Editing Islamic eschatology (section)

== Eschatological theological questions==
Scholars did not always agree on questions of who might go to hell; whether the creation of heaven and hell would wait until Judgement Day; whether there was a state between heaven and hell; whether those consigned to hell would be there for eternity.

===Basis of belief===
"Fear, hope, and finally ... faith", have been given (by Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Y. Haddad) as motivations offered by the Quran for the belief of Muslims in an Afterlife,<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:x>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.x</ref> although some ([[Abul A'la Maududi|Abū Aʿla al-Mawdūdī]]) have asserted it is simply a matter of reason:
<blockquote>The fact is that whatever Muhammad (peace be upon him) has told us about life after death is clearly borne out by reason. Although our belief in that Day is based upon our implicit trust in the Messenger of God, rational reflection not only confirms this belief but it also reveals that Muhammad's (peace be upon him) teachings in this respect are much more reasonable and understandable than all other view-points about life after death.<ref>Abū Aʿla al-Mawdūdī, ''Towards Understanding Islam'' (1960), p.130</ref></blockquote>

=== Early Muslim  thought on damnation===
One of the primary beliefs pertaining to Islamic eschatology during the Early Muslim Period was that all humans could receive God's mercy and were worthy of salvation.<ref name="worldcat.org">{{Cite book|title=Locating Hell in Islamic traditions|editor=Lange, Christian|isbn=9789004301214|oclc=945783598|year = 2015|publisher=Brill }}</ref> These early depictions even show how small, insignificant deeds were enough to warrant mercy.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Arthur |first=Jeffery |title=Islam: Muhammad and his religion |date=1958 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |isbn=0672603489 |location=Indianapolis |oclc=846858}}</ref> Most early depictions of the end of days depict only those who reject ''Tawhid'', (the concept of monotheism), are subject to eternal punishment. However, everybody is held responsible for their actions. Concepts of reward and punishment were seen as beyond this world, a view that is also held today.<ref name=":03"/>

===Literal or allegorical===
According to scholars Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Y. Haddad,  "the vast majority of believers", understand verses of the Quran on Jannah (and hellfire) "to be real and specific, anticipating them" with joy or terror.<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:84>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.84</ref>

Besides the material notion of the paradise, descriptions of it are also interpreted as [[allegory|allegories]], whose meaning is the state of joy believers will experience in the afterlife. For some theologians, seeing God is not a question of sight, but of awareness of God's presence.<ref>Cyril Glassé, Huston Smith ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'' Rowman Altamira 2003 {{ISBN|978-0-759-10190-6}} page 237</ref> Although early Sufis, such as [[Hallaj]], took the descriptions of paradise literal, later Sufi traditions usually stressed out the allegorical meaning.<ref>Jane Dammen McAuliffe ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'' Volume 2 Georgetown University, Washington DC p. 268</ref>

On the issue of Judgement Day, early Muslims debated whether scripture should be interpreted literally or figuratively, and the school of thought that prevailed ([[Ash'ari|Ashʿarī]]) "affirmed that such things as" connected with Judgement day as "the individual records of deeds (including the paper, pen, and ink with which they are inscribed), the bridge, the balance, and the pond" are "realities", and "to be understood in a concrete and literal sense."<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:65>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.65</ref>

===Modernist and postmodernist thought===

According to Smith and Haddad, "The great majority of contemporary Muslim writers, ... choose not to discuss the afterlife at all".<ref>[[Islamic eschatology#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.100</ref> [[Islamic Modernist]]s, according to Smith and Haddad, express a "kind of embarrassment with the elaborate traditional detail concerning life in the grave and in the abodes of recompense, called into question by modern rationalists".<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:100>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.100</ref><ref name=Smith-Haddad-100>Smith/Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 100, quoted in Christian Lange, p.19, [[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.19</ref><ref name="CLLHiIT2016:18">[[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.18</ref>   Consequently, most of "modern Muslim Theologians" either "silence the issue" or reaffirm "the traditional position that the reality of the afterlife must not be denied but that its exact nature remains unfathomable".<ref>quoting Lange describing Smith/Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 100</ref><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:100/>

The beliefs of Pakistani modernist [[Muhammad Iqbal]] (died 1938), were similar to the Sufi "spiritual and internalized interpretations of hell" of [[Ibn Arabi|ibn ʿArabī]], and [[Rumi]], seeing paradise and hell "primarily as metaphors for inner psychic" developments. Thus "hellfire is actually a state of realization of one's failures as a human being", and not a supernatural subterranean realm.<ref>Iqbal, ''Reconstruction'', 98; quoted in [[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.20</ref> Egyptian modernist [[Muhammad Abduh|Muhammad ʿAbduh]], thought it was sufficient to believe in the existence of an afterlife with rewards and punishment to be a true believer, even if you ignored "clear" (''ẓāhir'') hadith about hell.<ref>ʿAbdūh,  Risālat al-tawḥīd, 178, quoted in [[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.20</ref>

