the west are 'mourning' about him, while nelson mandela both critized them and critized israel. Mandela was a great man, he never was a terrorist, was he muslim? Allah knows best, wee dont know his heart. Islam defeated apartheid and racism 1400 years ago and this is why I accepted it. While south africa is recovering from apartheid, there is still one country in the middle east practicing it, its easy to guess which one.

Our ummah has his own heroes, 100x more better than Mandela (not implying mandela wasnt one). The prophets (peace be upon them) are our biggest heroes.

While we mourn about his death there are amongst us people dying everyday with the intention to defend this Deen and our ummah.

format_quote Originally Posted by Eric H

Greetings and peace be with you all,

I have listened to comments by George Bush Snr and Jnr, Obama, Tony Blair, David Cameron, they all admired Nelson Mandela, None of them had the courage to do as he had done, and their lives were not even under threat.

Nelson said he would die for his beliefs, it seems all these other leaders squash their own morals, to do the things they do, none of them had the courage to stand as Nelson Mandela stood.

When any of the above leaders die, they will not receive the recognition that Mandela receives, yet they are all more powerful than he ever was.

In the spirit of praying for moral courage for all our leaders

Eric

When those leaders you mentioned will die, the history remember them about the wars they started or took part. May history also remember the innocent victims what they wars caused.