What happens to people who never heard of religion in this world: are they punished in the afterlife?

How are those who, for various reasons, never received the prophets' message or came to know religion throughout history judged on the Day of Resurrection? And will they be punished for ignorance of religious rulings? According to one theological explanation, intellectually disadvantaged people first face an opportunity to recognize the truth and receive a final proof; in assessing their deeds, a distinction must be drawn between sins that conflict with reason and nature, and violations of rulings whose knowledge depends on religious awareness.

How will those who have been deprived of the call of the prophets and the knowledge of the religion throughout history for various reasons be counted in the Day of Resurrection and will they be punished due to their ignorance of Sharia rules? According to a theological explanation, intellectual oppressors are first faced with an opportunity to know the truth and complete the proof, and in calculating their actions, a difference must be made between sins incompatible with reason and nature and violations of the rules whose knowledge is dependent on religious awareness.

According to the Missionary Thought and Culture Base, will people who have never had the opportunity to get to know the religion and call of the Prophets during their lives, be punished in the hereafter because of their disbelief or not following the rules of Sharia? This question is one of the most important topics related to divine justice.

The fate of people who have lived without access to the message of divine religions is one of the important topics in the discussion of divine justice and Islamic teachings. An issue that raises this question: Will people who did not have the opportunity to know the religion be accused in the hereafter because of their disbelief or not following Sharia rules?

According to the narration of the field, in explaining this issue, Hojjat al-Islam Reza Mohammadi Shahroudi deals with the position of intellectual and cultural oppressors, how to complete the Hajjat with these people in the Day of Judgment and the difference between the types of sins in calculating their actions.

question; What is the fate of those who were denied the call of the prophets?

If a group of people throughout history do not have access to calling and preaching divine religions, do not believe in God and spend their lives committing sins, what will be their fate in the world to come?

In Quranic culture, a group of people are known as "intellectual and cultural oppressors"; People who, due to environmental, geographical or historical conditions, have not had the opportunity to learn about the truth of religion and the call of the prophets. Investigating the situation of these people requires paying attention to the conditions that have prevented them from knowing and achieving religious guidance.

purgatory and resurrection; An opportunity to clarify the truth

According to this theological explanation, the period of purgatory is like a dream for the mentally oppressed. After the end of this stage and in the arena of resurrection, special conditions will be provided for them that have similarities with worldly life.

At this stage, a prophet is sent to them to explain the truth to them and provide the ground for removing their intellectual and cultural weakness. In this way, they are given an opportunity to know the truth and complete the proof.

The fate of these people depends on their response to the invitation. If they accept the truth and respond positively to the call of the Prophet, they will be saved. This acceptance shows that they had the necessary internal capacity to recognize and accept the truth, and if they had access to guidance in the world, they could have chosen the right path.

On the other hand, if they refuse to accept the truth in this test as well, it is clear that even if the conventional conditions for recognizing religion in the world are provided, they probably would not accept the call of truth.

Are all the sins of the ignorant of religion the same?

In examining the afterlife situation of this group, the issue of actions and sins is also important. According to this view, it is not possible to put all wrong behaviors in one category regardless of their nature and the level of awareness of the individual; Rather, a difference should be made between sins that human intellect and nature understand to be distasteful and actions that are the main criterion for their recognition by the ruling of Sharia.

first category; Sins against reason and nature

Some behaviors are in clear conflict with reason, logic and human nature. For example, regardless of their religious beliefs, people can understand the abhorrence of oppression and the value of justice. Also, goodness and benevolence are liked in the natural view and evil and oppression are condemned.

Based on this, recognizing the wrongness of such behaviors is not solely dependent on the knowledge of religious rules. Therefore, in this explanation, the commission of this category of sins can be punishable; Because the person, despite having rational and natural understanding, has acted against these standards.

the second category; Sins related to Sharia ruling

There are other types of actions that the human intellect and nature alone and without knowledge of the Shari'a ruling, do not have an independent judgment about their rightness or wrongness. For example, the difference between buying and selling and usury may not be clearly discernible from an outward and purely intellectual point of view; But the Islamic Sharia with this Quranic ruling that "Allah accepts selling and usury is forbidden"; It means that God has made buying and selling lawful and riba haram. He makes a difference between the two.

In such cases, the recognition of the Shari'a ruling plays a decisive role. According to this point of view, disobedience to a ruling can be considered as a Sharia sin when a person is aware of the divine ruling and, knowing it, refuses to carry out God's order.

Why is ignorance of Sharia rulings important in calculating actions?

Based on this explanation, the people who have not had the proof against them and did not know about the Shari'a rulings due to not being able to access the sources of guidance, will not be impeached for not observing the rulings that they did not have the opportunity to know.

The reason for this issue is that in such a situation, the person did not have the necessary tools to know the Shari'a ruling. Therefore, his situation cannot be considered the same as someone who knows the ruling and consciously disobeys it, regardless of his access to the truth and the possibility of knowing the religious duties.

Based on this, in examining the afterlife fate of the intellectually oppressed, two basic issues must be distinguished from each other: first, the responsibility of man against behaviors that show their incorrect intellect and nature, and second, his responsibility against the rulings whose knowledge and commitment depend on the knowledge of the Sharia. This separation is the basis for explaining the situation of people who have lived without access to the call of the prophets and knowledge of religious rulings.

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