====Gender equity====
Amina Wadud notes that the Qur'an does not mention any specific gender when talking about hell,  Q.{{qref|43|74–76}}, for example,  states that "the guilty are immortal in hell's torment"; and when discussing paradise, includes women, Q.{{qref|3|14–15}}, for example, states that "Beautiful of mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring..."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Qurʼan and woman: rereading the sacred text from a woman's perspective|last=Wadud, Amina|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198029434|edition= [2nd ed.]|location=New York|oclc=252662926}}</ref>

=== "Limbo" or ''al-aʿrāf'' in Islam ===
{{See also|Araf (Islam)}}
In terms of classical Islam, "the only options" afforded by the Qur'an for the resurrected are an eternity of horrible punishments of The Fire or the delightful rewards of The Garden.  Islamic tradition has raised the question of whether or not consignment to the Fire is eternal, or eternal for all, but "has found no reason to amend" the limit of two options in the afterlife.<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:90>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.90</ref> But one verse in the Quran has "led to a great deal of speculation concerning the possibility of a third place".<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:90/>
*There will be a barrier [''ḥijāb''] between paradise and hell. And on the heights [''al-aʿrāf''] of that barrier˺  will be people who will recognize ˹the residents of˺ both by their appearance. They will call out to the residents of paradise, "Peace be upon you!" They will have not yet entered paradise, but eagerly hope to (Q.{{qref|7|46}}).<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:90/>  
"What some have called" the "Limbo" Theory of Islam, as described by Jane Smith and Yvonne Haddad, implies that some individuals are not immediately sent to The Fire or The Garden, but are held in a state of limbo.<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:90/>  Smith and Haddad believe it is "very doubtful" that the Qur'anic meant for ''al-aʿrāf'' to be understood as "an abode for those ... in an intermediate category, but this has come to be the most commonly held interpretation".<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:90-91>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.90-91</ref><ref>For Western analyses of this question see Richard Bell, "The Men on the A'raf," ''Muslim World'', 22 (1932), 43-48; Louis Gardet, ''Dieu'', pp. 330-34; Tor Andrae, ''Les Origins'', p. 85; Rudi Paret, "Al-A'raf," ''EI'' (New Ed.), I, pt. 1-10, pp, 603-04; Asin Palacios, ''Islam and the Divine Comedy'', pp. 81 ff.</ref>

As for who the inhabitants of the   inhabits ''al-aʿrāf'' are, the "majority of exegetes" support the theory that they are persons whose actions balance in terms of merit and demerit –  whose good deeds keep them from the Fire and whose evil deeds keep them from the Garden. They will be the last to enter the Garden, at the mercy of their Lord.<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:91>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.91</ref>

=== The concept of eternity ===
In Classical Islam, there was a consensus among the theological community regarding the finality of [[Jannah]] (also called Heaven, paradise, the Gardens); after Judgement Day, faithful servants of God would find themselves here for eternity.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|title=The Islamic understanding of death and resurrection|last=Smith, Jane I.|date=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|others=Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, 1935–|isbn=0873955064|location=Albany|pages=93|oclc=6666779}}</ref><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.93</ref> However, some practitioners in the early Muslim community held that the other abode of the hereafter (hell/Jahannam), or at least part of that abode, might not be eternal.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> This belief was based upon an interpretations of scripture that since the upper, less tortuous levels of hell were reserved for Muslims who were only in hell  for as long as God deemed necessary. Once Muslims had their sins purged and were allowed into heaven, these levels would be empty and the need for their existence gone.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> These interpretations are centered on verses 11:106–107 in the Quran, stating, 
:"As for those who are wretched, they shall be in the Fire, wherein there shall be for them groaning and wailing, abiding therein for so long as the heavens and the earth endure, save as thy Lord wills. Surely thy Lord does whatsoever He wills".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The study Quran: a new translation and commentary|editor1=Nasr, Seyyed Hossein |editor2=Dagli, Caner K. |editor3=Dakake, Maria Massi |editor4=Lumbard, Joseph E. B. |editor5=Rustom, Mohammed |isbn=9780061125867|edition= First|location=New York, NY|pages=585|oclc=879553018|date = 17 November 2015}}</ref> 
This possibility  that God may yet commute a sentence to hell, interprets (parts of) hell as being similar in function to  purgatory in Christianity, with the exception to this comparison being that hell in this context is for the punishment of the sinner's complete body, as opposed to only the soul being punished in purgatory.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> Arguments questioning the permanence of hell take the view that hell is not necessarily solely there to punish the evil, but to purify their souls, whereas the purpose of the Garden is simply to reward the righteous.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Islamic understanding of death and resurrection|last=Smith, Jane I.|date=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|others=Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, 1935–|isbn=0873955064|location=Albany|pages=94|oclc=6666779}}</ref><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:94>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.94</ref>
Evidence against the concept of hell being in part temporary, is the Quran verse stating that hell will endure as long as Heaven will, which has been established as eternal.<ref name="Shamoun-forever">{{cite web |last1=Shamoun |first1=Sam |last2=Katz |first2=Jochen |title=Quran Contradiction. Will people stay in Hell forever, or not? |url=http://64.71.77.248/answering_islam/quran/contra/hell_forever.html |website=China's Christian Library |access-date=14 June 2022}}</ref>

