The Ruling on the People of the Interval and the Excuse of Ignorance

Question:
May Allah bless you. According to the fourth opinion, the majority of the people of the interval (al-fatra) are ruled to be disbelievers, based on the hadith in which a man asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about his father. The question is: why were they not excused due to ignorance? When is one who falls into disbelief excused by ignorance? And when is one not excused?

Answer:
The people of the interval existed before the sending of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They had the remnants of previous messages; the religion of the Jews and the religion of the Christians remained, and the Torah and the Gospel remained. They had the traces of the message, and the call of the messengers had reached them. They are not excused. Those who were upon the true religion of Moses (peace be upon him) and died upon it before the sending of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are among the people of Paradise. Likewise, those who were upon the true religion of Jesus (peace be upon him)—the religion that was distorted, altered, and changed, the true religion—and died upon it are among the people of Paradise. When Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, the other religions were abrogated, and the religion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) remained. Therefore, they had these traces. You find in their poetry mention of the Resurrection, and you find in their poetry mention of the Scriptures. They had remnants. Also, the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him) and Ishmael remained among them, especially among the Arabs, who remained upon it. Therefore, they perform Hajj and 'Umrah. Remnants of the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him) and the religion of Ishmael remained among them. The message reached them. They are not people of the interval. Yes.