The ruling on one who grew up in disbelief and to whom the call of Islam did not reach, and the excuse of ignorance

Question:
May Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. We ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to reward you, Honorable Shaykh, with the best reward. May Allah preserve you. This questioner says: A person was born to two disbelieving parents and grew up in that state, and he grew up while still a disbeliever, and he was in a region to which the call of Islam had not reached. Will he be among the people of the Fire, or will he be excused for his ignorance? He also asks you, Honorable Shaykh, to elaborate on the issue of the excuse of ignorance.

Answer:
Yes. The child follows his parents in religion. So if his parents are followers in this world, he is given their ruling in this world; you see the rulings of disbelievers applied to him. If he is with his disbelieving parents and dies, he is treated as a disbeliever; his ruling is the ruling of his parents. He is not washed, not buried, and no funeral prayer is offered for him. His ruling is the ruling of his parents. This is in this world. As for the Hereafter, the scholars differed on this, and the correct view, and Allah knows best, is that this is left to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Their affair on the Day of Resurrection is left to Allah; He is the One who disposes of them, whether to admit them to Paradise or to the Fire. But in this world, we follow their fathers; their ruling is a ruling that has been established. As for the Hereafter, their affair is with Allah. We suspend judgment on them. Some scholars say he is in the Fire, some say he is in Paradise, and some suspend judgment. And this is the correct view: suspending judgment on their affair and leaving it to Allah. As for the excuse of ignorance, as we mentioned, if a person is in lands cut off from the Muslims and nothing has reached him, he is excused for his ignorance. , and Allah would not misguide a people after He has sent them a messenger until He makes clear to them what they should fear. But if he is in the lands of Islam and Islam has reached him, he is not excused for his ignorance, because he is able to learn. He is able to learn and to ask. So he is not excused for his ignorance while he lives in the lands of Islam.