===Predestination===
{{main|Predestination in Islam}}
Orthodox Islam teaches the doctrine of ''Qadar'' ({{langx|ar|قدر}}, aka [[Predestination]], or [[Divinity|divine]] [[destiny]] in [[Islam]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/Qadar.htm|title=Qadar|work=missionislam.com|access-date=2016-03-27}}</ref> whereby everything that has happened and will happen in the universe—including sinful human behavior—is commanded by God.<ref name=AGI1978:132>[[#AGI1978|Guillaume, ''Islam'', 1978]]: p.132</ref> At the same time, we human beings are responsible for our actions and rewarded or punished for them in the [[Afterlife]].<ref name="Parrott-RtDDaFWiI-2017">{{cite web |last1=Parrott |first1=Justin |title=Reconciling the Divine Decree and Free Will in Islam |url=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/reconciling-the-divine-decree-and-free-will-in-islam |website=Yaqeen Institute |access-date=16 June 2022 |date=31 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="account 96978">{{cite web |title=If things are decreed, then how can a person be called to account for them? 96978 |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/96978/if-things-are-decreed-then-how-can-a-person-be-called-to-account-for-them |website=Islam Question and Answer |access-date=26 June 2022 |date=29 April 2007}}</ref>

''Qadar''/predestination/divine destiny, is one of Sunni Islam's [[Iman (concept)#The Six Articles of Faith|six articles of faith]] and is mentioned in the Quran.  
*"Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us" (Q.{{qref|9|51}}).<ref name=iWWINaM1995:124/>
*"Allah leaves whoever He wills to stray and guides whoever He wills." (Q.{{qref|14|4}}).<ref name=iWWINaM1995:124>[[#iWWINaM1995|Ibn Warraq, ''Why I Am Not a Muslim'',  1995]]: p.124</ref>
Of course, the fate of human beings in the Afterlife is especially crucial. It is reflected in Quranic verses such as 
* Had We willed, We could have easily imposed guidance on every soul. But My Word will come to pass: I will surely fill up Hell with jinn and humans all together. (Q.{{qref|32|13}}).<ref name=iWWINaM1995:124/>

Muhammad also talked about the doctrine of predestination multiple times during his mission.<ref name=":03" />  Thus the consensus of the Sunni Muslim community has been that scripture indicates predestination.<ref name=":03" /> 
Nonetheless, some Muslim theologians have argued against predestination, (including at least some Shia Muslims, whose [[Twelver theology#Articles of faith|article of faith]]  includes ''Adalah'' (justice), but not ''Qadar''. At least some Shia –  such as [[Naser Makarem Shirazi]] –  denounce predestination).<ref name="Shirazi-justice">{{cite book |last1=Shirazi |first1=Naser Makarem |title=The Justice of God |publisher=Al-Islam.org |url=https://www.al-islam.org/justice-god-naser-makarem-shirazi/issue-predestination-and-free-will |access-date=14 June 2022 |chapter=The Issue of Predestination and Free Will|date=12 May 2015 }}</ref>

Opponents of predestination in early Islam, (''al-[[Qadariyah]]'', ''[[Muʿtazila]]'') argued that if God has already determined everything that will happen, God's human creation cannot really have free will over decisions to do good or evil, or control of whether they suffer eternal torment in [[Jahannam]]—which is something that (the opponents believe) a just God would never allow to happen.<ref name=iWWINaM1995:124/>  
While ''Qadar'' is the consensus of Muslims, it is also an issue scholars discourage debate and discussion about. Hadith narrate Muhammad  warning his followers to "refrain from speaking about ''qadar''";<ref name="De Cillis-2018">{{cite journal |last1=De Cillis |first1=Maria |title=ISLAM. Muslims and Free Will |journal=Oasis |date=22 April 2022 |volume=6 |url=https://www.oasiscenter.eu/en/muslims-and-free-will |access-date=16 June 2022}}</ref> and according to the creed of [[Al-Tahawi]], "the principle of providence" is such a secret that God did not let even angels, prophets and messengers in on the mystery.<ref name="Parrott-RtDDaFWiI-2017"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Is that a Muslim can believe in predestination, if so why judge Muslims? Answered according to Hanafi Fiqh by Tafseer Raheemi |url=https://islamqa.org/hanafi/tafseer-raheemi/51573/is-that-a-muslim-can-believe-in-predestination-if-so-why-judge-muslims/ |website=IslamQA.org |date=13 October 2012 |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Who will enter heaven or hell===
Scholars do not all agree on who will end up in Jannah and who in Jahannam, and the criteria for deciding. Issues include whether all Muslims, even those who've committed major sins, will end up in Jannah; whether any non-Muslims will be saved or all will go to Jahannam.  
 
