Question: Who is entitled for Jannat ??? Is it only Muslims ?? How about those who do good deeds but are non-Muslims ???
Answer:
Bismillah Al Hamdulillah, Wassalaatu Wassalaatu ala Rasoolullah
This is a question, which is asked a lot of times, mostly because we have non-Muslim friends and we feel for them or one wonders what will happen to Mother Teresa, who have done so many good deeds. We need to look at Quran and Hadith for answers to this dilemma.
Allah SWT says in the Quran:
4:116-Allah certainly does not forgive associating of partners with Him and He protectively forgives (any sin) other than that, to whom He wills; and one who associates partners with Allah has indeed erred, going far astray.
4:117- They do not pray to (anyone) besides Him except to female (names) and they do not pray to (anyone) except to the devil a rebel,
4:118- whom Allah has cursed and (who had) said, “I will definitely take an appointed portion from Your servants,
4:119- and I will definitely mislead them and I will definitely excite vain desires in them and I will definitely command them so they will slit the ears of cattle and I will definitely command them, so they will definitely alter Allahs creation.”” And whoever takes the devil as a friend besides Allah, then he indeed has incurred a loss, a manifest loss (it is).
4:120-He (the devil) promises them and excites vain desires in them, and the devil does not promise them (anything) but deception.
4:121-Their settling place is hell and they will not find from it (any way of) escape.
4:122-And those who believe and do righteous works, We will make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to stay therein for ever. Allahs promise is true and who is more truthful (in his) word than Allah.
4:123-It will not be in accordance with your vain desires nor in accordance with the vain desires of the owners of the book, whoever does evil, he will be requited with it, and he will not find for himself anyone besides Allah, (as) a guardian or a helper.
4:124-And whoever does deeds of righteousness, whether male or female and he/she is a believer, then those will enter the garden and they will not be dealt with unjustly to the extent of a speck on a date-stone.
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: There is none whose deeds alone would entitle him to get into Paradise. It was said to him: And, Allah’s Messenger, not even you? Thereupon he said: Not even I, but that my Lord wraps me in Mercy.
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: None amongst you would attain salvation purely because of his deeds. A person said: Allah’s Messenger, even you? Thereupon he said: Yes, not even I except that Allah wraps me in Mercy, but you should act with moderation. This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Bukair b. al-Ashajj with a slight variation of wording.
So the main criteria for entering Jannah are:
1. We have to be a believer in Allah
2. We have to do righteous deeds
3. We need the mercy of Allah SWT
For those Muslims who believe in Allah but are sinners or they do not have enough good deeds to enter Jannah or did not receive the mercy of Allah:
Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “On the Day of Resurrection the Believers will assemble and say, ‘Let us ask somebody to intercede for us with our Lord.’ So they will go to Adam and say, ‘You are the father of all the people, and Allah created you with His Own Hands, and ordered the angels to prostrate to you, and taught you the names of all things; so please intercede for us with your Lord, so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.’ Adam will say, ‘I am not fit for this (i.e. intercession for you).’ Then Adam will remember his sin and feel ashamed thereof. He will say, ‘Go to Noah, for he was the first Apostle, Allah sent to the inhabitants of the earth.’ They will go to him and Noah will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking.’ He will remember his appeal to his Lord to do what he had no knowledge of, then he will feel ashamed thereof and will say, ‘Go to the Khalil-ar-Rahman (i.e. Abraham).’ They will go to him and he will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking. Go to Moses, the slave to whom Allah spoke (directly) and gave him the Torah .’ So they will go to him and he will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking.’ and he will mention (his) killing a person who was not a killer, and so he will feel ashamed thereof before his Lord, and he will say, ‘Go to Jesus, Allah’s Slave, His Apostle and Allah’s Word and a Spirit coming from Him. Jesus will say, ‘I am not fit for this undertaking, go to Muhammad the Slave of Allah whose past and future sins were forgiven by Allah.’ So they will come to me and I will proceed till I will ask my Lord’s Permission and I will be given permission. When I see my Lord, I will fall down in Prostration and He will let me remain in that state as long as He wishes and then I will be addressed.’ (Muhammad!) Raise your head. Ask, and your request will be granted; say, and your saying will be listened to; intercede, and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will raise my head and praise Allah with a saying (i.e. invocation) He will teach me, and then I will intercede. He will fix a limit for me (to intercede for) whom I will admit into Paradise. Then I will come back again to Allah, and when I see my Lord, the same thing will happen to me. And then I will intercede and Allah will fix a limit for me to intercede whom I will let into Paradise, then I will come back for the third time; and then I will come back for the fourth time, and will say, ‘None remains in Hell but those whom the Qur’an has imprisoned (in Hell) and who have been destined to an eternal stay in Hell.’ ” (The compiler) Abu `Abdullah said: ‘But those whom the Qur’an has imprisoned in Hell,’ refers to the Statement of Allah: “They will dwell therein forever.” (16.29)
It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of Hell enter Hell, Allaah will say: ‘Whoever had a mustard-seed’s weight of faith in his heart, bring him out.’ So they will bring him out, and they will come out like burned skeletons, and they will turn into charcoal. They will be thrown into the River of Life, then they will grow like seeds growing in the silt left by a flood.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do you not see how they emerge yellow and curved?”
