We are sometimes mistaken about how Divine Punishment needs to be understood in the Islamic tradition. Condemning other people without understanding the whole picture, or seeing the Islamic creed as harsh and unforgiving, while the truth is far from it.
According to the Islamic tradition, people who will receive Divine punishment are those who fully understand the truth but choose to reject it because of his/her love for other things. If a person is given a wrong version of the truth, resulting in a wrong understanding of it, or does not have the ability to comprehend what the truth is (people who are mentally challenged or those who have not yet developed their intellectual and mental faculties), their fate is with God, and God is just.
At the time of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, many of his opponents understood that his message was the truth but chose to reject it due to their egos and worldly interests. This is a recurring theme in the Quran. People who know the truth but choose to reject it.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is, we should not focus on other people’s divine decree. We should not be quick to condemn other people to be in hellfire, as in reality, it is God’s secret alone. We don’t know what will happen to anyone, including ourselves.
What we should focus on is being the best versions of ourselves and having hope (and good estimation) that God has mercy on us when it really matters.
God knows best.
Reflections from surah An Nisa verse 115
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