Islam and the Fate of Others

Abstract

In Islam and the Fate of Others, Mohammad Hassan Khalil masterfully approaches a difficult topic. What happens to non-Muslims when they die? Who is accountable for accepting Muhammad’s prophethood? Could any sane person possibly reject the truth were it clearly revealed to him/her? In order to address these questions and others, Khalil probes some of the most prominent premodern and modern voices in Islamic history. A reader looking for consensus on the answers to these challenging queries, however, will be left direly wanting. Khalil unearths not a monolithic consensus but instead a cacophony of opinions concerning soteriological matters, which overwhelmingly envisions a heaven filled with Muslims and non-Muslims. As an added bonus to Khalil’s robust and provocative study, his adroit prose reads smoothly, his storytelling is exquisite, and he never obfuscates his topic with obtuse language or style. That, combined with meticulous attention to transliteration and precise, fluid translations, makes Khalil’s monograph an absolute pleasure to read and should appeal to specialists and non-specialists ...