Authored by: Mazamil Sheikh Bismil
The question raised is: Why have the believers always remained fewer in number compared to the disbelievers?
And further, if the majority were destined for punishment, why did Allah create them at all? It is suggested that this wisdom is beyond comprehension.
✔ Foundational Point:
It is essential to understand that every human being has been granted free will—the ability to choose between right and wrong.
✔ Divine Creation and Human Choice:
Allah ﷻ created both good and evil actions, but humans choose between them by their own will.
For example: All words exist in language, but a person decides for himself which words to speak and when.
❶ The Message of the Prophets Was Always Counter-Cultural:
The Prophets عليهم السلام brought messages that were unfamiliar and unconventional. Their teachings contradicted the dominant beliefs of their people.
This was true for Nūḥ, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā عليهم السلام and others. As a result, their nations found it difficult to abandon their inherited traditions and embrace a radically different belief system.
❷ Resistance to Change:
Nations rooted in shirk or cultural dogma were not ready to challenge their existing ideologies, so they rejected the Prophets.
❀ Survival Depends on Stability:
Unstable religions faded away, while those based on firm foundations endured.
✔ Spread and Decline Take Centuries:
A belief system does not rise or fall overnight; it evolves over centuries.
Once a belief becomes immune to scrutiny, it stagnates, and eventually decays.
New ideologies rise, old ones vanish—this is the cycle of history.
Islam, being the final religion for all times, will never become universally accepted in a way that all humanity accepts it simultaneously.
✔ Wisdom Behind Limited Acceptance:
If everyone accepted Islam at once, the trial and testing of human free will would cease, and this would contradict the divine wisdom behind human creation.
Coercion would replace choice, defeating the very purpose of life as a test.
Some object by saying: If five billion non-Muslims will go to Hell, why were they created?
But based on the same logic, even the punishment of one individual would be objectionable.
This objection is not about numbers—it is about the principle of human choice and consequence.
✔ Every individual is granted free will, and their outcome is based on their own decisions.
If the truth (Islam) became so widely accepted that belief became the norm, then testing would end, and belief would turn into an automatic result, not a conscious choice.
❀ This world is a test, and widespread, undeniable truth will only appear near the end of time—when the sun rises from the west.
The question:
“Why did Allah create so many people if they are to enter Hell?” ignores the principle of free will.
✔ The wisdom behind believers being in the minority is that this world is a place of trial.
✔ If faith becomes overly dominant, the trial is invalidated, and that contradicts the divine plan.
❀ Nature of the Question
The question raised is: Why have the believers always remained fewer in number compared to the disbelievers?
And further, if the majority were destined for punishment, why did Allah create them at all? It is suggested that this wisdom is beyond comprehension.
❀ Human Free Will and Accountability
✔ Foundational Point:
It is essential to understand that every human being has been granted free will—the ability to choose between right and wrong.
✔ Divine Creation and Human Choice:
Allah ﷻ created both good and evil actions, but humans choose between them by their own will.
For example: All words exist in language, but a person decides for himself which words to speak and when.
❀ The Historical Context of the Believers Being a Minority
❶ The Message of the Prophets Was Always Counter-Cultural:
The Prophets عليهم السلام brought messages that were unfamiliar and unconventional. Their teachings contradicted the dominant beliefs of their people.
This was true for Nūḥ, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā عليهم السلام and others. As a result, their nations found it difficult to abandon their inherited traditions and embrace a radically different belief system.
❷ Resistance to Change:
Nations rooted in shirk or cultural dogma were not ready to challenge their existing ideologies, so they rejected the Prophets.
❀ The Rise and Fall of Religions
❀ Survival Depends on Stability:
Unstable religions faded away, while those based on firm foundations endured.
✔ Spread and Decline Take Centuries:
A belief system does not rise or fall overnight; it evolves over centuries.
Once a belief becomes immune to scrutiny, it stagnates, and eventually decays.
New ideologies rise, old ones vanish—this is the cycle of history.
❀ Islam’s Universality and Its Endurance Until the Final Hour
Islam, being the final religion for all times, will never become universally accepted in a way that all humanity accepts it simultaneously.
✔ Wisdom Behind Limited Acceptance:
If everyone accepted Islam at once, the trial and testing of human free will would cease, and this would contradict the divine wisdom behind human creation.
Coercion would replace choice, defeating the very purpose of life as a test.
❀ The Objection to Divine Punishment
Some object by saying: If five billion non-Muslims will go to Hell, why were they created?
But based on the same logic, even the punishment of one individual would be objectionable.
This objection is not about numbers—it is about the principle of human choice and consequence.
✔ Every individual is granted free will, and their outcome is based on their own decisions.
❀ The Threshold of Faith’s Popularity
If the truth (Islam) became so widely accepted that belief became the norm, then testing would end, and belief would turn into an automatic result, not a conscious choice.
❀ This world is a test, and widespread, undeniable truth will only appear near the end of time—when the sun rises from the west.
✿ Summary
The question:
“Why did Allah create so many people if they are to enter Hell?” ignores the principle of free will.
✔ The wisdom behind believers being in the minority is that this world is a place of trial.
✔ If faith becomes overly dominant, the trial is invalidated, and that contradicts the divine plan.
