:salam2:
First, is there no re-incarnation whatsoever in Islam? If so, if someone dies and is not muslim do they go to hell? Do they get no other chances?
The reincarnation belief is based upon repeated earlier lives in different moulds including human moulds of a human being. It says that a human being can and does go back to other forms of lives in this world according to his deeds in the present life, while the evolution theory does not talk of re-birth of a human being in this world in any form. Reincarnation is not a valid concept in any religion including hinduism. It has just creeped into hindu society like trinity in christians. Hindu scriptures does not support this ideas as well.
Quran has at many places argued with the disbelievers of life after death that it is possible for God to bring back to life, those who are dead, as He revives the dead earth and creates life out of dead through rains. Some people may take this as a sign of reincarnation in Islam but Quran is clear about it.
Quran in no uncertain words mentions that no one will ever be given a chance to mend his deeds in this world after he is dead. See the following verses:
“Every living being shall taste death, then unto Us you will be returned” (29:57)
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Until when death comes to a wrongdoer, he will say: ‘Lord let me go back, that I may do good works in the world I have left behind’. Never! It is only a word which he will speak. Behind them, there shall stand a barrier till the Day of Resurrection”. (23:99-100)
“And spend of that with which we have provided you before death befalls any of you and he says: ‘Reprieve me my Lord a while that I may give in charity and be among righteous’. But Allah reprieves no soul when its term expires and Allah has knowledge of all your actions”. (63:10-11)
The writer has also mentioned the following verse:
“How can you deny Allah! (Do you not reflect that) He gave you life when you were dead. Then he will cause you to die and then restore you to life and then unto Him you will be returned.” (2:28)
Also some one can argue that “The word ‘you were dead’ can only mean that we had lived before becoming dead. However, ‘Dead’ is very commonly used for Non-living things. It does not necessarily mean that you were alive before being a Non-living thing or dead. Qur’an often elucidates a part of a verse at other places so that no room for ambiguity is left. If you go through the following verse, you can see how Islam is clear of reincarnation.
“They (the unbelievers) will say: ‘Our Lord! Twice you have caused us death and twice you have given us life. We now confess our sins. Is there any way out (now)”? (40:11)
See that the disbelievers will not say that they have been through many human lives. The state of being twice dead and twice alive can now be understood from the above two verses. The first state of death was before coming to live as human in this world for the first (and last) time. The second state of death is the death after the only one human life in this world and the second living is eternal life in the Hereafter of course.
For more details about two deaths please watch this video:
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The Theory of transmigration of Souls popularly known as Avagaman or Punarjanam is non-existent even in the Hindu Scriptures as well. For details see this thread.
http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13710
Regarding going to hell, it all depends upon what kind of deed you did in your life. Even being Msulim if ones deeds are evil he may end up in hell. Heaven and Hell belong to God, and He decides who goes where and for how long. When we speak about this issue, we must not make any firm statement, because we do not know who earns God's forgiveness, and who incurs His punishment. Even if we see someone committing many types of sin, we do not know how he will be and what he will do towards the end of his life. He may do some good actions, with a pure heart and total dedication. That may earn him God's forgiveness, and perhaps a rich reward. In the Quran, God tells us that everyone, no matter who he is, will be certain to come close to Hell, but then people will be either saved or left there.
"By your Lord, We shall most certainly bring them forth together with the evil ones, and then We shall most certainly gather them, on their knees, around Hell: and thereupon We shall drag out from every group those who had been most obstinate in their rebellion against the Most Gracious. For, indeed, We know best who most deserves to be burned in the fire of Hell. There is not one among you who shall not pass over it: this is, for your Lord, a decree that must be fulfilled. But We shall save those who are God-fearing, and leave the wrongdoers there, on their knees." There is a clear reference here to people going out of Hell after having gone into it. Moreover, the Prophet (Pbuh) says: "A person with even an atom-weight of faith shall not remain in Hell." This Hadith tells us that no matter how great one's sins are and how weak one's faith is, a person will not stay in Hell for ever, if he or she believes in God's oneness.
About physical hell being present i dont see that is something difficult or illogical. When God can create this much big universe why can he assign a portion of its creation to hell or paradise. If someone was to ask a question how God can make so many paradise, or where all those paradise will fit since each beleiver will get a paradise as large as earth or more. So in order to understand this first we have to consider the size of universe atleast. Human has not yet reached to the end of universe but whatever he has known is attached in the link below:
http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13082
I wonder sometimes what my point is on the earth, and not to be too pompous wonder why it is that god put us on this earth. Our purpose, aside from worship.
Purpose of creation: God of the universe is the greatest. But greatness is a relative word. Unless there are others who are lesser, there can not be a ‘greatest.’ Moreover, greatness would merely be a word if it is not recognized, or better still, realized in its possessor. For the realization of greatness of the Greatest, it was essential that there were others capable of realizing Him. So He created and the main target of His creation were beings of such intellect and wisdom that would be capable of realizing Him. Again, the recognition and realization would have no meaning unless those beings were granted the liberty of choice between the submission to and rejection of the truth. This leads us to the logical conclusion that the creation of human beings was the ultimate purpose of all creation. After the human beings were granted the liberty of choice, it would also be essential that those fulfilling their purpose of creation should be distinguished from those who fail.
God wants pure/pious souls to enter the paradise. God could have direclty sent souls into paradise or hell but God is just. He sent us to earth for test and our actions will become proof /justification for ourselves to enter into paradise or hell.
