What is the ruling on the people of the period (ahl al-fatra) and the children of polytheists? Does the statement that they will be tested on the Day of Resurrection not contradict the two authentic hadiths: “My father and your father are in the Fire” and “Allah promised me that He will not punish the heedless (al-lahin) from among the people”?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Regarding the issue of those to whom the message did not reach, and the statement that the children of polytheists and the people of the period (ahl al-fatra) will be tested in the open spaces of the Day of Resurrection, there is the hadith you mentioned. This is contradicted by two hadiths. I want to know their jurisprudence (fiqh), and they are:
The hadith narrated by Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him): , and then the other hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in an authentic hadith: . The “heedless” (al-lahin) are known to mean children, and this is a general term covering the children of polytheists and others.

The Shaykh : The generality of the term is a simple matter. You know that a general statement is subject to specification (takhsis), is that not so?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So, the specification, according to the details you have heard, is clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So, the answer regarding the first hadith remains. There is no contradiction in the first hadith, praise be to Allah. This is the case with all authentic hadiths. The claim of contradiction comes from an idea present in the minds of many people today, which is a wrong idea. It is the idea that those who were before the Messenger (peace be upon him) were from the people of the period (ahl al-fatra). This is a grave error. The Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) were not from the people of the period (ahl al-fatra), meaning the call of a Prophet did not reach them. How could that be, when Ibrahim and Isma'il—Allah, Lord of the Worlds, says in the Noble Qur'an: to the end of the verse—and then they used to perform Hajj and 'Umrah, and they used to circumambulate, and they used to perform many of the rituals they inherited from Ibrahim and Isma'il. So it is a grave error to say that all the Arabs were from the people of the period (ahl al-fatra). Therefore, the Arabs were reached by the call of Ibrahim and Isma'il, and the traces of this call still exist in the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram) to this day. But it is also known that many things of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry entered their religion, and this was apparent even in the Ka'bah, where idols were placed. When the Messenger entered it, he was smashing them with his staff, and every time he smashed an idol, he would say the verse: . But this does not mean that the call did not reach them. We can only say that some of them were reached by the call. The “call” intended here is not detailed; because in reality, the detailed call has not reached today's Muslims in the correct way, except for very few individuals. But what concerns us is the creed of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which is the cause of salvation from eternal abode in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. Is that clear or not?

The questioner : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : So I say that the Arabs, like any other nation, were reached by the call of a Prophet or Messenger. Some of them were reached as it was reached to the Messenger and as the Messenger conveyed it, and some of them deviated; it reached them in a deviated form. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the One who knows who was reached by the call before it deviated from the straight path, and vice versa. But the point is that we do not make sweeping statements and say that the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) were people of the period (ahl al-fatra). For this reason first, and for the many hadiths that indicate that individuals from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) are being punished, such as this hadith for example: . This is proof that the call reached him, otherwise how would he be punished in the Fire if the call had not reached him? And like the hadith where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was with some of his Companions on his mount when he passed by two graves, and the mount was scorching and it shied away. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) looked and saw two graves there, so he asked his Companions when these two died? They said: They died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). So he (peace be upon him) said: . The mount heard the punishment of the grave, so it was scorching. And the Messenger said: Also, for example, that hadith which says:The questioner : Or The questioner: That so-and-so in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance was Hatim al-Tai or someone else, the son of Jad'an, who may have been generous and hospitable, and did much good for orphans and the poor, and so on. Does any of that benefit him, O Messenger of Allah? He said: Therefore, in short, the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance are not people of the period of ignorance; the call of Ibrahim and Isma'il had reached them, and some of their individuals were upon the oneness of Allah, yes.

The questioner : Is it authentic that there were a few individuals, not exceeding six, who knew, like Urwah ibn Nawfal for example, who was upon the smooth Hanifiyyah (monotheism), and he used to look at the sky a lot and murmur, and he did not know how to worship Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). He would say: “If I knew how to worship, I would worship You.” And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) informed about the polytheists that they used to approach the idols to bring them closer to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). They worshipped them to bring them closer to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So they did not know the correct means and the sound creed by which Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is worshipped. Since they worshipped the idols to bring them closer to their Creator, does this not mean that the Hanifiyyah (monotheistic) religion of Christianity has perished and disappeared, and no landmarks of it remain?

The Shaykh : I believe that the answer to such a question has been given before as well; because I placed the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) like today's Muslims. So some of them were reached by the call, so they are responsible and held accountable if they disbelieved in it, and some of them were not reached by the call, so they are not held accountable, and they have a reckoning as you know in the open spaces of the Day of Resurrection. And I also said that some of the Arabs were reached by the call, and I gave as an example the group of Tawhid (the oneness of Allah), who are known. But this does not mean that there were not other individuals who were monotheists. What I mentioned regarding Urwah ibn Nawfal or others, that he used to say he did not know how to worship Allah; this is something I do not know and I do not believe its authenticity. But suppose that is the case, does that mean he was a polytheist? No, he was a monotheist. So tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is the cause of exiting, or at least not being eternally in the Fire. The summary, which you have known, is: . So for every specific person about whom we have an authentic hadith from the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) that he is being punished, it is not permissible for us to imagine that he is from the people of the period (ahl al-fatra). This is the important point in the matter. The call reached him, and therefore the punishment followed for him, praise be to Allah.