Will someone who never received the message go to Paradise or Hell?

Anas said: the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Four (kinds of people) will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection: the infant, the insane, the one who died during the Fatrah (the period between two prophets) and the very old man. All of them will speak in their own defence, then the Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, will say to a neck of Hell, ‘Come forth!’ and He will say to them, ‘I used to send Messengers to My slaves from amongst themselves. Now I am the Messenger of Myself to you. Enter this (i.e., the Fire).’ Those who are decreed to be among the doomed will say, ‘O Lord, how could we enter it when we are trying to escape it?’ And those who are decreed to be among the blessed will rush to enter it. And Allaah will say: ‘You would have been more disobedient towards My Messengers.’ So those will enter Paradise and those will enter Hell.” Narrated by Abu Ya’laa, 4224. There are corroborating reports which were mentioned by Ibn Katheer in al-Tafseer, 3/29-31.

Note: we know from other authentic Hadith that the insane is not held accountable for their actions and the child that dies (below the age of accountability) is granted paradise 

is the depiction of the moon a form of idolatry in islam?

There is a thin line between symbolism and idolotry?


Good point. The symbol of islam is not the moon (despite it being wrongly attributed to it by the red crescent and many mosques and flags etc).  It was actually the pre islamic pagan symbol for the quraysh tribe.

The crescent certainly wasnt used as a symbol for islam in the prophet's lifetime.  In fact, There is no real symbol for islam! (Perhaps to avoid idolatry).

 So one was assigned to it by "others".

[2:21-22] Why worship God?

[2:21] O Humans
worship your Lord
who created you
and those before you
so that you have caution.
[2:22] who made for you the Earth a spread [like a bed]
and the sky a cover [like a canopy]
and sent down from the sky water
so [that] it brought out some fruits
a provision for you
so don't make equals to god while you know


The above verses explain some of the many reasons why humans should worship God and become the "Cautious" instead of the "Rejecters" or Hypocrites. 

1. He created you and all humans who have ever existed (and by extension - all those who will ever exist)

The next few reasons are cleverly phrased to show how they interrelate.  So that God shows He not only gives us sustenance, provisions and protection but He has made everything in such a way that it is connected, cyclic or interrelated in a life-sustaining system.

• The earth (we are land based creatures - i.e. a water or gas world would see us quickly killed off)

• The sky a cover (our atmosphere is crucial for allowing life on Earth - protecting it from harmful cosmic rays and asteroids. It also allows a steady temperature to be maintained - without an atmosphere days would be scorching hot and nights freezing cold - without an atmosphere the planet would become a "dead" rock - much like the moon (that has no atmosphere / sky).

• Rain (life on earth depends on water.  Rain allows water to be distributed across the land.)

• Fruits (from the water, plant life grows and contributes to human and animal sustenance as part of the food chain.  Without fruits humans would quickly die.  Without rain, there'd be no fruits, and humans would quickly die.  Thus God shows us how fragile and weak we are - how dependent we are upon Him and the system He made (of which we are a part)).

So in exchange for all these things God has made- we are only asked to accept the truth - that our Creator is One (and thus not make anything else equal with Him) and worship Him alone. 

How does Islam see Paul?

He introduced deviance and innovation into the true message of Jesus a.s.

for more information and PROOF on this well known and well documented fact - see links below:

Pauline Christianity
Ebionites

also read works by major Christian scholars such as Geza Vermes

Old Scriptures & Prophets Vs. Opinions of the Prophet's Companions

In many school's of thought the following sources of religious knowledge are used (in this order - i.e. if the hadith contradicts the Qur'an, the Qur'an overrules the Hadith):

1. Qur'an (Words of God)
2. Hadith & Sunnah (Words & Actions Prophet Muhammad s.a.a.s.)
3. Opinions of the Salaf (Prophet's Companions & the first generation of Muslims around the Prophet)
4. Logic

I agree with all (including the order) except for point 3 (Opinions of the Salaf).  I think this should be exchanged with Prophets and Scriptures of Old:

1. Qur'an (Words of God)
2. Hadith & Sunnah (Words & Actions Prophet Muhammad s.a.a.s.)
3. Old Scriptures & Prophets (Torah, Gospels, Psalms, etc)
4. Logic

The reason for this is simple: 
If the answer you are seeking is not in the final edition of the teacher's book (Qur'an - God's Words) and His newest teaching assistant (Prophet Muhammad s.a.a.s.) did not teach about it - then who do you ask:
A) Other students (i.e. the companions of the Prophet)
B) The old editions of the teacher's books and His old teaching assistants (i.e. the Old Scriptures and prophets)

I think any logical person would choose option B because, even though the students have first hand experience, they are still students and may not have fully grasped the teachings - whereas a teaching assistant would certainly have (since they were chosen by the Teacher to be a teaching assistant).