According to the Quran, the basic criterion for [[salvation]] in the [[afterlife]] is the belief in the [[Monotheism|oneness of God]] ([[Tawhid|{{transliteration|ar|ALA|tawḥīd}}]]), [[Angels in Islam|angels]], [[Revelation#Islam|revealed books]], [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|messengers]], as well as [[Repentance in Islam|repentance]] to God, and doing good deeds (''amal salih'').<ref name="RoadtoParadise">{{cite book|author1-last=Günther |author1-first=Sebastian|author2-last= Lawson |author2-first= Todd |year=2017 |title=Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 vols.): Volume 1: Foundations and Formation of a Tradition. Reflections on the Hereafter in the Quran and Islamic Religious Thought / Volume 2: Continuity and Change. The Plurality of Eschatological Representations in the Islamicate World |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0300 |isbn=978-9-004-33315-4| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5_MoDgAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|p=51}} This is qualified by the doctrine that ultimately salvation can only be attained through God's judgement.<ref name="mo">Moiz Amjad. "[http://renaissance.com.pk/juntitl2y1.html Will Christians enter Paradise or go to Hell?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210056/http://renaissance.com.pk/juntitl2y1.html |date=2007-09-27 }}". ''[[Al-Mawrid|Renaissance - Monthly Islamic journal]]'' 11(6), June, 2001.</ref>

Muslim scholars mostly agree that ultimately all Muslims will be saved (though many may need to be purified by a spell in hellfire<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:40>[[#CLPaHiIT2016|Lange, ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'',  2016]]: p.40</ref> but disagree about the possibility for  salvation of non-Muslims.

The idea that [[jinn]] as well as humans could find salvation was widely accepted,<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:140-1>[[#CLPaHiIT2016|Lange, ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'',  2016]]: p.140-1</ref><ref>el-Zein, Amira (2009). Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-5070-6. p. 20</ref> Like humans, their destiny in the hereafter depends on whether they accept God's guidance. The surah Al-Jinn says:
:And among us are those who have submitted ˹to Allah˺ and those who are deviant. So ˹as for˺ those who submitted, it is they who have attained Right Guidance. And as for the deviant, they will be fuel for Hell.’" (Q.{{qref|72|14-15}})
Angels, who are not subject to desire and do not commit sin, are found in paradise.<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:141>[[#CLPaHiIT2016|Lange, ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'',  2016]]: p.141</ref> The devils cannot return to paradise, because Islamic scripture states that their father, the fallen angel Iblis, was banished, but never suggests that he or his offspring were forgiven or promised to return.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=46}}<ref>el-Zein, Amira (2009). Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-5070-6.</ref>

====Scholars====
Muslim scholars arguing in favor of  non-Muslims' being able to enter paradise cite the verse: 
*"Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabians—those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve," (Q.{{qref|2|62}}). 
Those arguing against non-Muslim salvation regard this verse to have applied only until the arrival of [[Muhammad]], after which it was [[Naskh (tafsir)|abrogated]]  by another verse: 
* "And whoever desires other than Islam as religion—never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. (Q.{{qref|3|85}}).<ref>David Marshall ''Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation, and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam'' Georgetown University Press 2011 {{ISBN|978-1-589-01803-7}} p. 8</ref><ref>Lloyd Ridgeon ''Islamic Interpretations of Christianity'' Routledge 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-136-84020-3}}</ref><ref name="Khalil-2013-209">{{Cite book|title=Between heaven and hell: Islam, salvation, and the fate of others|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Khalil, Mohammad Hassan|isbn=9780199945412|location=Oxford|page=113|oclc=793726652}}</ref><ref name=Khalil-2013-111>{{Cite book|title=Between heaven and hell: Islam, salvation, and the fate of others|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Khalil, Mohammad Hassan|isbn=9780199945412|location=Oxford|page=111|oclc=793726652}}</ref> 
Although the Quran acknowledges the Bible as gospel, rejecting Muhammad and his message is seen as a rejection of salvation by them.<ref name="Khalil-2013-209" />

According to [[Mohammad Hassan Khalil]], on the subject of whether self-proclaimed non-Muslims might be allowed into Jannah, Islamic theologians can be classified as 
*'Exclusivists' –  who maintain that only Muslims will be saved and that adherents of all other beliefs will burn in hell.<ref name="Firestone"/> 
*'Inclusivists' –  who also affirm that Islam is the path to heaven, but that some others are actually on the same path (and will go to Jannah) though they call themselves non-Muslims and call their path by a different name.<ref name="Firestone"/>
* 'Pluralists' –  assert that there are several religious traditions or interpretations that are equally effective saving their adherents from damnation,  regardless of the circumstances.<ref name="Firestone"/> 
* 'Universalists' –  'believe that all of hell's inhabitants will be admitted into heaven following a significant period of time' suffering in hell.<ref name="Firestone"/> 
(In addition there are those who could be described as 'interim inclusivists' or <ref name="Firestone"/> 'ultimate universalists'.)<ref name=Khalil-2013-13>{{Cite book|title=Between heaven and hell: Islam, salvation, and the fate of others|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Khalil, Mohammad Hassan|isbn=9780199945412|location=Oxford|page=13|oclc=793726652}}</ref>

