Who Are The True Believers

By : Islaamic

As-Salaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuh.

Indeed all Praise is due to Allaahu Subhaanahu wa Ta’Alaa. May the Peace and Blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, and his family and his sahaabah and all who follow in their footsteps until the last day.

Many individuals claim that along with Islaam, there are other true religions. They claim that there are other “true believers” aside from Muslims who will also enter Jannah or Paradise. They base these claims on verses from Allaah’s Book; Al-Qur’aan. Yet is this really the case?

Claims can either be proven true or false based on facts. And essentially, something remains a claim until such time that it is proven with facts. In order to truly come to a conclusion on any matter with true justice, then one must present all of the evidence and facts, which pertain to that particular issue.

Those who make the stated claim present their evidence with the following Verses from Allaah’s Book:

[Al-Baqarah 2:62]  “Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and sabians, whoever believes in Allah 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.”

[Al-Ma'idah 5:69]  “Surely, those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah, in His Messenger Muhammad and all that was revealed to him from Allah), those who are the Jews and the sabians and the Christians, – whosoever believed in Allah and the Last Day, and worked righteousness, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

Let us inshaa Allaah however look at all of the evidence on this matter, and then come to a determination.

We will look first to another verse which contains the same groups as above:

[22:17]  “Those who believe (in Allah and in His Messenger Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and the sabians, and the Christians, and the Magians, and those who worship others besides Allah, truly, Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Verily! Allah is Witness over all things.”

Looking at the above verses, Allaah first Refers to “those who believe” and Allaah then separates the Jews, Sabians and Christians from those who believe.

This is the first fundamental aspect of understanding these verses. Allaah is Admonishing those who believe as well as Jews, Christians and Sabians to believe in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous deeds. It is a reminder for the believers to believe and it is an admonishment to those who disbelieve (i.e. Jews, Christians and Sabians) to believe. Why would Allaah Separate “those who believe” from those who are Jews, Christians and Sabians if in fact they are believers?

The earlier nations who followed the Prophets that Allaah Sent and remained on the correct belief and died upon this belief, then absolutely they are believers. The fact is that Allaah does promise Paradise to the true followers of Moses who died upon the true belief (peace and Blessings upon him) up until the time that Jesus was sent (Peace be upon him). Any living followers of Moses who disbelieved in Jesus (Peace be upon them), they were from that point disbelievers because they rejected what Allaah had Sent. The same goes for the living true followers of Jesus (Peace be upon him). If they reject Muhammad (Peace and Blessings upon him), they are disbelievers.

Never the less today there are many who claim to be the true followers of Jesus (Peace and Blessings upon him), divided into different groups. The true followers of Jesus (Peace and Blessings upon him are and always were Muslims (those who submit to Allaah).

[3:52]  “Then when Jesus came to know of their disbelief, he said: ‘Who will be my helpers in Allah’s Cause?’ The disciples said: ‘We are the helpers of Allah; we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are muslims’.“

There is no god but Allaah, He does not beget, nor is He begotten and Allaah has Created all that exists. Jesus (Peace and Blessings upon him) was a slave and messenger of Allaah, Subhaanahu wa Ta’Alaa. And as for those groups who claim to be his followers;

[4:159]  “And on the Day of Resurrection, he [Jesus] will be a witness against them.”

And the true followers of Moses (Peace and Blessings upon him) were Muslims, and it is only Allaah who Determines who His messengers are. Cursed are those who killed The Prophets of Allaah. Those whom Allaah has Chosen are only those slaves who submit to Him and worship Him Alone.

[10:84]  “And Moses said: ‘O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are muslims’.”

To add to this, we can look to the Hadeeth of Allaah’s Messsenger (Peace and Blessings upon him) when he saw one of his companions ‘Umar bin Khattaab (May Allaah be Pleased with him) reading the Torah. He said to ‘Umar; “By Allah, were Musa (Moses) to be alive, he would have no choice but to follow me!”

And so one might say that it makes no sense for Allaah to Admonish the believers to believe since we already believe; however Allaah Reminds the believers to believe elsewhere in the Qur’aan as well:

[4:136]  “O you who believe! Believe…”

[2:208]  “O you who believe! Enter perfectly in Islam…”

[8:24]  “O you who believe! Answer Allah (by obeying Him) and (His) Messenger when he calls you to that which will give you life…”

[3:156]  “O you who believe! Be not like those who disbelieve…”

We must then follow this up by looking at what it means to believe, what does belief/faith mean? As with any matter in Islaam, we refer to Allaah’s Qur’aan, Subhaanahu wa Ta’Ala & the Sunnah of His Final Messenger and Prophet Muhammad (Sal-Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam).

