i had written the following in response to a comment that got flagged and has now disappeared. Nevertheless, make of this what you will:
In my opinion, based on verses 17:36, 5:118, 46:15, 96:15-16 and 17:13-15 of the Quran viz "...And We have fastened every man's deeds to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring out for him a book which he will find wide open. [It will be said], Read your record. You yourself are sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day. Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another...", it is solely dishonesty and wilfully committing injustice that will cause a person to judge against himself/herself and earn a place in Hell. So it is not necessary that only 'muslims' can enter Heaven or be Successful. The criterion is the application of sense/reasoning and not being swayed by that which is convenient (being born into a religion, peer pressure, personal convenience, prejudice, etc.). In my opinion, i believe that fate is influenced by how steadfastly a person holds on to Reason and Justice. So prejudiced people end up committing deeds that will lead them to Hell like willful falsification and obtuseness. So even 'muslims' who choose the path of hypocrisy can end up in the lowest layers of Hell (Quran 4:145) and non-muslims can also go to Heaven (Quran 5:118). Anybody can understand this, because it makes sense. Sadly in the case of Abrahamic religions, the exegetic literature like Midrash and Tafsir muddy that which is clear. How ironic? But then again, there is a pertinent verse (3:7) in the Quran in this regard: "He it is Who hath revealed unto thee the Scripture wherein are clear revelations - they are the substance of the Book - and others (which are) allegorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]..." There is a thin book at https://archive.org/details/TheAmazingQuran.pdf by a mathematician not of muslim origin where he examines the Quran from a logical standpoint which can be a starting point followed by the papers at https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=wmRDl-4AAAAJ on computational analysis of the Quran (including with neural networks) before the ChatGPT era.
You have confused a hadith (not from the Quran) Sunan Ibn Majah Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 63 with verses from the Quran (28:38 and 40:36–37). Anybody can make a mistake. Let us try to verify as everybody will have to support with basis on what we stated, on the Day of Judgement (17:36). Even if everything remotely Islamic is removed from consideration, the things to ponder upon are indeed all the links above viz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat and https://mises.org/online-book/skyscraper-curse-and-how-austr... against this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel hmmm... food for thought on how ambition and pride can make us chase sub-optimal solutions (make us blind in other words).
In my opinion, based on verses 17:36, 5:118, 46:15, 96:15-16 and 17:13-15 of the Quran viz "...And We have fastened every man's deeds to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring out for him a book which he will find wide open. [It will be said], Read your record. You yourself are sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day. Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another...", it is solely dishonesty and wilfully committing injustice that will cause a person to judge against himself/herself and earn a place in Hell. So it is not necessary that only 'muslims' can enter Heaven or be Successful. The criterion is the application of sense/reasoning and not being swayed by that which is convenient (being born into a religion, peer pressure, personal convenience, prejudice, etc.). In my opinion, i believe that fate is influenced by how steadfastly a person holds on to Reason and Justice. So prejudiced people end up committing deeds that will lead them to Hell like willful falsification and obtuseness. So even 'muslims' who choose the path of hypocrisy can end up in the lowest layers of Hell (Quran 4:145) and non-muslims can also go to Heaven (Quran 5:118). Anybody can understand this, because it makes sense. Sadly in the case of Abrahamic religions, the exegetic literature like Midrash and Tafsir muddy that which is clear. How ironic? But then again, there is a pertinent verse (3:7) in the Quran in this regard: "He it is Who hath revealed unto thee the Scripture wherein are clear revelations - they are the substance of the Book - and others (which are) allegorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]..." There is a thin book at https://archive.org/details/TheAmazingQuran.pdf by a mathematician not of muslim origin where he examines the Quran from a logical standpoint which can be a starting point followed by the papers at https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=wmRDl-4AAAAJ on computational analysis of the Quran (including with neural networks) before the ChatGPT era.