I.
Undoubtedly your keenness to save people from the punishment of Allah is something for which you deserve to be praised.
It was narrated from Ibn Abi Layla that Qays ibn Sa`d and Sahl ibn Hunayf were in al-Qadisiyyah and a funeral passed by them, so they stood up. It was said to them: It is one of the local people. They said: A funeral passed by the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) so he stood up, and it was said to him: It is a Jew. He said: “Is it not a soul?” Narrated by Muslim, 960.
II.
Allah wants us to take this sublime sentiment and channel it into calling people to Him and being keen for them to be guided. Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {And [remember] when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the scripture, that they should make it known and clear to humankind, and not conceal it} [Al `Imran 3:187].
Ibn `Atiyyah said: This verse is general in meaning and applies to those to whom Allah granted some knowledge, and the scholars of this ummah are included in this covenant. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever is asked about some matter of knowledge and conceals it will be bridled with reins of fire on the Day of Resurrection.” End quote from Al-Muharrar al-Wajiz, 1/551.
And Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {Invite to the way of your Lord on the basis of clear and definitive proof and goodly exhortation, and reason with them in the most courteous manner. Verily, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He knows best who is rightly guided} [An-Nahl 16:125].
Ibn Kathir said in his Tafsir, 2/591-591: The words {Verily, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He knows best who is rightly guided} mean: He already knows who among them is doomed and who is blessed; He has written that with Him and the matter is settled. So call them to Allah, and do not let yourself waste away in sorrow for them, for it is not for you to guide them. You are only a warner and your duty is only to convey the message, and the Reckoning is for Allah. Verily, you cannot guide whomever you like and {It is not for you [O Prophet] to guide them} [Al-Baqarah 2:272].
From these verses and Ibn Kathir’s commentary on them, you will realise that the fear that you have concerning them is something that is beyond what Allah has enjoined on you, and it is an attempt on your part to control their fate in a way that is not prescribed for you by Allah. Allah, may He be Glorified, knows best about each one of them, and whoever He has decreed is to be guided will be guided and saved, whilst whoever Allah has decreed is not to be guided will never be guided and never be saved. We and you and the test on the Day of Resurrection are nothing but means.
Even if we go along with your way of thinking, how can you tell that if you leave a person and do not call him to Islam, he will remain until that test and no one else will come along and call him?
How do you know, perhaps if you call him he will respond, or you will have planted a seed that could bear fruit and he will respond after a while, or perhaps if you do not call him, the test on the Day of Resurrection will result in him ending up in the Fire?
Now do you see all these possibilities which are based on your way of thinking, which clearly indicates that this way of thinking is not sound, and there is no guarantee of what you think and hope for?
What you must do is what you are enjoined to do, for this is what Allah will ask you about, and you must leave the flow of events in the hand of their Creator Who controls them.
Reflect with us now on how Allah addressed His Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), when He said to him: {Are you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with grief over them, because they do not believe in this message [the Qur’an]?} [Al-Kahf 18:6].
Ibn Kathir said: Here Allah, may He be Exalted, is consoling His Mesenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his grief for the polytheists, because they rejected faith and kept away from him. This is similar to the verses in which He, may He be Exalted, says: {So do not let yourself waste away in sorrow for them} [Fatir 35:8] and {And do not grieve over them} [An-Nahl 16:127]. And He said: {Are you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with grief because they do not believe?} [Ash-Shu`ara’ 26:3]. Hence He said: {Are you [O Prophet] going to destroy yourself with grief over them, because they do not believe in this message [the Qur’an]?} [Al-Kahf 18:6]. In other words: Do not destroy yourself in grief. Qatadah said: [What is meant is:] Perhaps you are going to kill yourself out of anger and grief for them. Mujahid said: [It refers to] despair. These meanings are similar, and what is meant is: do not feel sorry for them; rather convey to them the message of Allah, then whoever is guided, it is for his own benefit, and whoever goes astray, it is to his own detriment, so do not let yourself waste away in sorrow for them. End quote from his Tafsir, 3/73.
And Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {If We willed, We could send down to them a sign from heaven, at which their heads would be bowed in submission} [Ash-Shu`ara’ 26:4].
Ibn Kathir said: That is, if We had willed, We would have sent down a sign that would compel them to believe, but We did not do that, because We do not want anyone to believe except by choice. And Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {Had your Lord so willed, all those who are on earth would surely have believed, all of them together. Would you then compel people to become believers?} [Yunus 10:99] and {If your Lord had so willed, He could have made humankind one nation. But they will continue to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy. For that He created them} [Hud 11:118-119]. Thus His will is done, in accordance with His wisdom, and His clear proof is established against His creation through the sending of Messengers to them and the sending down of the Books to them.
