Are the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) before the mission of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) considered among the people of the period of ignorance (al-fatrah)?

The questioner : The brother asks: What is the ruling on the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) before Islam? ...?

The Shaykh : The people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) before the mission of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) are in the same situation as the Muslims today; that is, whoever the call reached has been established with the argument (hujjah) against him, and whoever it did not reach, then it has not. And we know from authentic narrations in al-Bukhari and Muslim and others that many of the polytheists before the mission of the Messenger (peace be upon him) died, and yet the Messenger informed that they will be punished. This is only because the call of Ibrahim and Isma'il (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon them) had reached them. Therefore, they were upon an inheritance of what they inherited from the religion of Ibrahim. They used to perform Hajj, circumambulate, and perform 'Umrah. This is because they were not, as many claim today, among the people of the period of ignorance (al-fatrah); for if they had been among the people of the period of ignorance (al-fatrah), they would not have been punished, as the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) informed.
Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Please, repeat the question.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : We have answered with an answer which, I think, if you had reflected upon it, you would not have needed a question like this.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Do you want to prolong this on me a bit? I say: I have answered with an answer which, if you had reflected upon it, you would not have needed a question like this. I said: Whoever the call reached, among the Muslims today and the disbelievers and polytheists before the mission of the Messenger (peace be upon him), has been established with the argument (hujjah) against him, and whoever the call did not reach, the argument (hujjah) has not been established against him. Do you have an objection to this answer?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Fine; and this is what I said. And the truth is, why did we say "the Muslims"? Perhaps—and I do not say this...—perhaps you will not hear this statement from anyone else. I say: The situation of those who were in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) is the situation of the Muslims today; whoever the call reached, among these and those, has been established with the argument (hujjah) against him. Why the majority of Muslims? Because many of the Muslims today, the call has not reached them; I mean the call as it was revealed to the Messenger (peace be upon him). Today, the Islamic call has suffered in the minds of many people of distortion (tahrif) what the Jews and the Christians themselves suffered. So likewise, the Jews and the Christians, if they know what 'Isa (peace be upon him) and Musa were upon regarding the oneness of Allah (tawhid), and then they contradict it and follow the priests and monks; then they are, of course, punished; because they know the truth. But if the truth has not reached them, they will never be punished, whether they are ancient or recent; because our Lord says: , so when He says: , here are two things that must be noted:
The first thing: That the intended meaning of the sending of the Messenger is not only the person of the Messenger, but either the person of the Messenger or his call, ; meaning—for example—the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions) who came after the Companions. The Companions received the Messenger directly, but the Tabi'un did not receive the Messenger, but they received the call. Therefore, the meaning of the previous verse: , by his person or by his call; that is, I say this so that no one today argues by saying: We did not receive a Messenger. No, we received the call of the Messenger. This is the first thing that the Muslim should note when this noble verse reaches his ear.
The second thing: That when the call reaches a group or a nation, and the intended meaning is that the argument (hujjah) has been established against them; we must note that the call reached them free from alteration and change. Do you see with me how? Free from alteration and change; otherwise, a nation to whom the call reached distorted, altered, and changed, these people did not receive the call that the Messenger (peace be upon him) brought. This is another call!! Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said: , so here he says: ; do you think it is according to the reality of his situation, or according to the reality by which his enemies describe him? For example, today the Europeans in France, Germany, and others, what do the priests and monks there teach the Western nation about Muhammad (peace be upon him)? It is contrary to his reality. They say this was a man who loved women, and he married whoever he desired and forbade his followers from marrying as he married. Well; of course, this is a description contrary to the description of the Messenger (peace be upon him) that matches reality. We must note that the one who heard the truth from the Messenger, and that—for example—is by saying: He was born an orphan, and he grew up and was raised an orphan, illiterate, unable to read or write, and he lived far from all the vices of the people; so he did not prostrate to an idol, nor did he steal, nor did he commit unlawful sexual intercourse (zina), nor so on. Suddenly, something called revelation, called Jibril, came down upon him, to the end of the story. Then he called the people, and the people became active in a call movement, there became... there became fighting, and in the end, he would be victorious and establish a state, and the light that he brought would spread... the whole world. This is something that, if it were narrated as it happened, all people would have believed in it. But the callers of evil, the callers of falsehood, always describe the righteous man contrary to his reality, out of envy and tyranny from themselves.
So the Jew or the Christian who heard this truth about Muhammad (peace be upon him), and then did not believe, without a doubt entered the Fire. But he heard the opposite of these truths; a man—for example—as we said, loves women, a man who worships the stone; that is, the stone of the Ka'bah. So they adorn it for them. If he did not believe, there is no blame on him at all, and our Lord on the Day of Resurrection will not say to him: You disbelieved. Why? Because he did not hear about him (peace be upon him); that is, about his truth as it is. And this reminds us of another hadith that some people misunderstand, even in another context, but in some things, the hadiths explain each other. He (peace be upon him) said: . Do you think he saw me as I said, or with another description? No, he sees him as he was (peace be upon him), not with another description =
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= , if a man claimed: Last night I saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a dream. Good, if Allah wills? How did you see him? Describe him to me. He says: I saw him as a tall man, his beard gray, light white, etc... I saw him today. We say to him: You did not see him. The Messenger (peace be upon him) was described in his characteristics (Shama'il) from the narration of Anas that he was not gray-haired; meaning he did not become gray-haired. How can you say: I saw him gray-haired, his beard light? This is a lie. This person did not see the Messenger. This person saw a person whom Satan made to imagine in his sleep that this was the Messenger, or he saw—for example—another person saying: I saw the Messenger walking in the road. How did you see him walking? He says: I saw him walking slowly. We say to him: You lied. The Messenger used to walk with the strongest strength of men, and he was described that when he walked, it was as if he were being poured from a slope (sabab). The slope (sabab) that... I do not know what you call it? The pipe of the artesian wells, the pipe from which water flows out, how does it come out restricted from here, it comes out from the head, it pushes it. Like this... the Companions of the Messenger when he was walking; it was as if he were being poured from a slope, he walked with strength, until he was also described that he (peace be upon him) when he walked, we walked with him and we exhausted ourselves to catch up with him, but we could not catch up with him. These are his characteristics (peace be upon him). So the one who sees him walking with the walk of the ascetic (mutamaskin) Sufi, we say to him: You did not see the Messenger (peace be upon him). And this is a long discussion, but the point—as he said here—: , he must see him in his truth; likewise, there, when he said: ; that is, in his truth; meaning... .