The earthly life is the testing ground before placing the worthy and unworthy in their respective abodes in the real and eternal life. The other beings in this world are to make possible the existence of the human. God created other living and non-living things so that each human being could survive for an appointed time till his transfer to the other world. So brother, our God is the same God who created living creatures and others for our benefit. He established and maintained a balance between all his creation. The balance is based on His divine laws, which are not to be transgressed. Man may tame and use these creatures such as animals for his benefit as he may tame other forces of nature. Man’s diet has been destined as only the living beings but distinction has been made by the creator Himself between different living-beings according to their grades and class. The animals are superior to plants which can be sacrificed for them while plants and animals both can be sacrificed for man. Not all but only the prescribed and permitted animals can be sacrificed for man in a prescribed manner which includes thanking God for His permission.
God who created man did not leave him alone to come out of darkness through mere intellectual conjectures and discussions. He sent exact guidance to mankind in all ages and places in their respective languages through His chosen ones, the prophets. Although the previous scriptures even in their present form, verify what I have described earlier, His last and unadulterated Word informed us:
“It was not in sport that We created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. Had it been Our will to find a pastime We could have found one near at hand if We were to do it”. (21:16-17)“
Do you not see how Allah has subjected to you all that the heavens and the earth contain and lavished on you both His visible and unseen favours? Yet some would argue about Allah without knowledge or guidance or illuminating scriptures”. (31:20)
Worshiping Allah does not mean just doing prayers as a physical ritual but each action devoted to Allah is regarded as worship. What God desires of man, first and foremost, is that he displays humility in His presence. It is this attitude, which is called worship. But man has not been created in a vacuum; he has rather been placed in a world full of diverse circumstances. It is necessary that this spirit of worship should be evinced no matter what circumstances he faces in this world.
1) The first aspect of this relates to his own person. In the course of normal living, whenever he is faced with two options, one path leading to God and the other leading to self and false gods. His spirit of worship compels him at that point to renounce the latter path and take the one which is pointed out to him by God. This happens when he has surrendered his being in all respects, in the physical as well as the spiritual, before the God to whom he has already bowed psychologically. This manifestation of worship is relative to one’s own self, another name for which is submission. Occasions for such submission will occur at home, in the office, in the market, in parliament and in all other such places where the faithful may be faced with making a choice between godly and ungodly ways.
The second aspect of worship relates to the external world, that is, to non-Muslims. The precarious conditions of all those inhabitants of this world who have not yet established contact with their Lord, and, as a result, are drifting to a dangerous end in the hereafter, forces the believer to bring them to that path of worship which he has chosen for himself. It is this aspect of worship which manifests itself in relation to the common man. Another name for this duty of the believer is bearing witness to the truth or conveying the message of the Lord. The faithful are expected to obey the commandments of God so far as their own selves are concerned. And in relation to non-Muslims they are responsible for conveying the God’s message to them.
Now let us take the first manifestation of worship, i.e. submission. It can be divided into two major categories: the individual and collective (or social). Individual obedience means obeying God in those matters, which are related to the personal life of the faithful. It covers all those commandments which pertain to morals and dealings with men, like speaking the truth, keeping one’s promise, being honest and trustworthy, upholding justice and equality, being hospitable, giving full measure, paying everyone their due, being a well-wisher of all and even removing a harmful stone from the road, in short, all those virtues which are related to man’s personal life and all those situations in which man must make his own ethical decisions. In all such cases, compliance with divine injunctions means submitting individually, surrendering to the will of God in his own personal affairs. A Muslim is not allowed to disobey God once he knows God’s commandments in relation to his personal life, and once he is in position to obey them.
“It is not for true believes — men or women — to take their choice in their affairs if Allah and this apostle decree otherwise. He that disobeys Allah and His Apostle strays for indeed” (33:36).
This individual obedience to God is an obligation on every believer. No man can ever be regarded as a worshipper in the eyes of God unless in his practical life he obeys the commandments of God, which have been imposed upon him in relation to all earthly matters. If “worship” in its spiritual connotation means submission of the inner self then in external respects man is required to make a complete surrender to God of his outward self (as opposed to his soul). In other words, man should mould his external life entirely on the pattern indicated by God. It is the duty of all believing men and all believing women to reject other inducements and to submit totally to God in all matters that they face in this life:
“O believers, submit all of you wholeheartedly, and do not walk in Satan’s footsteps; he is your sworn enemy“ (2:208).
The second category of commandments, for which we have chosen the title ‘Ita‘ah’ (submission), may be termed social commandments. These are commandments the obeying of which does not depend upon the will of an individual believers. These can be carried out only when the whole of society is willing to obey them. That is why God has always sent such commandments only when the believers had already established a political organization among themselves, and when they were in a position to enforce such social laws. Thus the social laws of the Shari’ah are addressed to any Muslim society, which is invested with authority, rather than to individuals who have no political power.
We find in the history of the Israelites that so long as they were under the rule of the Copts of Egypt, they were not given the legal commandments, which appear in the Old Testament.
Only when they had left Egypt for the Sinai desert and acquired the status of an independent, authority-invested group, did God sent His laws to them (Exodus 15:25). Exactly the same course was adopted in Arabia. During the Meccan period, when the faithful a minority with no authority, only the basic part of the Shari’ah was revealed, for the establishment of which no political power was required. Every Muslim could adopt those laws in his life by his own personal decision. The rest of the Shari’ah continued to be revealed according to the circumstances. That is to say, detailed commandments regarding social life were given in Medina once the faithful had acquired temporal authority there.
Thus we see that when we say Allah created us for his worship, its actual meaning is much broader than one may think and you can see how it fits into "purpose of Creation" by Allah.
Regards