End quote from his Tafsir, 3/331.
The only duty of the messengers is to convey the message, and the only duty of their heirs, namely the scholars and callers to Islam, is to convey the message. There is no specific method that will guarantee results and guide people; rather we should try to work out the best plan, but there are no guarantees. What is well established is that Allah does not wrong people in the least, and that He will ask each one of us about his role that was assigned to him, which in our case is to call people to Islam and convey the message; Allah has not enjoined us to do anything other than that and He will not question us about anything other than that.
If this thought that crossed the mind of the questioner, and his extreme kindness and gentleness, which prompted him to think of not calling the disbelievers to Islam, was a good and praiseworthy thought, then the implication of that is that leaving all of humanity without calling them to Islam, and without sending messengers and sending down Books, would be more beneficial and more merciful to them. This is undoubtedly a grievous mistake and it is diametrically opposed to what Allah intended for His creation and His wisdom in creating them, sending the messages to them, and sending down the Books.
Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful; He is more merciful to His slaves than a mother to her child, and His Prophets whom He sent are the most merciful of people to His creation and the most sincere towards them. Undoubtedly, when a person’s noble feelings are diverted from their right course, that is indicative of shortcomings and is something blameworthy, so how about if they are diametrically opposed to Allah’s intended purpose for His creation and to Islamic teachings and Allah’s universal decree?
Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, likes to leave no excuse for people, and because He likes to leave no excuse for people, He sent the messengers and did not bring any people to account on the basis of their rational thinking; rather He established proof against them by sending His prophets.
Allah, may He Exalted, says:
{We have sent revelation to you [O Muhammad], as We sent it to Nooh and the Prophets after him; We sent revelation to Ibraheem, Isma`il, Is-haq, Ya`qub and his sons, to ‘Isa, Ayyub, Yunus, Harun, and Sulayman, and to Dawud We gave the Zabur [Psalms].
And [We sent revelation to] Messengers of whom We have told you, and other Messengers of whom We have not told you – and Allah spoke directly to Musa –
Messengers sent as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, so that humankind would have no excuse before Allah, after the [coming of the] Messengers. For Allah is Almighty, Most Wise.
But Allah bears witness to the truth of what He has sent to you, as He has sent it with His knowledge, and the angels bear witness; and sufficient is Allah as a witness} [An-Nisa’ 4:163-166].
And Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {O People of the Book, there has come to you our Messenger, making things clear to you, after an interval in which there were no Messengers, lest you should say: No bearer of glad tidings and no warner ever came to us. But now there has come to you a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. And Allah has power over all things} [Al-Ma’idah 5:19].
Moreover, the Shaytan has made these thoughts fair-seeming to you, because of what you thought of, namely leaving the opportunity of salvation for them to the hereafter. But by the same token, the Shaytan who gave you this idea wanted them to miss out on the opportunity to be guided and benefit from the light of revelation when they are in the realm of testing, before they move on to the hereafter and its horrors.
How can you know, and how can people, the scholars and callers, and even the prophets – how can any of them know who will be guided and who will reject the guidance and not accept it? For the knowledge of that and the ability to bring it about, rests with the Lord of the Worlds alone.
Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {Verily, you [O Muhammad] cannot guide whomever you like, but Allah guides whomever He wills, and He knows best who is rightly guided } [Al-Qasas 28:56].
Allah, may He be Exalted, says, explaining who will be grateful for guidance and success: {Thus We tested some of them by means of others, so that they [the disbelievers] would say: Are these the ones whom Allah has favoured among us? Does Allah not know best those who are grateful?} [Al-An`am 6:53].
Concealing the truth and guidance from people is a crime against them, that leave them to wander blindly, blocks the light of guidance and truth from them, and causes them to miss out on the opportunity to be guided. Moreover, it is contrary to Allah’s purpose in creating humanity and sending the messengers.
Allah, may He be Exalted, has combined these two great purposes – explaining the truth and calling people to it – so that they may be guided and benefit thereby, and so as to establish proof against them and leave them with no excuse, if they go against guidance after it has become clear to them.
Allah, may He be Exalted, says: {When some of them said: Why are you admonishing people whom Allah will destroy or punish severely? They said: To discharge our duty before your Lord, and in the hope that they may [pay heed and] fear Allah} [Al-A`raf 7:164].
Conclusion
Calling people to the truth, showing them the light of prophethood and guiding them to the straight path of Allah is the great purpose for which He created humanity and sent His messengers. It is not permissible to conceal guidance or break the covenant with Allah because of these mistaken thoughts about this matter, which could cause a greater interest to be missed out on than that which this person imagines, if there is any benefit in the way he thinks!
For more information, please see the answers to questions no. 118144 and 12376.
And Allah knows best.
