Question 4

"Will a holy monotheist be accepted by Allah? In other words, is the belief in Muhammad absolutely necessary, considering that he's just a human and not a divine being?"

We believe 'Islam' as a revealed religion has existed since the Prophet Adam a.s. and since then it has been continuously re-affirmed by many prophets of God until it culminated with Muhammad, the Last or the seal of the Prophethood.

It’s basic teaching is to invite mankind to the belief and worship of the One God, Allah the Unique without partners, the unseen Creator and Sustainer of the worlds and to shun all evil by a life of submission to the will of Allah (this is what the term 'Islam' means).

The primary message of all these prophets is “That there is no god but Allah”.

Although some may regard this as ‘monotheism’, our understanding of this is in the term “Tauheed” (Attestation to the Oneness of God). Surely there is a difference between a claim to believe and the imperative to attesting to a believe.

Inherent in this term is not merely the belief that God is One, but includes the required attestation to this truth by way of one’s submission to His Will in one’s life (al-Islam). Thus, how or in what manner a person has to submit requires the Guide (prophets) and the relevant guidance from God (Revelation), in accordance to the period and circumstance. Although, these prophets are not divine, they are to be obeyed because they were divinely ordained as teachers and Guide.

As mankind gradually evolve from a simple nomadic life to more settled and later a higher form of civilization, earlier prophets were superseded by subsequent prophets until the coming the Last, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Yes, it is true that any person who acknowledges that there is only One God, and do not ascribe partners to Him will enter Paradise. This is affirmed by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. in his famous saying : “The key to Paradise is (to affirm) that there is no god except Allah.”

Yet it is important to note that all the prophets including Muhammad, who came as the Prophet of Mercy, were sent also to save mankind from the torments of Hell-fire. Even Muslims must strive to protect themselves from thhe torments of Hell. Islam teaches that although those who died acknowledging the Oneness of God (Allah) without committing ‘shirk’ (ascribing partners to God) but has sins which have not been forgiven (especially sins towards fellow humans) may have to be placed in hell. But his believe in the Oneness of God, ultimately will make him to be amongst those brought out hell and made to enter into Paradise for eternity.

Also, if the knowledge of God is faulty, one’s claim to believe in one God (monotheism) may not remain true but may become corrupted, as had happened to followers of ancient prophets who were known to deviate into polytheism and even idolatry.

Thus the need to follow the relevant prophet is crucial and necessary. In our time, since Muhammad s.a.w. being the last and therefore nearest to us, his pristine teaching (preserved in Al-Qur’an and As-Sunnah) is the most relevant and available to everyone now.

Those who truly and faithfully follows the teachings of previous prophets, while having no knowledge nor opportunity to receive the message of Muhammad will not be rejected, as Allah says:

“On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns.”

(Qur’an: Baqarah: 2: 289)

“Those who believe (in the Qur'an) and those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures) and the Christians and the Sabians, any who believe in Allah and the Last Day and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."

(Qur’an: Baqarah: 2: 62)

But if they know the truth of Muhammad and reject it, they will have to account for their ‘kufr’ (unbelief or denying or rejecting truth) in the Hereafter.

waAllaahu a’lam