What is the fate of children who die before reaching maturity and legal accountability, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, regarding their destiny in the Hereafter, and does
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The questioner : What is the fate of children who die before reaching maturity and legal accountability, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, regarding their destiny in the Hereafter, and does the hadith whose meaning is that every newborn is born on the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) apply even to the children of non-Muslims?
The Shaykh : The fate of the children of the believers is Paradise, because they follow their parents. Allah the Exalted said:[At-Tur 52:21] As for the children of the non-believers, meaning the child who grew up with non-Muslim parents.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The most correct opinion regarding them is to say: Allah knows best what they were doing. In the rulings of this world, they are in the position of their parents. As for the rulings of the Hereafter, Allah knows best what they were doing, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and Allah knows best their ultimate destination. This is what we say, and in reality, it is a matter that does not concern us much. What concerns us is their ruling in this world and their rulings in this world, meaning the children of the polytheists who are from disbelieving parents. Their rulings in this world are that they are like the polytheists, meaning they are not washed, not shrouded, no funeral prayer is performed for them, and they are not buried in our graveyards. Yes.
The questioner : This is a question from the listener Ibrahim al-Sabrani.
The Shaykh : The fate of the children of the believers is Paradise, because they follow their parents. Allah the Exalted said:
And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith - We will join with them their descendants, and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds. Every person, for what he earned, is retained.
وَالَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُمْ بِإِيمَانٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَا أَلَتْنَاهُمْ مِنْ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِينٌThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The most correct opinion regarding them is to say: Allah knows best what they were doing. In the rulings of this world, they are in the position of their parents. As for the rulings of the Hereafter, Allah knows best what they were doing, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and Allah knows best their ultimate destination. This is what we say, and in reality, it is a matter that does not concern us much. What concerns us is their ruling in this world and their rulings in this world, meaning the children of the polytheists who are from disbelieving parents. Their rulings in this world are that they are like the polytheists, meaning they are not washed, not shrouded, no funeral prayer is performed for them, and they are not buried in our graveyards. Yes.
The questioner : This is a question from the listener Ibrahim al-Sabrani.