It is also mentioned Numerous times throughout the Qur'an that the believers are those who believe in what was sent down before (i.e. the Old Scriptures)

Finally, there are examples in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.s.) where he would refer to the Old scriptures if it was not mentioned in the Qur'an and he himself did not know what to do.

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar:
A group of Jews came and invited the Messenger of God to Quff. So he visited them in their school.
They said: AbulQasim (i.e. Muhammad s.a.a.s.), one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them.
They placed a cushion for the Messenger of God who sat on it and said:
Bring the Torah.
It was then brought.
He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying:
I believed in you (i.e. the Torah) and in Him Who revealed thee.
He then said:
Bring me one who is learned among you......
Then a young man was brought. The transmitter then mentioned the rest of the tradition of stoning similar to the one transmitted by Malik from Nafi'(No. 4431).

— Abu Dawood, Sunan Abu Dawood^[11]

Anticipated Responses:
Many people will argue - but the Old Scriptures have been corrupted. How can we trust them? 

My response: 
Whatever teachings have been corrupted - God surely would have mentioned it and corrected them in the Qur'an or through the Prophet Muhammad s.a.a.s. 
Therefore, If the Quran and Hadith are silent on a topic, then there was nothing to correct. 

As long as the previous scripture or prophet does not contradict the Qur'an or Sunnah (there aren't many things) - then it is safe to follow it - just as God tells us to do in the Quran and just as the Prophet Muhammad s.a.a.s. did. 

We were never told to follow the Salaf - and they were human like you and I - and they used logic and better judgment when the Qur'an or Sunnah did not have the answer.  They were sometimes correct and sometimes wrong (This is shown in their differences of opinion).  Therefore, since we are also students - like them, we too should use our logic and judgement (if the answer is not in the Qur'an, Sunnah, or OLD SCRIPTURES)

Can Muslims (including men) have braided/locked hair?

yes.  both male and female. 

There was a female companion at the time of the prophet s.a.a.s. who said she finds it hard to do ghusl (ritualistic bathing) because her hair is in locks / braided.  She was told it is sufficient for her if she uses her fingers to wet the roots of her hair. (Remember islam makes life easy, not difficult - the prophet s.a.a.s. said: "Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists...[Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38]"

Sahih Muslim Hadith 643 Narrated by Umm Salamah
I said: O Messenger of God (saas), I am a woman who has closely plaited hair on my head; should I undo it for taking a bath, because of sexual intercourse? He (the Prophet (saws)) said: No, it is enough for you to throw three handfuls of water on your head and then pour water over yourself, and you shall be purified.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 359 (part) Narrated byUmm Salamah
.. As regards the (ghusl of the) woman who had plaited hair - sometimes each of us had plaited hair - when she washed, she would not undo the hair. She would instead pour three handfuls of water upon her head. When she felt moisture in the roots of her hair, she would rub them. Then she would pour water upon her whole body.


Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 255 Narrated by Thawban
Shurayh ibn Ubayd said: Jubayr ibn Nufayr gave me a verdict about the bath because of sexual defilement that Thawban reported to them that they asked the Prophet (saws) about it. He (the Prophet (saws)) replied: As regards man, he should undo the hair of his head and wash it until the water should reach the roots of the hair. But there is no harm if the woman does not undo it (her hair) and pour three handfuls of water over her head

As for men - the prophet yahya a.s. (John the Baptist) was reported to have had dreadlocks.  So if a prophet can have it - who can say we can not?  following the examples of previous prophets of islam is recommended (unless it contradicts God's laws or the Prophet's Sunnah) - otherwise their examples would not be given in the quran. Braiding mens hair does not contradict the quran nor sunnah. In fact, the propet muhammad s.a.a.s. practised this on at least one occasion

"The Prophet s.a.a.s. traveled to Makkah and he had his hair in four braids." 
- Aboo Daawood (#4185), Ibn Maajah (#3631 according to Al-Albaanee), and Al-Albaanee authenticates it in Ash-Shamaa'il Al-Muhammadiyyah (#23) 
 

why is adam a.s. better than iblis?

A robot is made that obeys commands. Jumps when u tell it. Stops when u tell it. Waits for your orders.

Then a second robot is made that is more inteligent. It goes in a changing world and must learn when to jump and when to stop.

Then a third robot is made that is like the second but it must also learn to survive in the world while the second robots mission is to destroy it.

The third robot (if it survives) is the best robot.

+++++++++++++++++
The first robots are angels of light
The second robots are fallen angels of dark / demons (jinn)
The third robots are humans