Why does Islam say that those who convert others to Islam will get good credits?
From: Rishiraj
Why in islam does it give exclusive opinions and why is that if you convert someone else you would get the good deeds of somebody else. I am asking this because I accept it as an authentic relevation and want to know why the Lord would give relevations like these?
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Why does Islam give exclusivist opinions and why is it that if you convert someone else, you would get the good deeds of somebody else? I’m asking this because I accept it as an authentic revelation. I want to know why the Lord would give revelations like this. Answer, the exclusivism is primarily meant to create a focus.
I’ve answered elsewhere in an article about exclusivism, how on the site itself that when a doctor sees that a patient is very confused about various treatments, should I take this treatment or that treatment, that treatment, doctor may tell the patient, you just take this treatment, don’t bother about anything else, you will become cured. So that is a context specific statement. It doesn’t mean that others’ treatments are to be completely neglected or rejected for that matter.
But when those statements which are context specific are made absolute, then that leads to fanaticism. So in the context of the time when Muhammad appeared, at that time, for the people who are receiving his message, yes, he’s the last prophet and receiving knowledge from him can elevate them, but that’s like a medicine. It’s meant to create a focus.
And as far as getting the good deeds, that is basically meant to indicate that if somebody is not worshipping, is a materialistic person or is a person worshipping some concocted conceptions, that means the person is basically godless, then if the person is brought to God, then naturally that person will get some benefit, the person who brings the other person to God will get some benefit because of that. So that is the basic principle of becoming an instrument of God’s compassion. Now, in the process of becoming an instrument of God’s compassion, if somebody becomes an instrument of one’s own passion, one’s own arrogance, one’s own wrath, that is unfortunate.
But the principle is true that if somebody is godless and if you bring them closer to God, then we do get the benefit for that. But the important point that is missed out in this analysis is that we have to bring people who are godless towards God. We don’t have to force people who are actually going towards God in some other way.
We don’t have to bring them, we don’t have to force them to give up their way and come towards God by our way only. Basically the idea is if people are sick, the government may give some incentives, some awards so that people can assist the government in distributing medicines widely to those who are sick. If there is an epidemic and the government may want volunteers and it may give some sort of certificates or some sort of appreciation for those who distribute those free medicines widely to the sick people.
But if that same government has started one program for giving free medicine and another program for also giving free medicine in another way. Now, if the people who want those certificates, who want those benefits, if instead of going to the sick people, they go to another hospital, another place where according to the government another program and they drag people out of that hospital and bring them to this hospital. That is not going to please, that is not going to serve the purpose of the government.
So those who are actually going towards God through other bona fide religious path and they are either by intellectual force or physical force converted, then that is defeating the purpose of God. And this sort of conversion, the idea that this will give one good credit, it is simply a complete misunderstanding of the spirit of the message that is given by God.