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Only established texts determine the destiny of a certain Muslim

Question

Is it permissible to issue a judgment that a certain Muslim will enter Paradise or Hell?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

A person may issue judgment regarding Muslims in general, that they will be admitted to Paradise if they die as Muslims. Anyone among them doomed to Hell because of his sins will not remain there for eternity. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stated that Allaah The Almighty would order the angels to take from Hell anyone who has the least amount of faith.

Ahl-us-Sunnah do not consider any Muslim to be a disbeliever because of committing a sin, as long as the Muslim does not believe in the permissibility of this sin or as long as it is not an act of polytheism.

As for judging a certain Muslim to be among the inhabitants of Paradise or Hell, it is confined to the cases mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (tradition), such as the ten companions who received glad tidings of Paradise, ‘Ukashah ibn Mihsan  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him and others. There is no room for conjecture in this regard. However, we hope that the doer of good will be admitted to Paradise and we fear that the evildoer will be cast in Hell.

We draw your attention to the fact that the person who repents of his sin is like the person who has no sin at all. There are many texts in the Quran and Sunnah indicating that repentance, which meets certain known conditions, purges the person who repents from every sin. One of the clearest texts in this respect is the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allaah. Indeed, Allaah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."}[Quran 39:53]

On the authority of Abu Moosa Al-Ash‘ari  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stated that Allaah The Almighty will continue to accept repentance until the sun rises from the West.

And Allaah Knows best.

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