How do we reconcile the hadith: (Every child is born on the fitrah) with the story of Qabil killing his brother Habil, both sons of the Prophet Adam (peace be upon him)?

The Shaykh : How do we reconcile the hadith: and so on, with Qabil, the son of our master Adam, and his killing of his brother Habil, whose father was a prophet, and likewise the son of our master Noah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and so on?
I do not know; the questioner seems not to have understood the meaning of the hadith: . Otherwise, if he understood it in some way, it seems he understood it to mean that every child is born on the fitrah, reaches the age of accountability, becomes a man, and dies—also—on the fitrah. This is, of course, a very strange understanding. The intended meaning is that the child, when born, is born on the fitrah. Then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian while he is not yet accountable and has not reached the age of accountability. But when he reaches the age of accountability, at that time he must use his intellect and understanding and choose good over evil, faith over disbelief, and guidance over misguidance. If this is the meaning of the hadith, what is the difficulty in saying that our master Noah (peace be upon him) had a son who was a disbeliever because he reached the age of accountability and disbelieved in his father? Likewise, when Qabil killed his brother Habil, he killed him because he had reached the age of accountability, so he bore the sin of the killer and the sin of every killer after him, because he established the precedent of killing, as mentioned in the authentic hadith. There is no difficulty between these events and the hadith, because the hadith does not mean that this child who was born on the fitrah remains on the fitrah. Rather, he is generally influenced by the environment in which he lives until he reaches the age of accountability. When he reaches the age of accountability, he must plan for himself and choose the good over the bad.

The questioner : The intention of the question is: his parents make him a Jew or a Christian, our master Noah...?

The Shaykh : I answered this. I said: His parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian in the state before the age of accountability. When he reaches the age of accountability, at that time he must plan for himself.

The questioner : Meaning, if he fulfilled his duty before accountability, he fulfilled his duty, of course. After accountability, it is possible that he changes his father’s religion and directs himself to...

The Shaykh : How is it not possible? Like the opposite; his father is a Jew and directed him to Judaism; is it not possible that he directs himself to Islam?

The questioner : With the success of Allah, of course.

The Shaykh : Are we not discussing here the success of Allah and His pleasure? Is it not possible that he directs himself to Islam or not?

The questioner : Meaning, the father has no...

The Shaykh : ... .