The Ruling on the Children of Polytheists in the Hereafter
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What is the stronger position regarding the ruling on the children of polytheists in the Hereafter?
The children of polytheists who do not have the capacity to distinguish right from wrong follow the ruling of their parents in this world if their parents are polytheists. This means that we do not wash them, shroud them, pray over them, or bury them with Muslims. If one of the child’s parents is a Muslim, then the child is a Muslim. As for the Hereafter, the correct view is that their knowledge is with Allah, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will test them on the Day of Resurrection with whatever He wills. Whoever obeys will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter the Fire.
I will give you a benefit: In terms of religion, the child follows the better of the two parents. If the mother is a Muslim, the child is a Muslim, and if the father is a Muslim, the child is a Muslim.
In terms of lineage, the child follows the father: [Al-Ahzab: 5] .
In terms of freedom and slavery, the child follows the mother. So if a free man marries a slave woman, their children are slaves owned by the mother’s master.
In terms of purity and impurity, and permissibility and prohibition, the child follows the more impure of the two. So if a donkey mounts a female horse and she gives birth to a foal, the foal is impure and forbidden. So the rules are now four.
The children of polytheists who do not have the capacity to distinguish right from wrong follow the ruling of their parents in this world if their parents are polytheists. This means that we do not wash them, shroud them, pray over them, or bury them with Muslims. If one of the child’s parents is a Muslim, then the child is a Muslim. As for the Hereafter, the correct view is that their knowledge is with Allah, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will test them on the Day of Resurrection with whatever He wills. Whoever obeys will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter the Fire.
I will give you a benefit: In terms of religion, the child follows the better of the two parents. If the mother is a Muslim, the child is a Muslim, and if the father is a Muslim, the child is a Muslim.
In terms of lineage, the child follows the father:
Call them by their fathers’ names
ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْIn terms of freedom and slavery, the child follows the mother. So if a free man marries a slave woman, their children are slaves owned by the mother’s master.
In terms of purity and impurity, and permissibility and prohibition, the child follows the more impure of the two. So if a donkey mounts a female horse and she gives birth to a foal, the foal is impure and forbidden. So the rules are now four.