Saturday, August 13, 2005

Contradictions In The Quran: Shall All Muslims Go To Hell?

Question: Shall all muslims go to hell?
"No one of you there is, but he shall go down to it; That for thy Lord is a thing decreed, determined. Then We shall deliver those that were god-fearing; and the evildoers We shall leave there, hobbling on their knees. -- Sura 19:71-72
This verse tells clearly that all Muslims [everybody] will go to Hell, (inevitable, decreed, determined) and only some of them will eventually be rescued from Hell, while others will be left there forever. Many verses talked about Martyrs going directly to heaven.
Obviously, it cannot be that all go through hell (Sura 19:71) and that martyrs go directly to paradise, being spared hell, and "they live (present tense), finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord."
Answer: the arabic verb "wardha" is better translated as come at or come by and not come in or put into. All Muslims will come to see it to know how they were saved by their faith and good deeds. I would supect Martyrs also will pass by it as all other Muslims to feel more indebted to God and their good deeds.
19:71 Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished.
وَإِن مِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَّقْضِيًّا
19:72 But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrong-doers therein, (humbled) to their knees. ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا وَّنَذَرُ الظَّالِمِينَ فِيهَا جِثِيًّا