He is asking: why are most of the people on earth disbelievers, and why does Allah want them to enter Hell?

Firstly: 

First of all we
should point out that what the questioner mentioned about Allah’s love for
His creation being “seventy times greater than the love of a mother for her
child” has no basis in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Allah, may He be exalted, does
not love the transgressors, and He does not love the evildoers, and He does
not love the disbelievers, so how can it be affirmed that Allah, may He be
exalted, loves all of His creation when the vast majority of them are these
types of people? Rather Allah, may He be exalted, loves those who do good,
and He loves the pious, and He loves those who repent, and He loves those
who purify themselves, and He loves those who are patient, and He loves
those who put their trust in Him, and He loves those who are fair and just.
These types of people are the ones for whom Allah, may He be exalted,
affirmed His love and they – naturally – cannot be any but those who affirm
His Oneness and not those who associate others with Him. 

But despite all
that, among the names of Allah, may He be glorified, are the names
ar-Rahmaan (the Most Gracious), ar-Raheem (the Most Merciful); His mercy
precedes His wrath, and His pardon precedes His punishment, and He is more
merciful to His slaves than a mother to her child. 

It was narrated
that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

Some prisoners were brought to the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and there was a woman among the
prisoners who was searching for someone. When she found a small boy among
the prisoners, she clasped him to her and started to breastfeed him. The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to us:
“Do you think that this woman would throw her child into the fire?” We said:
No, by Allah, she would never do that if she is able not to. The Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah is more
merciful towards His slaves than this woman is towards her child.”

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 5999; Muslim, 2754. 

There is a
difference between mercy and love. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted,
has sent down a share of His mercy by virtue of which people show compassion
towards one another, He grants provision to His slaves, gives them more
time, is forbearing towards them and bears patiently their disbelief and
offensive words. All of that is in this world; but in the hereafter, His
mercy will be only for those who believed in Him and submitted to Him. 

Secondly: 

With regard to the
question, “Why are most people on earth non-Muslims?” The answer to that is:
because they are the ones who have chosen disbelief over Islam. Here we will
set aside those who are excused because the message did not reach them, and
let us ask: what is the matter with those who read about Islam and whom the
call reached, and they saw thousands of their coreligionists race towards
Islam, and they saw the millions who follow this great religion, and they
saw the clear signs that point to the truthfulness of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) and the truthfulness of his call, and the
truthfulness and miraculous nature of the Qur’an, and they heard the debates
in which the enemies of Islam were defeated and their specious arguments
refuted – yet despite all of that, and much more besides, they did not
believe in Islam and they did not accept it as their religion; rather
billions of them were content to worship a cross that they made or an idol
that they carved, or a grave that they built up, or a cow that they
worshipped instead of Allah. There is no power and no strength except with
Allah. 

The truth is
obvious and clear; the signs that point to the greatness of Islam are too
many to be counted; no wise person can argue against the evidence that what
these disbelievers are doing is false; sound human nature and reasoning
reject those (false) acts of worship and the taking of other gods as lords
instead of Allah, the One. Allah, may He be exalted, has highlighted the
evidence and has established proof against them. Yet despite that, most
people insist on disbelieving and you will not find most people to be
grateful monotheists; rather they are disbelievers and polytheists. 

Thirdly: 

As for the answer
to the question, So why does Allah want the majority of His creation to
enter Hell?, The answer is that Allah, may He be exalted, does not approve
of the disbelief of these people and He does not like it, but they liked it
for themselves. The Almighty Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, has
stated in His holy Book that He is not pleased with the disbelief of the
disbelievers, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“If
you disbelieve, then verily, Allaah is not in need of you; He likes not
disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He
is pleased therewith for you”

[az-Zumar 39:7].

This is a clear
statement that Allah, may He be exalted, does not like disbelief for His
slaves; rather He likes Tawheed (affirmation of the Oneness of Allah) and
Islam for them. Rather they are the ones who like disbelief as a religion
for themselves, and they refused to join the ranks of those who affirm the
Oneness of Allah. Allah, may He be exalted, does not force anyone to become
a Muslim or to become a disbeliever; rather He, may He be glorified and
exalted, has explained the paths of truth and falsehood, right and wrong,
Islam and disbelief, then He has given people the choice, along with His
promise to the Muslims of reward and His warning to the disbelievers of
Hell. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“29. And say:
‘The truth is from your Lord.’ Then whosoever wills, let him believe; and
whosoever wills, let him disbelieve. Verily, We have prepared for the
Zaalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers), a Fire whose walls will be
surrounding them (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah). And if they ask for
help (relief, water), they will be granted water like boiling oil, that will
scald their faces. Terrible is the drink, and an evil Murtafaq (dwelling,
resting place)!

