His Holiness The Guru sent me the following to read. Humble follower wants to share it with all. Enjoy my friends, may peace be on you. This is true for people of all religions, we too hear "so and so is going to hell" because Jesus said so. You ask them did you read in the Bible? They say, so and so told me so....
*Can Mother Teresa, a non-Muslim, go to heaven? *
*By Hussain Nadim in The Express Tribune Pakistan*
*"She can't go to heaven? But she saved thousands of
lives.*
*The recent killings of Shias and blasphemy charges against a
young
Christian girl are not a product of some foreign militant group
terrorizing
our peaceful land.*
*The incidents of violence against minorities and sectarian
groups are
largely a result of the ideology that exists in all corners of
our society.
Whether you are a liberal or conservative, educated or ignorant,
we all
share the blame for such incidents.*
*On this very topic, a heated argument in my class erupted when
I asked a
simple question to my students:*
*“Is Mother Teresa going to heaven?”*
*To my surprise, more than 80% of this educated elite answered
the question with a vehement ‘no’. All of those who answered in the
negative explained that while Mother Teresa was a noble woman, she was not
a Muslim and, hence, could not enter heaven. This ideology is the first
step towards the action of violence and brutality.*
*Below is a dialogue with one of my students who represented
this school of thought:*
*“So, Mother Teresa is not going to heaven?”*
*Student: “No, since she was not a Muslim.”*
*“But she saved thousands of lives.”*
*Student: “Well, she was to be rewarded for that in this world,
but one
can’t enter heaven until he/she says the Kalima.”*
*“So you’re saying only the Muslims are going to heaven, no
matter how evil they are?”*
*Student: “Yes, evil Muslims will be punished for some time, and
will be
sent to heaven after the punishment.”*
*“So, when you die, you’re going to go to heaven no matter what
you do in this world, just because you we’re born a Muslim?*
*Student: “Yes, precisely!”*
*“Did you decide where you were born?”*
*Student: “No.”*
*“Who decided that?”*
*Student: “God.”*
*“So, God has already decided at your birth that you’re going to
heaven;
whereas Mother Teresa, having saved thousands of lives, will be
going to
hell?”*
*Student: “Err… I think so. God has said it in numerous places
in the Holy Quran. Had the ‘message’ reached her and she converted to
Islam, she would have been able to enter paradise.”*
*“Is accepting the message more important, or following the
message?”*
*Student: “Following it, of course.”*
*“Do you think you follow the message of Islam?”*
*Student: “Well, I try to, but I don’t think so.”*
*“Do you think Mother Teresa followed the message of Islam?”*
*Student: “Umm, well she didn’t offer namaz or read the Holy Quran,
but she did follow the message.”*
*“So, she still can’t go to heaven after having followed the
message of
Islam?”*
*Student: “I don’t know. I’ll have to do further research on
that.”*
*“Forget that. Have you read the Holy Quran?”*
*Student (enthusiastically) : “Yes!”*
*“With translation or only the Arabic text?”*
*Student: “Arabic only.”*
*“How do you claim that something is written in the Holy Quran
when you have not really read it?”*
*Student: “I don’t know. I’ve heard about it.”*
*“So, Mother Teresa is going to hell because you’ve heard from
somebody that it is written in the Holy Quran, who probably heard it from
somebody else?”*
*Student: “Hmm.”*
*“You’re basically assuming that it is written in the Holy
Quran, and
assuming that Mother Teresa is not going to heaven.”*
*Student (frustrated) : “I don’t know.”*
*“Do you accept that without reading or understanding the Holy
Quran,
whatever you claim about it is mere assumption?”*
*Student: “Yes.”*
*“Good. So, can Mother Teresa possibly go to heaven now that
you’re not God, and do not have the absolute knowledge about the day
after?”*
*Student: “I don’t know, may be?”*
*This dialogue depicts one of the root cause of most of the
sectarian and
religious problems in Pakistan. Our beliefs and knowledge about
the world has been told to us by someone who heard them from somebody
else, and so on. In our culture, the idea of self-exploration does not
exist and people have taken beliefs and ideas to be for granted.*
*Moreover,
we are so bogged down into petty debates that we have lost track of what
really is important for our survival. We need to really get over and
beyond the petty debate about who is going to hell or heaven. There is a
desperate need to change the narrative and debate in our households, classrooms,
and most importantly, our media, so we can start thinking about issues
that are urgent and real. As long as our debate doesn’t change, we will
continue to discriminate against other sects and religions.*