Based on these categories, four "well-known and particularly influential Muslim thinkers" can be sorted as: 
* al-Ghazālī –  "optimistic" or "liberal inclusivist",<ref name="Firestone"/>
* [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn al-ʿArabī]] –  "liberal inclusivist" to "quasi-universalist",<ref name="Firestone"/> 
* [[Ibn Taymiyya]] and 
* [[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]] –  both universalists, (despite their status as "darlings" of "many who call themselves Salafīs"),
* [[Rashīd Riḍā]] –  was a lenient inclusivist to cautious universalist.<ref name="Firestone">{{cite journal |last1=Firestone |first1=Reuven |title=[Review of two books by Mohammad Hassan Khalil, ''Islam and the Fate of Others'' and ''Between Heaven and Hell''] |journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies |date=June 2014 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=142–149 |doi=10.3366/jqs.2014.0151 |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/jqs.2014.0151 |access-date=4 May 2022}}</ref>
* [[Ibn Hazm]] –  "proclaimed that even the most upright and flawless moral-ethical monotheist is damned to hell if he knows anything about a person named Muḥammad or a religion called Islam and does not join, while even the most brutal and immoral person who converts sincerely to Islam the moment before he dies, is saved". Furthermore, "any Muslim who does not agree is not a Muslim himself."<ref name="Firestone"/>

==== Ash'arism ====
{{further|Ash'ari}}
Ashʿarism (/æʃəˈriː/; Arabic: أشعرية: al-ʾAshʿarīyah), one of the main [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[schools of Islamic theology]], founded by the [[Islamic scholar]], [[Shafiʽi school|Shāfiʿī]] [[Faqīh|jurist]], [[Al-Ash'ari|Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī]] in the 10th century,<ref name="Islamica 2015">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Javad Anvari |author-first=Mohammad |year=2015 |title=al-Ashʿarī |translator-last=Melvin-Koushki |translator-first=Matthew |editor1-last=Madelung |editor1-first=Wilferd |editor2-last=Daftary |editor2-first=Farhad |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Islamica |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_0300 |issn=1875-9823}}</ref> is known for an optimistic perspective on salvation for Muslims, repeatedly addressing God's mercy over God's wrath.<ref name="IslamicLaw">{{cite book|author1-last=Reinhart|author1-first=Kevin|author2-last=Gleave|author2-first=Robert|year=2014|chapter=Sins, expiation, and non-rationality in fiqh|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYyfAwAAQBA|editor-last=Lange|editor-first=Christian|editor-link=Christian Lange (Religious studies)|title=Islamic Law in Theory: Studies on Jurisprudence in Honor of Bernard Weiss|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=9780567081612}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{rp|p=165}}<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:177-78/> However,  according to Ash'arism, God is neither obligated to punish disobedience nor to reward obedience.<ref name="IslamicLaw"/>{{rp|p=167}}

Ash'aris hold revelation necessary to understand good and evil, as well as religious truths.<ref name="Rationalistic"/>{{rp|p=109}} Accordingly, revelation is necessary to reach moral and religious truths and thus, people who hear from a prophet or messenger are obligated to follow the revealed religion. However, those who have not received revelation are not obligated, and can hope for salvation.<ref name="Pluralism"/>{{rp|p=215}} 

Ash'arite scholar [[al-Ghazali]] divided non-Muslims into three categories for purposes of the Afterlife according to [[Mohammad Hassan Khalil]]:<ref name="Diversity">{{cite book |author1-last=McKim |author1-first=Robert| year=2016 |orig-date= |chapter= Pluralism in Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BoByDQAAQBAJ |editor-last=|editor-first=|editor-link= |title=Religious Perspectives on Religious Diversity |location= |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=|doi= |isbn=9789004330436|lccn=}}</ref><ref name=Khalil-2013-111/>

#Those who never heard the message of Islam, who live in far away lands, such as the Byzantines ("Romans"). These will be forgiven.
#Those who were only exposed to a distorted understanding of Islam and had no opportunity to hear the correct version. These too will be forgiven.
#People who heard of Islam because they lived in neighboring lands and/or mixed with Muslims. These have no hope of salvation.<ref name=Khalil-2013-111/>
Of these three, only the last group would be punished.<ref name="Diversity"/>
[[Al-Ghazali|Ghazali]] distinguished between the "saved" and "those who will attain success". Therefore, righteous non-Muslims will neither enter hell nor Jannah, but will stay in [[Araf (Islam)|al-Araf]] (a realm between Jannah and Jahannam  inhabited by those who are neither entirely evil nor entirely good).<ref name=MHIatFoO2012-45-6>{{cite book|first1=Mohammad Hassan |last1=Khalil |title=Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= USA |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-199-79666-3 |pages=45–46}}</ref>