30. Verily, as
for those who believed and did righteous deeds, certainly We shall not make
the reward of anyone who does his (righteous) deeds in the most perfect
manner to be lost.

31. These! For
them will be ‘Adn (Eden) Paradise (everlasting Gardens); wherein rivers flow
underneath them; therein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold, and
they will wear green garments of fine and thick silk. They will recline
therein on raised thrones. How good is the reward, and what an excellent
Murtafaq (dwelling, resting place)!”

[al-Kahf
18:29-31] 

“2. Verily, We
have created man from Nutfah (drops) of mixed semen (sexual discharge of man
and woman), in order to try him, so We made him hearer and seer.

3. Verily, We
showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.

4. Verily, We
have prepared for the disbelievers iron chains, iron collars, and a blazing
Fire.

5. Verily, the
Abraar (the pious believers of Islamic Monotheism) shall drink of a cup (of
wine) mixed with (water from a spring in Paradise called) Kaafoor.

6. A spring
wherefrom the slaves of Allah will drink, causing it to gush forth
abundantly.”

[al-Insaan
76:2-6]. 

Here we will quote
an example of how Allah offered guidance to people by sending Messengers
with clear signs, yet they chose disbelief over Islam. They were the people
of Thamood. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“17. And as for
Thamood, We showed and made clear to them the Path of Truth (Islamic
Monotheism) through Our Messenger (i.e. showed them the way of success), but
they preferred blindness to guidance; so the Saa‘iqah (a destructive awful
cry, torment, hit, thunderbolt) of disgracing torment seized them because of
what they used to earn.

18. And We
saved those who believed and used to fear Allaah, keep their duty to Him and
avoid evil.”

[Fussilat
41:17-18]. 

This is an
example, and similar to these people are all those who disbelieved in their
Lord and rejected their Messengers, and were content with disbelief in this
world and eternity in the Fire in the Hereafter. These modern disbelievers
have a precedent; messengers brought the truth from their Lord to them, and
Allah, may He be exalted, made the Messenger to each people one of their
own, so that they would recognise his truthfulness and honesty, and He gave
each one of them a sign that is enough proof for people, yet despite that,
they said that their Messengers were sorcerers or madmen. The disbelievers
of Quraysh demanded a sign from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) so that they would believe. He showed them the splitting of the
moon, and they said that it was sorcery. So the words of Allah concerning
them are true (interpretation of the meaning):

“and even if
they see every one of the Ayaat (signs) they will not believe therein”

[al-An‘aam
6:25]. 

Those people did
not stop at rejecting the Messengers of their Lord; rather they conspired
against them, to kill them or expel them from their lands. Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And those who
disbelieved, said to their Messengers: ‘Surely, we shall drive you out of
our land, or you shall return to our religion.’ So their Lord revealed to
them: ‘Truly, We shall destroy the Zaalimoon (polytheists, disbelievers and
wrongdoers)’”

[Ibraaheem
14:13]. 

And Allah, may He
be exalted, tells us that the people of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) said:

“So nothing was
the answer of [Ibraaheem’s (Abraham’s)] people except that they said: ‘Kill
him or burn him.’ Then Allah saved him from the fire. Verily, in this are
indeed signs for a people who believe”

[al-‘Ankaboot
29:24]. 

And Allah, may He
be exalted, says concerning our Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him):

“And (remember)
when the disbelievers plotted against you (O Muhammad
صلى الله عليه وسلم) to imprison you, or
to kill you, or to get you out (from your home, i.e. Makkah)”

[al-Anfaal
8:30]. 

If this was the
case with regard to those to whom the Messenger, whom they knew, brought the
message from his Lord, and they saw the signs with their own eyes, then what
about those Indians, Chinese and Europeans, if the Arabian Prophet Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon them) came to them as a bringer of
glad tidings and a warner?? 

When some of the
polytheists claimed that Allah, may He be exalted, approved of their
disbelief and that if that was not the case, He would have diverted them
from it, our Lord, may He be blessed and exulted, showed them to be liars
and explained that they were only following their whims and desires and
their forefathers who had gone astray. Allah, may He be exalted, said
(interpretation of the meaning)

“And those who
joined others in worship with Allah said: ‘If Allah had so willed, neither
we nor our fathers would have worshipped aught but Him, nor would we have
forbidden anything without (Command from) Him’”

[an-Nahl 16:35]. 

Then Allah, may He
be exalted, refuted them by saying:

“And verily, We
have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming):
‘Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taghoot (all false
deities, i.e. do not worship Taaghoot alongside Allah).’ Then of them were
some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was
justified”

[an-Nahl 16:36]. 

Shaykh Muhammad
al-Ameen ash-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

In these verses,
Allah explains that He did not approve of their disbelief, and that He sent
a Messenger to every nation, commanding them on the Messenger’s lips to
worship Allah alone and to avoid taaghoot (false gods), i.e., to keep away
from the worship of any deity besides Him. He also told them that Allah
guided some of them to worship Him alone, and that some of them went astray;
in other words, their disbelief and doom were confirmed. 

