Questions about Theology (Part One)

Dear Dr Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī, I have tried many times to sit down with you one-on-one or in private in order to shower you with my questions. Even though they are not that many, I am sure that answering them will take some time. They are as follows:

• What is the ruling for someone who was born in a western country, in a remote place, and never heard about Islam at all (as was the case in the previous century) and when he did hear about it, all he heard about was the terrorism and crimes committed by its adherents, along with their backwardness (regardless of the veracity of what he heard), and then died upon that?

• If you or I were born in a remote land, and I was born a Christian, for example, or a Jew, into a religious, conservative, respectable family that is proud of their religion (as is the case with any Muslim here), what would make me think about changing my religion? If that happened and I thought about changing my religion (and this is extremely difficult), would I choose Islam first? What about Buddhism, which encourages nobility, trustworthiness, integrity, and so forth? Would I spend my life looking for the true religion? What if I started with Buddhism, for example, and became convinced of it? What would be the ruling for such a person?

• I was born a Muslim just as someone else was born a Christian or a Jew. Is it obligatory upon me to think about the veracity of my religion just as I demand the same of others?

• On the topic of Iblīs being expelled from the Paradise, how should I understand Iblīs’s situation, who saw the bliss of Paradise, which he will never see anything better than, and he also saw the horror and terror of the Fire, which he knows with certainty that he will be punished therein eternally, and eternity is a work that requires a lot of reflection to fully grasp its meaning? Then he persisted in his arrogance and stubbornness while knowing with certainty that he would soon be punished eternally. Is his desire to lead humanity astray out of revenge because of his own arrogance equivalent to what he will receive, and he knows best what he will receive? Any one of us can believe in the Paradise and its bliss and believe in the Fire and its punishment without seeing either of them, so what about someone who has seen them? If Allah so wills, my question is not blasphemous. I am just trying to understand.

• When I think about the word ‘eternal’ (khālid) with regards to the Fire, I do not think it is a suitable punishment for anything done in this worldly life, no matter how bad it may be. The person who commits the most horrific crimes in the world may be sentenced to thousands of years of punishment, or hundreds of thousands, or even millions, but is not Allah, Glorified is He, and He is more merciful than anyone who shows mercy and He is the creator of mercy, too merciful to punish someone timelessly, forever? Is there another understanding for the word khulūd (eternality) with regards to the Fire as mentioned in the Qurʾān?
• What is the difference between calling to Islam (ad-daʿwah) and evangelism (at-tabshīr)? Why does the Muslim have the right to do daʿwah while the Christian does not have the right to evangelise? In fact, he can be openly punished for doing so in most Islamic and Arab countries. Is this simply because evangelising can be done by alluring people with money, or is there another reason? What if the evangelising were free of monetary enticements? Would it be allowed just as ad-daʿwah is allowed?