==== Maturidism ====
{{further|Maturidi}}
Māturīdism ({{langx|ar|الماتريدية}}: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is also one of the main [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[schools of Islamic theology]]<ref name="Rudolph 2016">{{cite book |author-last=Rudolph |author-first=Ulrich |year=2016 |orig-date=2014 |chapter=Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period – Ḥanafī Theological Tradition and Māturīdism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70wnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA280 |editor-last=Schmidtke |editor-first=Sabine |editor-link=Sabine Schmidtke |title=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=280–296 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.023 |isbn=9780199696703 |lccn=2016935488}}</ref> developed and formalized by the [[Islamic scholar]], [[Hanafi|Ḥanafī]] [[Faqīh|jurist]] [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi|Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī]] in the 10th century.<ref name="Rudolph 2016"/> Māturīdi scholars are thought to have been less optimistic about the chances of sinners entering paradise than Ash'aris,  but more optimistic than Muʿtazila.<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:177-78/>  They agree that Muslims who have committed grave sins will be punished but generally acknowledge that even these people will eventually enter paradise.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=177}}<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:177>[[#CLPaHiIT2016|Lange, ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'',  2016]]: p.177</ref> Regarding the fate of non-Muslims, scholars have different opinions.<ref name="Rationalistic">{{cite book |author1-last=Isaacs|author1-first=Rico|author2-last=Frigerio|author2-first=Alessandro |year=2018 |orig-date=|chapter= Pluralism in Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSt1DwAAQBAJ&dq=maturidi+salvation&pg=PA110 |editor-last= |editor-first= |editor-link= |title=Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power |location= |publisher=[[Springer International Publishing]] |pages= |doi= |isbn=9783319973555|lccn=}}</ref>{{rp|p=110}} Māturīdism holds people responsible for believing in a [[Creator deity|creator]] due to their intellectual capacities, even if they haven't heard about any prophetic mission.<ref name="Zhussipbek">"Zhussipbek, Galym, and Bakhytzhan Satershinov. "Search for the theological grounds to develop inclusive Islamic interpretations: Some insights from rationalistic Islamic Maturidite theology." Religions 10.11 (2019): 609.</ref>{{rp|p=5}}<ref name="Pluralism">{{cite book |author1-last=Solomon |author1-first=Norman |author2-last=Harries |author2-first=Richard |year=2014 |orig-date= |chapter= Pluralism in Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQfUAwAAQBAJ |editor-last=|editor-first=|editor-link= |title=Abraham's Children: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Conversation |location= |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=|doi= |isbn=9780567081612 |lccn=0567081613}}</ref>{{rp|p=215}}<ref name="Rationalistic"/>{{rp|p=110}} While some (like [[Rifat Atay]]) regard Māturīdism to be exclusivistic, only allowing people who are Muslims to enter paradise,<ref name="Rationalistic"/>{{rp|p=110}} others argue that Māturīdi understood that "to believe in Islam" meant having a subjective conceptualization of God and his laws by reason alone. This fits the doctrine, upheld by Māturīdism, that human reason suffices to grasp good and evil, and arrive at religious truths.<ref name="Rationalistic"/>{{rp|p=109}} Accordingly, people are judged by their degree of understanding God's universal law, not by their adherence to a particular belief system.<ref name="Pluralism"/>{{rp|p=215}}<ref name="Rationalistic"/>{{rp|p=110}} In modern times, [[Yohei Matsuyama]] largely agrees with this interpretation.<ref name="Zhussipbek"/>{{rp|p=5}} According to Abu'l-Qasim Ishaq, children cannot be considered unbelievers, thus all of them go to paradise.<ref>Tritton, A. S. "An Early Work from the School of Al-Māturīdī." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 3/4, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1966, pp. 96–99, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25202926.</ref>

==== Muʿtazila ====
{{further|Muʿtazila}}
[[Muʿtazila]] ({{langx|ar|المعتزلة}} ''{{transliteration|ar|DIN|al-muʿtazilah}}'') emphasized God's justice, [[free will]], and the responsibility of each human being  for their actions. They have been called the  "best known exponents" of ''[[Qadariyah]]'', the idea that human free will was necessary "as a guarantee of divine justice".<ref name=JISYYHIU1981:22>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.22</ref> Compared to Maturidi and Ashʿarī, Muʿtazila had the least amount of "salvific optimism".<ref name=CLPaHiIT2016:177-78>[[#CLPaHiIT2016|Lange, ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'',  2016]]: p.177-78</ref>
The "divine threat" (''al-wa'id'') and "divine promise" (''al wa'd'') became key tenets of the Mu'tazilites,<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=173}} who  stressed that they applied to both Muslims and non-Muslims. This meant that those who committed grave or heinous  sins ([[Islamic views on sin#Major sins: Al-Kaba'ir|Kabirah]]), even  Muslims, might denied entry to paradise forever.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=173}} The only way for a grave sinner to be forgiven, many theologians believed, is by [[Tawba|repentance]] (''tawba''). Mu'tazilites believed God's justice obligated Him to forgive those who had repented (other schools believed He was not so constrained).<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=175}} The Mu'tazilites stress on individual accountability meant a rejection of  [[Shafa'a|intercession]] (''Shafa'a'') on behalf of Muhammad.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=178}} Another controversial belief of many (but not all)<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=168}} Mu'tazilites was that  paradise and hell would be created only after Judgement Day. This meant rejection of the commonly accepted idea that paradise and hell coexist with the contemporary world. Their reasoning was that since God does everything for a purpose, and since paradise and hell are created to reward or punish people, they will only be created after judegement has been passed on people and they are assigned to these abodes.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=167–168}}