Allah, may He be
exalted, says in Soorat al-An‘aam (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: ‘With
Allah is the perfect proof and argument, (i.e. the Oneness of Allaah, the
sending of His Messengers and His Holy Books, to mankind); had He so willed,
He would indeed have guided you all’”

[al-An‘aam
6:149].

The fact that He
alone can help and guide people is the perfect proof and argument against
His creation. In other words: whoever We guide and bless with Our help, that
is grace and mercy from Us. And whoever We do not do that for, that is
justice and wisdom from Us, because he was not owed that by Us and did not
deserve it from Us. Rather if We grant that, it is grace, and if we do not
grant it, it is justice.

End quote from

Adwa’ al-Bayaan,
7/95, 96. 

Fourthly: 

The questioner
says: Is it true that no one will ever enter Paradise except Muslims, and
Ahl as-Sunnah in particular? That is subject to further discussion: 

Following the
sending of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then yes,
no one will enter Paradise except a Muslim, because Islam abrogated all the
previous religions; Allah, may He be exalted, commanded all His creation to
enter this religion, and stated that He will never accept any other religion
from anyone, and that whoever meets Him with any other religion will be
among the losers. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And whoever
seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in
the Hereafter he will be one of the losers”

[Aal ‘Imraan
3:85].

Because of that,
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed Bilaal to
call out to the people: “No one will enter Paradise except a Muslim.”

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 3062; Muslim, 178. 

With regard to the
previous nations, everyone who believed in his Prophet and Messenger will
enter Paradise; they were the Muslims of their time. Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, those
who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever
believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have
their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they
grieve”

[al-Baqarah
2:62]. 

With regard to the
question of Paradise being for Ahl as-Sunnah in particular, this is an
incorrect view. None of the scholars have said such a thing; rather all of
the ummah of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) who
responded to his call will enter Paradise; no one will be deprived of it
except those who turned on their heels (apostatized) and nullified their
Islam by doing something that took them out of Islam altogether, and those
innovators who went against sharee‘ah and opposed Ahl as-Sunnah. They, like
other sinners among the monotheists, will be subject to the will of Allah,
may He be glorified and exalted: if He wills, He will punish them, and if He
wills, He will forgive them, then the final destination of any one of them
will be Paradise, if he died believing in Tawheed. 

This also applies
to those who committed some sins or fell into some innovation, but were
among Ahl as-Sunnah in general; they will also be subject to the will of
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted: if He wills, He will punish them,
and if He wills, He will forgive them. However, adhering to the Sunnah,
defending it and following it in word and deed will increase the hope of
entering Paradise and being saved from the punishment of Allah. 

Fifthly: 

The one who
understands from the hadeeth about divisions and from the words of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about the seventy-two
different sects who go against Ahl as-Sunnah, “All of them will be in the
Fire”, that they will abide forever in the fire of Hell, is mistaken and has
gone against the consensus of the Muslims. The fact that these sects have
gone astray and have been given a warning of Hellfire does not mean that
they will abide therein forever. 

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Whoever says that
the seventy-two sects have all committed kufr (disbelief) in a way that puts
them beyond the pale of Islam has gone against the Qur’an, Sunnah and the
consensus of the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them all), and also the
consensus of the four imams and others. There is no one among them who
regarded each one of the seventy-two sects as disbelievers.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 7/218 

Describing those
who differ as disbelievers is the way of the followers of innovation and
misguidance; it is not the way of Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah. 

Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The Khaarijis were
the first ones to regard the Muslims as disbelievers, saying that they
become disbelievers because of committing sins. They also regarded as
disbelievers those who disagreed with their innovation and regarded it as
permissible to kill them and take their wealth. This is how the innovators
are: they introduce an innovation and regard as disbelievers those who
differ with them, concerning it. Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah follow the
Qur’an and Sunnah, and obey Allah and His Messenger; they follow the truth
and show compassion to all people.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 3/279 

And he said
concerning the seventy-two sects: They regard one another as disbelievers
because of some of the ideas they believe in.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 7/218

For reports of the
hadeeth about division and some comments on it, please see the answer to
question no. 90112

For a description
of Ahl as-Sunnah and the saved sect, please see the answers to questions no.
10777 and
206

Sixthly: 

By the mercy of
Allah, may He be exalted, to His slaves, He will not punish with Hell those
whom the call of Islam did not reach. For those who are alive at the
present, or who lived before, whom news of Islam did not reach, they will be
tested on the Day of Resurrection. We have discussed this matter in the
answers to questions no. 1244 and
130271.

And Allah knows
best.