Hassan,
My best friend, a Shia Muslim says passages regarding Heaven and Hell are Methaphor. He says heaven is presence of God. And presence of God is so blissful so that it is explained with example of pleasures and in a similar way absence of God is painful. Plus, he says Muslim is one who is submitted to God, so one can never say that a Non Muslim will surely go to hell, because at the time of death many ppl can return to Fitrah, 'natural inclination towards one God' and they will be in heaven too. I have never seen him saying 'O kafir, you will burn in after life' rather he sincerely prayed for the deceased mother of our other Hindu friend so that Allah will have mercy on her.
That pretty much summed up my view back then - and I dare say most ordinary Muslims.
They use their conscience and heart more than a literal reading of the Qur'an.
I think his claims are dishonest, he does not thik so, but who will argue over hell-heaven and risk a beautiful friendship when I don't even believe in those places.
There is absolutely no need to insist that he is wrong and should not pray for a hindu as (according to literalists) have committed the unforgivable sin against God and so will burn in Hell.
To do so would not only ruin your friendship but it would be arrogant and wrong. Since that is what he sincerely believes and I'm quite sure he is not being dishonest.
When I say that I find such explanations dishonest - I am of course not accusing others who hold them of being dishonest - only that I find it dishonest according to the way I see it.
Clearly they see it differently.