Question
What is the most correct opinion regarding the disbelief of the Prophet’s ﷺ parents?
Answer
Say: Regarding the legal status/ruling.
As for the father of the Prophet ﷺ, it is established in an authentic hadith that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, “Where is my father?” The Prophet said, “In the Fire.” Seeing the man looking disturbed as he turned away, the Prophet called him back and said, “Indeed, my father and your father are in the Fire.” Reported by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih.
This is because the Ahl al-Fatrah (the People of the Interregnum, those who died before the mission of the Prophet ﷺ) fall into categories:
Those whom the call reached: This is the apparent case regarding the father of the Prophet ﷺ, hence his statement: “Indeed, my father and your father are in the Fire.”
Examples of this include Ibn Jud’an: He used to have a large bowl with which he fed pilgrims. The Prophet ﷺ was asked: “Does that benefit him?” He said: “It does not benefit him, for he never once said: ‘My Lord, forgive me my sin on the Day of Judgment’“—meaning he did not believe in the Day of Resurrection. Thus, it was reported regarding some of them that they are in the Fire because the proof was established against them.
Some of the Ahl al-Fatrah sought monotheism (Tawhid): They sought the religion of Ibrahim and did not commit polytheism (Shirk), such as Quss ibn Sa’idah al-Iyyadi, Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl, and a group of others. They sought Tawhid and died upon Tawhid, so these did not associate partners with Allah, the Exalted and Majestic.
Another category is passed over in silence: Neither textual evidence for this nor for that has come down regarding them, and scholars differed concerning them. However, the most correct opinion is that which was chosen by Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyyah] and Ibn al-Qayyim: they will be tested on the Day of Resurrection. A neck of fire will emerge for them, and they will be commanded to enter it. Whoever enters it, it will be cool and peaceful for them, and whoever does not enter it has disobeyed Allah—it will become clear that they disobeyed Allah. Hadiths have been reported regarding them, including authentic, weak, and fair hadiths that strengthen one another, indicating that whoever dies without the call having reached them will be tested on the Day of Resurrection.
Similarly, there is the hadith of the deaf person who never heard of Islam, the one lacking intellect, and others. All of these will be tested on the Day of Resurrection.
As for the mother of the Prophet ﷺ, it is established that the Prophet ﷺ visited her grave, wept, and caused those around him to weep, and said: “I asked my permission from my Lord to seek forgiveness for my mother, but He did not permit me. And I asked His permission to visit her grave, and He permitted me.” This was because she died upon the religion of her people, belonging to the Ahl al-Fatrah, and [her matter] is passed over in silence, and Allah knows best.
Thus, the Ahl al-Fatrah are as such: among them are those whom the call reached, and among them are those whom the call did not reach.
There was a thesis in the College of Usul ad-Din in the past, many years ago—I was supervising a Master’s thesis in the College of Usul ad-Din titled: The Ruling on ‘the People of the Interregnum’ (Ahl al-Fatrah). I remember an Iraqi named Muwaffaq wrote it, and I was his supervisor, and he arrived at this conclusion regarding the status of the Ahl al-Fatrah.