Q14
Are good people of other faiths saved? What about those who never heard?
The question, at its strongest
"My neighbour is kinder and more honest than most Muslims I know. She has read about Islam and simply does not find it true. Your Prophet says that any Jew or Christian who 'hears of me' and dies without believing is in the Fire. Your Quran says any other religion 'will never be accepted' (3:85). So she goes to Hell for ever, for an honest conclusion. And 'maybe she didn't hear it properly' sounds like an escape hatch. Who decides?"
Why people ask it
It is the question every Muslim with non-Muslim friends eventually faces, and the one outsiders find most alienating.
Short answer
There are two different cases. The first is the person the message never reached, or reached only in distorted form. Mainstream Sunni scholars, from al-Ghazali to Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Nawawi and al-Albani, hold that such people are not punished for unbelief, and many add that they will be tested on the Day of Judgement. The second is the person who heard the message clearly and accurately and still rejected it. The strict mainstream position, based on Muslim 153 and 3:85 as Ibn Kathir reads them, is that such a person is not saved. Al-Ghazali calls such people "the unbelievers who deny the revelation." The real uncertainty is where the line falls between the two cases, and only God can draw it for any individual. Most Muslims Pew surveyed in 2013 said that Islam alone leads to salvation.
The full answer
7min read
What the Quran says
The Quran contains both a broad promise and an exclusive claim. Verse 2:62 (cf. 5:69): "Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] – those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteous work – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve." Verse 3:85: "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." Verse 17:15 states the governing principle: "And never would We punish until We sent a messenger."
The abrogation report. Ibn Kathir records that "ʿAli bin Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas, about [2:62]… that Allah revealed the following Ayah afterwards, [3:85]." Ibn Kathir does not simply declare 2:62 cancelled (naskh is the replacement of an earlier ruling by a later one). He comments that the report "indicates that Allah does not accept any deed or work from anyone, unless it conforms to the Law of Muhammad that is, after Allah sent Muhammad." He reads 2:62 as praising the "earlier nations who were righteous and obedient."
What does "Islam" mean in 3:85? Ibn Kathir uses both senses. He describes Islam as "the religion that He sent His Books and Messengers with, which is the worship of Allah Alone", and he adds that "after Allah sent Muhammad, whoever meets Allah following a path other than Muhammad's, it will not be accepted of him." Limit: al-Tabari on 2:62 has not yet been consulted.
What the Prophet (pbuh) taught
Muslim 153. Abu Hurayra (ra): "By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire" (Muslim 153 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). It is sahih by its inclusion in Sahih Muslim.
Why "hears of me" is read as hearing accurately, and who says so. Scholars disagree on how much hearing counts.
- Al-Qari (d. 1606, a Hanafi commentator) reads it minimally: "if anyone knows about my message."
- Al-Nawawi (d. 1277) infers the reverse case: "whoever was not reached by the call of Islam will be excused" (Sharh Sahih Muslim 2/188).
- Al-Albani (d. 1999) sets a strict standard for what counts as reaching: "If the message of Islam reached the people in a forged manner… altered… changed… then, I am the first one to say that the message has not reached such people, because what is meant by the message having reached them, is the pure clear message" (Islamweb 243244).
The testing of the people of fatra. Fatra means an interval between prophets. Al-Aswad ibn Sariʿ (ra) reports that four people will plead on the Day of Resurrection: "a deaf man who cannot hear anything, a mad man, a senile man, and a man who died in the period before Islam." The last will say, "O Lord, no messenger from You came to me." They are commanded to enter a fire: "if they enter the fire, it will become cool and peaceful" (Musnad Ahmad 16301). The parallel from Abu Hurayra adds: "whoever does not enter it will be dragged to it."
Gradings of the testing hadith:
- Darussalam/al-Arnaʾut: hasan (good) as a hadith, though this chain is broken.
- Al-Albani: sahih (al-Sahiha 3/418–419).
- Ibn al-Qayyim: reports that al-Bayhaqi and ʿAbd al-Haqq graded it sahih (Ahkam Ahl al-Dhimma 2/1149).
