The Shaykh’s explanation of what the people of the period of ignorance are held accountable for and what they are not held accountable for.

The Shaykh : No, please go ahead.
Abu Malik: I mean, we read the saying of Allah the Exalted: and we see that in these days millions of people live in isolation from knowledge. In fact, since revelation has ceased and messengers no longer come, and of course we know the ruling regarding the people of the period of ignorance in this specific issue; can these people be compared to the people of the period of ignorance, and what are they held accountable for, and what are they not held accountable for, according to the Shari'ah?
Al-Albani: In my opinion, it is not hidden from you that the cause of legal responsibility... I am careful not to...

The questioner : ... Please, my master.

The Shaykh : The basis for ruling on a group of people, or a nation of nations, or a people of peoples...
Abu Malik: Excuse me, Shaykh, to complete the question, and your speech is connected, meaning, considering that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned that his father is in the Fire, and permission was not granted to seek forgiveness for his mother; we also want clarification on this issue, may Allah reward you.
Al-Albani: I wanted to say that the basis for the ruling on being held accountable or not is the arrival of the call or the non-arrival of the call; so any group, any nation, or any people, let us assume that the call of the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not reach them, and this is what concerns us regarding the Seal of the Prophets... in that case, the pen is lifted from these people, and they are not held accountable for their disbelief and their misguidance; as long as we have assumed that the call of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not reach them, so...The Shaykh : Muhammad, may Allah reward him with good, mentioned the verse: and this verse draws the attention of some people who find this issue difficult because of the saying of the Exalted: If their fathers were not warned, then it comes to mind that they are from the people of the period of ignorance; I say:
First: the verse connected [them] by saying: and this means that the warner is not required, in establishing the proof, to have connected directly with the people by his body, his voice, and his call; this is of course a reality, but it is not a condition; rather, the important thing is that the call reaches them; and what confirms this for us is that any prophet, and especially the Seal of the Prophets, if he came to a people and gave them good news and warned them, but among them was a deaf man, then this man had the Messenger come to him directly, but this is not the intended meaning; the intended meaning is that the call reaches him; and this, considering he is deaf, or considering he is a fool, or something like that, he is not held accountable because the call did not reach him, even though the Messenger personally connected with him; so the opposite is the exact opposite.
And I say, on this occasion, to those who cling to the previous verse: that we, Muslims now, with this narrow understanding of the previous verse: we also did not have a warner come to us; but we had the call come to us and reach us; and therefore we are obligated, and if we do not respond, we will not be excused; the same statement applies exactly to the people of the period of ignorance before the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); and from this we can take the answer to the two hadiths I mentioned earlier; we cannot say that all those who were before the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were from the people of the period of ignorance, and we cannot say that all of them were not from the people of the period of ignorance; we cannot be certain that the call reached every individual of the Arabs who were before the Messenger, just as we cannot say the opposite, that the call did not reach every individual of these people; so the issue is tied to the reaching of the call and the non-reaching of the call; if this is clear, as you know, then we say: if we receive a correct report from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that so-and-so was from the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance and is in the Fire, we immediately conclude that the call reached him, otherwise and it is not hidden from you that this verse also means a messenger, either directly or through his call; so if there are established hadiths, like the hadith: which judges people who died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance before the mission of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), then that means exactly that the call of the oneness of Allah reached them, and therefore they denied it, as the Exalted said: .
Today, as you mentioned, there are nations in the North Pole and the South Pole, and even in Europe and America and so on, who know nothing about Islam, and the truth, as they say: if I forget, I will not forget; the first meeting between me and some university professors, in the first year, I think in the same university, in a group of people of knowledge, and Muhammad Ameen, you remember well, this issue was raised, and I clarified my point of view briefly, according to what you heard, with some detail, he said...The Shaykh : The one referred to said that we cannot say that the call did not reach the Europeans and Americans and the like today; because, what Allah willed, the Qur'an is recited on the radio day and night; we said to him: O Shaykh, may Allah guide us and you, the Arabs do not understand this speech until the non-Arabs understand it! If you tell a non-Arab to say: he will say it, but first with some difficulty, but does he know that this demolishes his cross and the false object of worship? He does not know and does not understand anything; so the intended meaning of the arrival of the call is not its words, but rather the intended meaning is the meanings of the call and its realities.
Abu Malik: Hearing it in the way that carries...

The Shaykh : It is so, these are its realities; therefore I say that today many of the Muslims whom we see are in clear misguidance and they associate partners with Allah and make equals for Allah while they do not know; the first polytheists knew, but our group does not know; Allah is the Greatest; we cannot judge these people with the Fire; because who is it that establishes the proof against them? The shaykhs who surround them are the cause of their misguidance; they call seeking aid, as you know, seeking nearness to Allah through a means, and so on of misguidances and deviations; so these people did not have the call reach them.
Abu Malik: Based on this, Shaykh, that we understand the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): if here the hearing intended is the hearing of the truth, which Allah also intended by His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He:

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.