Salvation

Salvation. It is on the hearts and minds of billions of people around the world. Much of a person’s belief revolves around where they are going after death and how much impact they, themselves, have on the matter. For atheists it sounds simple: you live, you die, the end. But for the billions and billions of us who believe in one or more deities, the matter is not so simple. To us, how we spend our time in this life has real and lasting (eternal as a matter of fact) implications in the next. So it will come as no surprise to most of you that the matter of “salvation” was one of the single most important issues that drew me to look into Islam. It was part of the litmus test, so to speak, to know how Muslims define a person’s spiritual connection with Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa. At the time, I was just listening to a Muslim talk- a person, at the time, I hardly knew. I did not think I was seeking, didn’t realize I was comparing and contrasting, as I sat and listened.

My walk through Christianity taught me something about human nature…that we are all flawed, corrupted individuals who are not deserving of God’s mercy. Our sin is so great, so ugly, that God Himself cannot look upon it. As a result, we are beyond salvation. We are in need of a savior. Someone who can take all that wretched, disgusting, vile sin and remove it from us so that we may be presentable before God. This is one of the first things I learned. It is also one of the things I struggled with the most. I didn’t feel wretched, disgusting, or vile. I felt imperfect to be sure, in need of a good dose of self improvement and certainly an ongoing prescription of humility, but never so dirty and evil as to be beyond the reach of God’s mercy. I would often ask myself, if God created us the way that he did, imperfections and all, why are our sins so vastly beyond his ability to reconcile? To me, that was not just an insult to the creatures God made us, it was an insult to God Himself. Sin, bigger than God? There’s just no way!

But how then do we take into account man’s propensity for everything from simple bad decisions to the absolute most evil acts imaginable? How does God see our actions? How does He justify or punish them? Are we held accountable at the end of the day or, as atheists might say, is our only salvation in how much good we leave behind when we go? Its an important question to ponder, not just because it determines whether we go to the Land of Milk and Honey or the Land of Fire and Brimstone. It is also important because our belief in salvation will ultimately determine how we approach our time in this life and how we touch the lives of other people.

And so it was that one of my first questions was about the topic of “salvation.” It was explained to me beautifully that Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa asks two things of us, believe in him and strive for good (Qur’an 2:62, 5:69 and elsewhere). He does not need those two things to admit us into His grace, but with those two things, He assures it. Salvation is not earned by our deeds, but rather is dependent on Allah’s grace and mercy.

I know, I know, if only it were that simple. Once you get into the weeds of it, there is, of course, more to it. After all, Allah’s grace is freely given to all who ask for it, but what about Allah’s justice? Additionally, man’s intentions start in the heart where they may be good or bad, sinful or pure, but they are manifest in his actions. So at what point are our actions and intentions weighed in? Where does sin come into all this?

There are so many different explanations of sin and how it impacts our lives, but in each explanation that I have heard, it seems to come down to a sort of sliding scale: the more sin, the further from God, good, enlightenment, etc.; the less sin, the closer to God, good, enlightenment, etc. My oversimplified way of looking at it is that sins are those actions which are bad for us and good deeds are those actions that are good for us.

Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa has given us this life to make choices, so I have for you some rhetorical questions. How can we choose “good” without the ability to choose “bad”? What then is the consequence when we choose “bad”? And how valid would that option be if it were always easy to choose the right path? Thus, we have sin. We have a dichotomy within each of us that is striving for self-perfection while simultaneously attempting to plunge us into self-destruction.

His promise to us was to give us the choice, but it is not the choice to live a perfect sinless life or be damned forever to the depths of Hell. Nor is it so unattainable that we require the ultimate sacrifice of another on our behalf to satiate His bloodlust (God forgive me). The choice is simple, pure, and beautiful. We will sin, we will make mistakes, we will turn away from Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa time and time again. He designed us that way after all. The most important choice is what we decide to do when we fall. Do we turn to Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa for help? Guidance? Repentance? Or do we continue in our sin, down our path of destruction?

Now here is where you may be wondering how we know which choice we are making. In American law, ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it; you can’t simply talk your way out of that speeding ticket by saying you didn’t realize the speed limit was 15 MPH slower than the speed you were driving. It wouldn’t be just or fair, however, to punish someone for all of eternity for a crime they didn’t know they were committing. Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa loves us enough that He does not leave us guessing at His will. His guidance is everywhere, all around us. Even an atheist has a sense of moral right and wrong. Where does that sense of morality arise, if not from Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa? He does not punish one who does not know the weight of the consequences of his actions. In that there is hope, however bleak it may at first appear, that Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa will not punish a single soul unjustly, and He will not make it difficult for a single soul to obtain grace and mercy.

Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa knows we will sometimes choose good, sometimes choose bad, and so He says:

“Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped." Qur’an 39:53

When we sin, Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa asks as little of us as sincere repentance. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Knowing the choice is mine but that Allah is just and perfect in his judgement allows me to rest easy knowing that as I strive one step toward Him, He takes two toward me. When Allah says He is “Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful” throughout the Qur’an, I believe it. For me, it is not the promise of Heaven nor the threat of Hell that inspires me to strive toward all that is good. Rather it is knowing that my actions are pleasing to Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa and that when I do mess up, He is already there, waiting to forgive me. That alone is enough for me.  

Salvation is a complicated subject. I speak only from my  own perspective and my current understanding. If I misspoke, it is due to my own faults and lack of knowledge. All truths I have stumbled across are from Allah subHanaahu wa ta’alaa.

Until next time…السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and his blessings!