How will a Muslim be saved according to the Hadiths?

Sam Shamoun

The following hadith proclaims that among the Muslims there will be those whom Allah will save from hell by punishing Jews and Christians in their place:

Abu Burda reported Allah's Messenger as saying: There would come people amongst the Muslims on the Day of Resurrection with AS HEAVY SINS AS A MOUNTAIN, and Allah would FORGIVE THEM and He would PLACE IN THEIR STEAD the Jews and the Christians. (As far as I think), Abu Raub said: I do not know as to who is in doubt. Abu Burda said: I narrated it to 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, whereupon he said: Was it your father who narrated it to you from Allah's Apostle? I said: Yes. (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6668)

This next report makes it emphatically clear that Allah doesn’t ransom every Muslim by torturing a Jew or Christian in their place. Rather, Allah takes the sins of a specific number of Muslims and unloads them on the Jews and Christians in order to torture them for all the wickedness, crimes, transgressions etc. committed by these followers of Muhammad:

Superiority of the believers in the Oneness of Allah and the punishment of the Jews and Christians

8) Narrated Abu Musa: Allah’s Messenger said: On the Day of Resurrection, my Ummah (nation) will be gathered into three groups. One sort will enter Paradise without rendering an account (of their deeds). Another sort will be reckoned an easy account and admitted into Paradise. Yet another sort will come bearing on their backs heaps of sins like great mountains. Allah will ask the angels though He knows best about them: Who are these people? They will reply: They are humble slaves of yours. He will say: UNLOAD THE SINS FROM THEM AND PUT THE SAME OVER THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS: then let the humble slaves get into Paradise by virtue of My Mercy.

(This Hadith IS SOUND and mentioned in Mustadrak of Hakim). (110 Hadith Qudsi (Sacred Hadith), translated by Syed Masood-ul-Hasan, revision and commentaries by Ibrahim m. Kunna [Darussalam Publishers and Distributors], pp. 19-20; capital and underline emphasis ours)

This is explicitly contradicted by the following narration, which plainly states that Allah will save every single Muslim–not just a group from among them–by sacrificing a Jew or Christian in his/her place in hell:

(20) CHAPTER. Disbelievers are sent to Hell as SACRIFICE to the Muslims

1937.

Abu Musa narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “When it is the Day of Resurrection, Allah will deliver EVERY MUSLIM a Jew or Christian and say: ‘THAT IS YOUR SACRIFICE FROM HELL-FIRE.’” (The Translation of the Meanings of Summarized Sahih Muslim (Arabic–English), Compiled by Al-Hafiz Zakiuddin Abdul-Azim Al-Mundhiri [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, First Edition: February 2000], Volume 2, 62– The Book Of Repentance And Allah’s Great Mercy, pp. 1033-1034; capital, italicized and underline emphasis ours)

And here is a different translation of the above hadith:

Chapter 8: THROWING OF NON-BELIEVERS IN HELL-FIRE FOR BELIEVERS AS DIVINE GRACE AND MERCY

Abu Musa' reported that Allah's Messenger said: When it will be the Day of Resurrection Allah would deliver TO EVERY MUSLIM a Jew or a Christian and say: That is your RESCUE from Hell-Fire. (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6665)

Here is another report which confirms that EVERY Muslim will have a Jew or Christian tortured in hell in his/her place:

Abu Burda reported on the authority of his father that Allah's Apostle said: NO MUSLIM would die but Allah would admit IN HIS STEAD a Jew or a Christian in Hell-Fire. 'Umar b. Abd al-'Aziz took an oath: By One besides Whom there is no god but He, thrice that his father had narrated that to him from Allah's Messenger. (Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6666)

The contradictions are far from over. According to other reports, Allah ransoms Muslims from hell fire by observing the rites of pilgrimage to Mecca:

Sunan Ibn Majah

Chapters on Hajj Rituals

It was narrated from Ibn Musayyab that ‘Aishah said that the Messenger of Allah said: “There is no day on which Allah ransoms more slaves from the Fire than the Day of ‘Arafah. He draws closer and closer, then He boasts about them before the angels and says: ‘What do these people want?’”

Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)

English reference: Vol. 4, Book 25, Hadith 3014

Arabic reference: Book 25, Hadith 3128 (Sunnah.com; underline emphasis ours)

However, according to this next report Muslims will have their sins removed on the day of judgment as they cross over the bridge that is above hell, after taking retaliation for the injustices they have committed:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Allah's Apostle said, "When the believers pass safely over (the bridge across) Hell, they will be stopped at a bridge in between Hell and Paradise where they will retaliate upon each other for the injustices done among them in the world, and when they get purified of all their sins, they will be admitted into Paradise. By Him in Whose Hands the life of Muhammad is everybody will recognize his dwelling in Paradise better than he recognizes his dwelling in this world." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 43, Number 620)

Here is another version of this same narrative:

II: Retaliation in the case of injustices

2308. It is related from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah said, "When the believers are saved from the Fire, they will be made to stop at a bridge between the Garden and the Fire where they will inflict retaliation on one another for the injustices which arose between them in this world until they are purified and purged. They will be given permission to enter the Garden. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, one of you will recognise his dwelling in the Garden better than he recognises his dwelling in this world." (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 49. Book of Injustices)

But it gets far worse. The following verses from the Quran,

How (will it be) when We gather them together on the Day about which there is no doubt (i.e. the Day of Resurrection). And each person will be paid in full what he has earned? And they will not be dealt with unjustly. S. 3:25 Hilali-Khan

On the Day when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done, and all the evil he has done, he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil. And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment) and Allah is full of Kindness to the (His) slaves. S. 3:30 Hilali-Khan

“that God may recompense every soul for its earnings; surely God is swift at the reckoning.” S. 14:51 Arberry

And when the written pages of deeds (good and bad) of every person shall be laid open; And when the heaven shall be stripped off and taken away from its place; And when Hell-fire shall be kindled to fierce ablaze. And when Paradise shall be brought near, (Then) every person will know what he has brought (of good and evil). S. 81:10-14 Hilali-Khan – cf. Q. 2:281; 3:161; 6:70; 10:30, 54; 20:15; 39:70; 40:17; 45:22

Contradict the very first hadith we cited, which stated that there would be a group of Muslims that enter paradise without having to give a reckoning for their deeds. Here it is again:

Superiority of the believers in the Oneness of Allah and the punishment of the Jews and Christians

8) Narrated Abu Musa: Allah’s Messenger said: On the Day of Resurrection, my Ummah (nation) will be gathered into three groups. One sort will enter Paradise without rendering an account (of their deeds). Another sort will be reckoned an easy account and admitted into Paradise. Yet another sort will come bearing on their backs heaps of sins like great mountains. Allah will ask the angels though He knows best about them: Who are these people? They will reply: They are humble slaves of yours. He will say: Unload the sins from them and put the same over the Jews and Christians: then let the humble slaves get into Paradise by virtue of My Mercy.

To sum up all the contradictions, here is what we learned.

Certain ahadith teach that only a specific group of Muslims will be ransomed from hell by having Jews and Christians suffer in their place.

Other reports narrate that every single Muslim will have a Jew or Christian suffer in hell for every sin committed by every one of Muhammad’s followers.

Still other narrations state that Allah ransoms Muslims from hell by performing the rites associated with the pilgrimage to the Kabah.

This is further contradicted by the hadith from al-Bukhari which says that Muslims will have their sins removed from them on the day they cross over the bridge, and only after they have taken retaliation upon themselves.

Worse still, the hadith which says that there will be a group of Muslims who will enter paradise without having to face judgment in order to give an account for their deeds directly conflicts with the Quran’s teaching that every single soul will be judged for everything s/he has done.

So much for Islam being a coherent and consistent religion!

Related Articles

Islam’s Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement

The (In)Justice of Allah Examined

The Justice of God, Round 2

How Muhammad’s Sunna Trumps The Quran Once Again!

Shabir Ally’s Contradictions and Inconsistencies Pt. 1

Will All Muslims Go To Hell According To The Quran?

Islam’s Divine Insurance Scam

Reexamining Islam’s Divine Insurance Scam [Part 1], [Part 2]

Islam’s Morally Grotesque Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement

Addressing Paul’s Williams’ False Accusations Pt. 6