- Ibn Kathir: the reports "strengthen" one another (Tafsir 5/58).
- Ibn Hajar: "proven to be sound via saheeh isnaads" (Fath al-Bari 3/246).
How scholars have understood it
Al-Ghazali's three categories. In Fayṣal al-Tafriqa (The Decisive Criterion), al-Ghazali (d. 1111) writes:
"I hold that most Christians of the present time… are included in the divine mercy, Allah Most High willing… One group has never even heard the name of Muhammad… so are excused. A second group has heard of his name, his character, and the miraculous signs — these are the unbelievers who deny the revelation. And a third group… have heard of the name of Muhammad… but not of his character and attributes, since childhood, they have heard that a lying impostor named Muhammad claimed to be a prophet. Such people fall into the same category as the first group."
The Ashʿari position. Al-Jurjani: "There is no accountability upon the one whom the call of a prophet definitively did not reach." Faraz Rabbani traces the view through al-Sanusi and al-Bajuri and calls it "solidly mainstream Sunni theology." The Maturidi position has not yet been sourced.
The Athari position. Ibn Taymiyya (al-Jawab al-Sahih 2/298) and Ibn al-Qayyim (Ahkam Ahl al-Dhimma 2/1137) favour testing in the Hereafter. Ibn al-Qayyim also answers the question "who decides?" (Tariq al-Hijratayn 2/900):
"He will not punish anyone except those against whom proof is established through the Messengers… But as for the question of whether or not proof is established against any particular individual, this is a matter to be decided by Allah and we cannot issue rulings concerning specific individuals in that regard."
The strict answer, stated plainly. Suppose someone received the message as al-Ghazali's second group did, with "his name, his character, and the miraculous signs", and died rejecting it. Al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir and Ibn al-Qayyim all hold that such a person is not saved. Rabbani adds that "amnesty for those who are not reached by the message does not constitute validation of other religions." Limit: the same scholars forbid declaring this of any named person.
Khalil's study. Mohammad Hassan Khalil (Michigan State University), in Islam and the Fate of Others (OUP, 2012), studies four figures: al-Ghazali ("Damnation as Exception"), Ibn ʿArabi ("All Paths Lead to God"), Ibn Taymiyya ("The Redemption of Humanity") and Rashid Rida ("The Modern Scene"). Bazzano summarises the finding as "not a monolithic consensus but… a cacophony of opinions… which overwhelmingly envisions a heaven filled with Muslims and non-Muslims." This describes Khalil's influential sample, not the whole tradition.
The strongest objection, and the reply
"'True hearing' is an escape hatch." Reply: The tradition says explicitly that God decides. The standard rests on 17:15, and al-Ghazali stated it in the 11th century, long before modern pluralism. Limit: nobody can check it on earth, and it gives no one certainty in either direction.
"Honest error is punished." Reply: What the mainstream holds culpable is rejection after the truth has become clear, not mistaken belief, and only God knows the inner state. Limit: for someone who truly understood and was not persuaded, the strict view offers no comfort, and Muslims should say so plainly.
The range of views
Scholarly views range from strict exclusivism to perennialism.
- Strict exclusivism: excuses are read narrowly.
- The mainstream "message-reached" view: al-Ghazali, the Ashʿaris, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Albani.
- Wider hope: Ibn ʿArabi, and Ibn Taymiyya's view on the end of Hell (Q13).
- Modern pluralist readings of 2:62: a minority.
- Not documented here: Perennialism (Schuon, Nasr: all major religions as valid paths), and Mutahhari's Shiʿi distinction between the culpable and non-culpable ignorant (jāhil muqaṣṣir/qāṣir).
What ordinary Muslims believe. Pew (2013) found that in 34 of 38 countries at least half of Muslims say Islam is "the one true religion that can lead to eternal life in heaven." The figure was 96% in Egypt and Jordan and 95% in Iraq, but 29% in Kazakhstan (where 49% said many religions can) and 37% in Albania. Muslims who pray several times a day held this view more often; in Russia the gap was 41 points. US Muslims are "much more open" to many paths.
