This Element offers a philosophical introduction to, and examination of, the traditional Islamic (Sunnī) understanding of soteriology, focusing on the doctrines of heaven and hell. It explores how traditional Sunnī conceptions of ultimate reward and punishment raise several pressing philosophical questions, including those about human purpose, human nature, and God's mercy. Although primarily philosophical, the discussion in this Element is grounded in Islamic sources and thinkers. Drawing from the Qurʾān, aḥādīth, and classical figures such as Ibn Sīnā, Al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Qayyim, it assesses whether traditional Sunnī portrayals of heavenly reward and eternal damnation are philosophically and theologically defensible. The Element concludes that they are not, advancing instead a virtue-oriented and universalist vision of salvation.

This Reprint brings together a selection of cutting-edge contributions in contemporary Islamic philosophy of religion. These contributions address central philosophical questions arising within the Islamic intellectual tradition while engaging directly with analytic philosophy of religion, including debates on the problem of evil, religious epistemology, reason and revelation, salvation, religious disagreement, and the metaphysics of theism. Collectively, the contributions demonstrate the growing maturity of Islamic philosophy of religion as a distinct yet engaged field, one that draws upon classical Islamic sources while addressing live philosophical problems with rigor and conceptual clarity.

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Islam as a religion and a way of life guides millions of people around the world and has a significant impact on worldly affairs. To many Muslims, however, a philosophical understanding or assessment of Islamic belief is seen as a feeble and religiously inappropriate attempt to understand matters that are beyond rational comprehension. Islam: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation explores this issue in detail, by guiding readers through a careful study of the relationship between faith and reason in Islam. In particular, it pays close attention to religious objections to philosophizing about Islam, arguments for and against Islamic belief, and the rationality of Islamic belief in light of contemporary philosophical issues, such as problems of religious diversity, evil and religious doubt.