Allaahu Tabaarak wa Ta’Alaa Says:

[2:285]  “The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, his books, and His Messengers. They say, ‘We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers’ - and they say, ‘We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your Forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all).’”

Allaah’s Messenger (Sal-Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam) said in his authentic Hadeeth (the meaning of which is), when he was asked by the Angel Jibreel (Alayhis Salaat w’As-Salaam) what does “Imaan” (faith/belief) mean, he replied; “Faith means to believe in Allaah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree, both good and bad.”

We see that Allaah in the above Verse Commands us to “hear and obey”, and Allaah Commands us to believe in His Messengers and Prophets, and to disbelieve in them is disbelief in Allaah, because we are not believing in what He Commands us to believe. Therefore those who say “faith in Allaah does not mean believing in men” are clearly in error. Faith in Allaah means to believe in whatsoever Allaah Commands us to believe.

As Allaah Tells us in His Book:

[4:136]  “O you who believe! Believe in Allah, and His Messenger (Muhammad), and the Book (the Qur’an) which He has sent down to His Messenger, and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him), and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, his books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away.“

Allaah Also Says in His Book:

[5:68] “Say: ‘O People of the Scripture! You have nothing (as regards guidance) till you act according to the Torah, the Gospel, and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Qur’an).’ Verily, that which has been sent down to you (Muhammad) from your Lord increases in many of them their obstinate rebellion and disbelief. So be not sorrowful over the people who disbelieve.”

[3:100]  “O you who believe! If you obey a group of those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians), they would (indeed) render you disbelievers after you have believed!”

[98:6] “Verily those who disbelieve from among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures.”

[5:73]  “Surely, disbelievers are those who said: ‘Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity)’.”

[24:62] “The true believers are only those, who believe in (the Oneness of) Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad)…”

[3:85]  “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”

[4:150-151]  “Verily, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messengers and wish to make distinction between Allah and His Messengers (by believing in Allah and disbelieving in His Messengers) saying, ‘We believe in some but reject others,’ and wish to adopt a way in between. They are in truth disbelievers. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating torment.”

Allaah in the Qur’aan also Implies that Jews and Christians are polytheists! So how could they then be believers?

[2:135]  “And they say, ‘Be Jews or Christians, then you will be guided.’ Say, ‘Nay! Only the religion of Abraham Hanifa (is to be followed), and he was not of the polytheists’.”

Can one be a “true believer” yet also be cursed and deluded away from the truth?

[9:30] “…and the jews say: ‘Ezra is the son of Allah,’ and the Christians say: ‘the Messiah is the son of Allah.’ That is a saying from their mouths. They imitate the saying of the disbelievers of old. Allah’s Curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth!

Allaah even Mocks how Jews and Christians consider each other to be disbelievers yet proclaim to study the same book!

[2:113] “The Jews said that the Christians follow nothing; and the Christians said that the Jews follow nothing; though they both recite the (same) Scripture?!”

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: “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.”

So we can see in fact the claims people make that along with Islaam, “there are other true religions and other true believers” are indeed nothing but falsehood and lies, and they simply are trying to deceive and twist meanings, hoping that one will take the bait. They wish to abuse the Ayaat of Allaah for their own desires and purposes. Shaytaan has already deceived them however they have much trouble deceiving those who believe because All Praise is due to Allaah who is our Protector.

Alhamdulillaah much has been said on this and all of the clear proofs have been given, there is no dispute on this issue, and this is a principle of basic understanding, yet how many truly have basic understanding?

To conclude however, let us look to how ibn ‘Abbaas (May Allaah be Pleased with him) responded when asked about this.

Someone came to ibn ‘Abbaas (May Allaah be Pleased with him) and asked him about the following Verse from Allaah’s Book:

[2:62] “Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and sabians, whoever believes in Allah 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.”

The response from ibn ‘Abbaas (May Allaah be Pleased with him) was very simple, he said:

[3:85] “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”

And I will conclude with the following Verse from Allaah’s Book:

[6:125] “And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky. Thus Allah puts the wrath on those who believe not.”

So I wonder how it is now then, that those who make those claims can continue to make such claims?

Indeed we call mankind to truly believe in Allaah alone and to believe in all of His messengers (Peace be upon them) including His last messenger Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him), and all of His Books; including His Qur’aan, so that Allaah may Have Mercy on us and Save us from the hell fire, whose fuel will be humans and stones.

Indeed Allaah Knows Best.

Updated : Nov 6, 2007
Posted and discussed on IOL here