Explanation of the Hadith: “Indeed, my father and your father are in the Fire”

Question:
A message arrived from listener 'Abd al-Rahim Ahmad Hamidan, a member of the Egyptian educational mission in northern Yemen. Our brother says: I heard this hadith from one of the distinguished scholars, and we ask about its authenticity. If it is authentic, who is the father of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in the hadith? And why does this description apply to him? The text of the hadith is: “A Jew came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him: ‘O Muhammad! Where is my father?’ — and the Jew’s father had died — so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: When the Jew’s face changed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: ?

Answer:
This hadith is authentic and established in Sahih Muslim from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “That a man came to him and asked him — and it is not stated in the hadith that he was a Jew, but rather a person asked him, and it appears that he was one of the Muslims whose fathers died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, or after the call, but he did not embrace Islam — so he asked him: ‘Where is my father?’ He said: When he saw the change in his face, he said: .
He informs him that the matter is not specific to your father, but rather everyone who died upon the pre-Islamic age of ignorance is among the people of the Fire; because he died upon disbelief in Allah, except for one who is established as being among the people of the period of ignorance (al-fatra), to whom the message or the call did not reach. In that case, his affair is left to Allah. However, his ruling in this world is the ruling of the disbelievers — the ruling of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance: he is not washed, and no funeral prayer is offered for him; it is the ruling of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. But if, in reality, the call or the message did not reach him, then he has the ruling of the people of the period of ignorance: they will be tested on the Day of Resurrection, according to the correct view. So whoever obeys will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter the Fire.
So the conclusion is: it is an authentic hadith, but as far as I know, it does not state that the questioner was a Jew. Rather, he was one of the Muslims whose fathers died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, or after the emergence of Islam, but he did not embrace Islam. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: “Indeed, your father is in the Fire” — then he clarified to him by saying: — Because the father of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was carried in the womb and was not born after that. It is said that he was born, but he was very young. The well-known view is that he died while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was in the womb. Then his mother died while he was young — (peace and blessings be upon him) — at the age of five or six years.
So the conclusion is: his father died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and likewise his mother died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance; for this reason he said regarding his father: .
And the reason for that — and Allah knows best — is that the call to the religion of Ibrahim reached him, so he was judged to be in the Fire. As for the mother, it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he sought permission from his Lord to seek forgiveness for her, but He did not permit him to seek forgiveness for her. This indicates that one does not seek forgiveness for one who died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and he has the ruling of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance: one does not seek forgiveness for him, and he is threatened with the Fire, except for one who is established as being among the people of the period of ignorance, for whom Allah knows that he is among the people of the period of ignorance to whom the message, the call, or knowledge did not reach. In that case, according to the correct view, he will be tested on the Day of Resurrection. If he responds to what he is commanded, he will enter Paradise, and if he disobeys, he will enter the Fire. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.