====Twelver Shia====
{{further|Twelver Shi'ism}}
Like most Sunni, Shia Islam hold that all Muslims will eventually go to Jannah.{{#tag:ref|Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi quotes 
*Shaikh al-Mufeed: The Imami (Shia) scholars are unanimous that remaining in hellfire for ever is for the Kuffaar only and not for the major sinners from those who believe in Allah.<ref>''Awaa'il al-Maqaalaat'' by Shaikh al-Mufeed, p.14</ref><ref name="every Muslim-2020">{{cite web |last1=Al-Musawi |first1=Sayyed Mohammad |title=Is it a Shi'i belief that every Muslim, including people like Umar ibn Sa'd and Ibn Ziyad, will eventually enter paradise after being punished for their sins? Is there any Islamic sect that has such a belief? |url=https://www.al-islam.org/ask/is-it-a-shii-belief-that-every-muslim-including-people-like-umar-ibn-sad-and-ibn-ziyad-will-eventually-enter-paradise-after-being-punished-for-their-sins-is-there-any-islamic-sect-that-has-such-a-belief/sayyed-mohammad-al-musawi |website=al-Islam.org |access-date=4 May 2022 |date=2020}}</ref>
*Shaikh al-Sadouq: The Hellfire is the place of those who did not believe in Allah and some of the believers in Allah who committed major sins but they will not remain in it. No one will remain in Hellfire for ever but the non believers.<ref>''Sharh Aqaed al-Sadouq'', Shaikh al-Sadouq p.55</ref><ref name="every Muslim-2020"/>|group="nb"}}

On the fate of non-Muslims in the hereafter, Shia Islam (or at least cleric Ayatullah Mahdi Hadavi Tehrani of Al-Islam.org), takes a view similar to Ash'arism. Tehrani divides non-Muslims into two groups: the heedless and stubborn who will go to hell and the ignorant who will not "if they are truthful to their own religion": <blockquote>
#Those who are termed 'Jahil-e-Muqassir' (lit. 'culpable ignorant' –  ''jahil'' suggesting unbelief rather than literal ignorance). These are non-believers to whom the message of Islam has reached and who have understood its truthfulness. However, they are not prepared to accept the truth due to their obstinacy and stubbornness. This group deserves to be punished in hell.
#Those who are termed 'Jahil-e-Qasir' (lit. 'inculpable ignorant'). These are non-believers to whom the message of Islam has not reached, or it has been presented to them in a very incomplete and untruthful manner. Such people will attain salvation if they are truthful to their own religion.<ref name="Tehrani-13">{{cite book |last1=Tehrani |first1=Ayatullah Mahdi Hadavi |title=Faith and Reason |publisher=Al-Islam.org |url=https://www.al-islam.org/faith-and-reason/question-13-non-muslims-and-hell |access-date=25 April 2022 |chapter=Question 20: Heaven and Hell|date=5 September 2012 }}</ref>
</blockquote>
(At least one [[Twelver Shia]] scholar 'Allama al-Hilli, insists that not only will non-Muslims be damned but suggests Sunni Muslim will be as well, as it is not possible for any Muslim to be ignorant of "the imamate and of the Return", and thus "whoever is ignorant of any of them is outside the circle of believers and worthy of eternal punishment."<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Renard |first=John |title=Islamic Theological Themes: A Primary Source Reader |publisher=University of California Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-520-28189-9 |location=Oakland, California |pages=7–8}}</ref> This statement is not indicative of all Shia eschatological thought.)

Also like mainstream schools, and unlike Muʿtazila, Twelver Shia hold that Jannah and hellfire "exist at present ... according to the Qur`an and ahadith". However, they will not "become fully apparent and represented" until Judgement Day.<ref name="Tehrani-20">{{cite book |last1=Tehrani |first1=Ayatullah Mahdi Hadavi |title=Faith and Reason |publisher=Al-Islam.org |url=https://www.al-islam.org/faith-and-reason/question-20-heaven-and-hell |access-date=25 April 2022 |chapter=Question 13: Non-muslims and Hell|date=5 September 2012 }}</ref> As for three other issues in Islamic eschatology: 
*the differences between Adam and Eve's [[Garden of Eden]], 
*"the heaven or hell of one's actions which envelopes a person"; and 
*the ''[[Barzakh#Interpretations|Barzakh]]'' state of "purgatory" in Islam after death and before Resurrection; in Shia Islam, 
these three "types" of jannah (or Jahannam) are "all simply manifestations of the ultimate, eternal heaven and hell".<ref name="Tehrani-20"/>

==== Islamic Modernism and Salafism ====
[[Islamic Modernism|Modernist scholars]] [[Muhammad Abduh]] and [[Rashid Rida]] rejected the notion that the [[People of the Book]] would be excluded from Jannah, based on Q.{{qref|4|123-124}} (see above).<ref name="koran-khoury">Der Koran, ed. and transl. by [[Adel Theodor Khoury]], Gütersloh 2004, p. 67 (footnote).</ref>  The [[Fate of the unlearned]] is also a matter of dispute within Islamic theology. Like many [[Modernity|modern]] scholars advocated, including [[Mawlana Ali]], [[Ismail Hakki Izmirli]], and [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida asserted the doctrine of a finite hell ''fanāʾ al-nār'' ("demise of hell").<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=284}}