For the heart and mind
If someone you love died outside Islam, neither you nor anyone else can know that the message truly reached them. Al-Ghazali hoped that most Christians of his day were within God's mercy. Ibn al-Qayyim forbade judging any individual. You may leave your loved one with God, and hope.
Questions readers ask next
Is my sincere friend who knows Islam well going to Hell?
On the strict view, yes, if she truly understood and rejected. Whether she did is known only to God.
Was 2:62 abrogated?
A report from Ibn ʿAbbas says so. Ibn Kathir reads it as meaning that after Muhammad (pbuh), only his law is accepted.
What happens to people who never heard?
They are excused or tested. Musnad Ahmad 16301 is graded sahih by al-Albani and hasan by al-Arnaʾut.
Is the "never heard properly" excuse fringe?
No. Al-Ghazali, al-Nawawi, al-Jurjani, Ibn al-Qayyim and al-Albani all hold it.
Do most Muslims believe only Muslims are saved?
In most countries Pew surveyed, yes.
Key verses
مَّنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِى لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ ۗ وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا١٥
Transliteration: mani ih'tadā fa-innamā yahtadī linafsihi waman ḍalla fa-innamā yaḍillu ʿalayhā walā taziru wāziratun wiz'ra ukh'rā wamā kunnā muʿadhibīna ḥattā nabʿatha rasūlan
Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger.
Translation: Saheeh International
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Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] 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. 2:62
Arabic text and transliteration
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ وَٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰ وَٱلصَّٰبِـِٔينَ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
inna alladhīna āmanū wa-alladhīna hādū wal-naṣārā wal-ṣābiīna man āmana bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri waʿamila ṣāliḥan falahum ajruhum ʿinda rabbihim walā khawfun ʿalayhim walā hum yaḥzanūna
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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. 3:85
Arabic text and transliteration
وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ ٱلْإِسْلَٰمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ
waman yabtaghi ghayra l-is'lāmi dīnan falan yuq'bala min'hu wahuwa fī l-ākhirati mina l-khāsirīna
Sources
- Sahih Muslim 153 (sunnah.com) — the "hears of me" hadith.
- Islamweb fatwa 243244 (2014), https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/243244/ — al-Qari; al-Albani.
- IslamQA 227756 (2019), https://islamqa.info/en/answers/227756 — al-Nawawi, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Hajar, al-Albani.
- Musnad Ahmad 16301 — Darussalam grading (https://en.tohed.com/hadith/musnad-ahmad/16301/) and al-Arnaʾut grading (https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2013/01/16/tested-akhirah-yawm-al-qiyamah/).
- Faraz Rabbani, SeekersGuidance, quoting al-Ghazali, Fayṣal al-Tafriqa, via N. Keller, Sea Without Shore; al-Jurjani, Sharh al-Mawaqif. https://seekersguidance.org/answers/islamic-belief/is-imam-al-ghazalis-view-on-the-excused-ignorant-valid/
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "al-Ghazali" — editions of Fayṣal (ed. S. Dunya, Cairo 1961; trans. S. A. Jackson, OUP 2002).
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir on 2:62 and 3:85 (quran.com, abridged English).
- M. H. Khalil, Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question (Oxford University Press, 2012), xii + 256 pp., ISBN 9780199796731; reviews by E. Bazzano (AJIS 30:1, 117–121) and O. Koca (J. Religious History 39:4, 2015).
- Pew, The World's Muslims (2013), ch. 6. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-interfaith-relations/
- al-Ghazālī, Fayṣal al-Tafriqa, trans. S. Jackson (OUP, 2002)
- Khalil (2012)
- Muṭahharī, ʿAdl-e Elāhī (Persian; English "Divine Justice", al-Islam.org)
- T. Tabrizi, "Khumaynī and the Salvation of Non-Muslims" (BIIS)
- Yaqeen, "The Fate of Non-Muslims"
- H.K. Nakata, "The Border of Salvation" (JISMOR)
- M. Demichelis, The Marginalia Review