Purgatory in Islam and other curious questions.

Hello,

If this is not the appropriate subreddit, or not welcome here, please accept my sincerest apologies, and feel free to delete without fear of offending.

Please also forgive my ignorance, I will admit in my learning of religions, I have had difficulty separating fact from apocrypha when it comes to both Islam and Judaism. While I am familiar with some of the fundamentals (Who is Allah, Who is Muhammad, Who is Jesus within the scope of Islam, etc.) I am unfamiliar with much, much more. Without much time on my hands, I can't ask in person, so I've come to reddit hoping for some clarification. I appreciate your time and patience in any answers I may receive.

The Questions:

• Within Islam, what is the fate of humans who are unable to learn of Islam? Those born before the prophets, or those who due to lack of access to the information, can never know of the word (Word?) of the Quran? (Similar to Catholicism's Purgatory)

• As I understand it, humans are considered by Islam to be Allah's creations/subjugates/slaves, as opposed to the view of being his children/flock. This leads to two questions:

  • Are Humans Allah's only creations? Is there a possibility of other creations of Allah? (Aliens)
  • What is our role in the Afterlife given this "bleak" view of our relationship to Allah? Is it to serve forever, or is there a path to a "greater" or more "meaningful" existence?

• What is the eternal fate of those who fail to meet the criteria for the "good" afterlife altogether? What is the fate of those who actively oppose Allah/Islam?

Thank you, I'm sure these answers will only lead to more questions, and I'd like to take a moment to express my appreciation for any and all conversation that stems from this. I truly hope I was careful enough in my phrasing to not offend anyone, and if I did, please alert me that I might correct any poor choices in phrasing/wording I may be ignorant of.

I will note, I do not believe it to be likely that any conversion will take place, but I love to learn and am eager to learn what I can of Islamic tradition, belief, and culture.

Thanking you very much.

submitted by /u/NoFoxDev
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from Islam http://bit.ly/2H1oplz