Turkish theologian [[Süleyman Ateş]] cites the Quran {{qref|5|66}} to argue that there are good and bad people in any religion, and that some Muslims may not enter paradise, but those who believe without doubt in the hereafter and a God without partners,  and who do good and useful deeds may enter paradise, whatever their religions.<ref>[[Şinasi Gündüz]], Cafer S. Yaran ''Change and Essence: Dialectical Relations Between Change and Continuity in the Turkish Intellectual Tradition'' CRVP 2005 {{ISBN|978-1-565-18222-6}} p. 9</ref>

[[Salafism|Neo-Salafi trends]] commonly reject inclusive salvation theories. [[Umar Sulaiman Al-Ashqar]], an eminent Salafi scholar, can serve to illustrate the core points of Salafi beliefs.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=284}} Like proto-Salafi [[ibn Qayyim]], he rejects the doctrine of ''fanāʾ al-nār''.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=284}} He interpretes a hadith that there are 73 three Islamic sects from which only one is saved in accordance with his own sectarian beliefs.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=284}} Only those who stick close to the Quran and the Sunnah go to paradise, while those he consider slightly deviant, such as Mu'tzilites and Kharijites go to hell temporarily, while "extreme" groups such as [[Isma'ilism|Isma'ilis]], [[Alevism|Alevites]], and [[Druze]], go to hell forever.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=284}} Al-Ashqar elaborates on a hadith that "most inhabitants of hell are women" that women are more likely to go to hell due to intellectual deficiencies. He adds, despite their flaws, there are also many good and pious women.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=285}} Similar, most Salafi authors reiterate works produced in the premodern period, but add personal preferences adjusting them to comply to their moral and sectarian convictions.<ref name="Lange-2016"/>{{rp|p=285}}

==== The fate of Jews ====
While "some traditional and contemporary commentators" have interpreted the Quran as condemning all Jews, Farid Esack argues this condemnation is neither "universal" nor "eternal", and asks, 'if the Qur'an is to consign the Jews to eternal damnation, then what becomes of the sacred text as a means of guidance for all humankind? Would that vision too be damned?'<ref name="Khalil-2013-209"/><ref name="Firestone"/>

An example of a line criticizing the Jews can be found in Surah 5: 
*"The Jews say, 'God's Hand is shackled.' Shackled are their hands, and they are cursed for what they say. Nay, but His two Hands are outstretched, He bestows as He wills. Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief. And we cast enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. As often they ignite a flame for war, God extinguishes it. They endeavor to work corruption upon the earth. And God loves not thee workers of corruption." (Q.{{qref|5|64}})<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The study Quran: a new translation and commentary|editor1=Nasr, Seyyed Hossein |editor2=Dagli, Caner K. |editor3=Dakake, Maria Massi |editor4=Lumbard, Joseph E. B. |editor5=Rustom, Mohammed|isbn=9780061125867|edition= First|location=New York, NY|pages=309–312|oclc=879553018|date = 17 November 2015}}</ref>

A Sahih hadith concerning Jews and one of the signs of the coming of Judgement Day has been quoted many times, (it became a part of the charter of [[Hamas]]).<ref>[[Walter Laqueur|Laqueur, Walter]]. ''The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times To The Present Day''. Oxford University Press. 2006. {{ISBN|0-19-530429-2}} p.192</ref>
* The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (the [[Boxthorn]] tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.{{#tag:ref|(related by al-Bukhari ({{Hadith-usc|Bukhari|usc=yes|4|56|791}},({{Hadith-usc|Bukhari|usc=yes|4|52|177}}) and Muslim ({{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|41|6985}}, see also {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|41|6981}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|41|6982}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|41|6983}}, {{hadith-usc|usc=yes|Muslim|41|6984}})|group="nb"}} 
However, some scripture praises the dedication of Jews to monotheism,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Between heaven and hell: Islam, salvation, and the fate of others|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Khalil, Mohammad Hassan|isbn=9780199945412|location=Oxford|pages=207|oclc=793726652}}</ref>  and this verse of the Qur'an in  surah 3, can be interpreted as taking a more reconciliatory tone: 
*"They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God's signs in the watches of the night, while they prostrate. They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin right and forbid wrong, and hasten unto good deeds. And they are among the righteous. Whatsoever good they do, they will not be denied it. And God knows the reverent". (Q.{{qref|3|113–115}})<ref>{{Cite book|title=The study Quran: a new translation and commentary|editor1=Nasr, Seyyed Hossein |editor2=Dagli, Caner K. |editor3=Dakake, Maria Massi |editor4=Lumbard, Joseph E. B. |editor5=Rustom, Mohammed|isbn=9780061125867|edition= First|location=New York, NY|pages=162–163|oclc=879553018|date=17 November 2015}}</ref> 
After reconciling the different descriptions, one can conclude that the transgressions of the "apes and pigs" are not indicative of the entire community,<ref name=":2" /> and that while some Jews are on their way to damnation, others are not.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Between heaven and hell: Islam, salvation, and the fate of others|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Khalil, Mohammad Hassan|isbn=9780199945412|location=Oxford|pages=231|oclc=793726652}}</ref>