Anas narrated that the Messenger of allah SAWS said: “My intercession is for the people who committed the major sins in my Ummah.”
It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah will say: ‘The angels have interceded, the Prophets have interceded and there is no one left but the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.’ Then He will take a handful from Hell, and will bring out people who never did any good and who will have turned into charcoal. He will throw them into a river on the outskirts of Paradise that is called the River of Life, and they will emerge like seeds in the silt carried by a flood. … They will emerge like pearls with jewels around their necks, and the people of Paradise will recognize them. These are the ones ransomed by Allaah, whom Allaah admitted to Paradise with no good deed that they did or sent on ahead. Then He will say: ‘Enter Paradise, and whatever you see is yours.’ They will say: ‘Our Lord, You have given us what You have never given to anyone else in creation.’ He will say: ‘You will have something better than that with Me.’ They will say, ‘O Lord, what could be better than this?’ He will say, ‘My good pleasure, for I will never be angry with you again.’”
Narrated `Imran bin Husain: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Some people will be taken out of the Fire through the intercession of Muhammad they will enter Paradise and will be called Al-Jahannamiyin (the Hell Fire people).
Ahmad (12060) narrated from Anas: “… they will enter Paradise and the people of Paradise will say: These are al-Jahannamiyyoon.” But al-Jabbaar (the Compeller – Allaah) will say: ‘No, rather they are the ones ransomed by al-Jabbaar, may He be glorified and exalted.’”
Now, what will happen if someone will have good deeds and does not believe in Allah and His messenger:
4:116-Allah certainly does not forgive associating of partners with Him and He protectively forgives (any sin) other than that, to whom He wills; and one who associates partners with Allah has indeed erred, going far astray.
14:18-The likeness of those who do not believe in their Fosterer (is like those) whose works (deeds) will be like ashes on which the wind blows hard on a stormy day. They will not have power on anything of that which they earned. That (in fact), will be going far astray (from success).
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam: That he said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! What do you think about my good deeds which I used to do during the period of ignorance (before embracing Islam) like keeping good relations with my Kith and kin, manumitting of slaves and giving alms etc; Shall I receive the reward for that?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “You have embraced Islam with all those good deeds which you did.
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam: I said to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), “Before embracing Islam I used to do good deeds like giving in charity, slave-manumitting, and the keeping of good relations with Kith and kin. Shall I be rewarded for those deeds?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “You became Muslim with all those good deeds (Without losing their reward).”
So if someone does good deeds which were acceptable to Allah SWT then He guides them to Islam, as is mentioned in the Hadith of Rasoolullah SAWS quoted above. It could also be possible that the person has accepted Islam but does not want to reveal to others, like the King of Abyssinia, An Najjashi, in the time of the Prophet SAWS on whose death Rasoolullah SAWS prayed Salaatul Janazah in absentia.
But if good deeds are done, which are not acceptable to Allah, due to the shirk they commited then the deeds of such persons will be blown away by the wind and they will stay in Jahannam forever because of their shirk, as Allah SWT said he will not forgive the sin of Shirk.
And Allah knows best.