The Views on the Fate of the Children of the Polytheists Sumarissed

The ulama differed greatly on the fate of the children of the polytheists who die. Their opinions reached ten main views.

The first view: One must withhold judgment about them, neither affirming Paradise nor the Fire. Their matter is left to Allah. This was supported by the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, in which the Prophet ﷺ said regarding those who die in childhood, “Allah knows best what they would have done.” Similar narrations are reported from Ibn Abbas (d. 68 AH) and Abu Hurayrah (d. 59 AH).

The second view: All children, whether of Muslims or polytheists, are in Paradise. Evidence for this is the hadith, “The Prophet is in Paradise, the martyr is in Paradise, the child is in Paradise, and the one buried alive is in Paradise.” Also cited is the vision of the Prophet ﷺ in which he saw Ibrahim (peace be upon him) surrounded by children in Paradise, including the children of the polytheists.

The third view: Children are with their parents. If their parents are in Paradise, they are in Paradise, and if their parents are in the Fire, they are in the Fire. This is based on the hadith of Aishah in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “They are with their parents.”

The fourth view: The children of Muslims are in Paradise, while the children of the polytheists are left under the Will of Allah. This is the opinion of the majority of the ulama, based on the narrations in which the Prophet ﷺ said about them, “Allah knows best what they would have done.”

The fifth view: All children who die before maturity are in Paradise without distinction. The evidence is the hadith of Samurah ibn Jundub (d. 60 AH) describing the Prophet’s vision of Ibrahim in Paradise surrounded by children, who were explained as every child born upon the fitrah, including the children of the polytheists.

The sixth view: The children of the polytheists are in Paradise, but not as dwellers. They are servants of the people of Paradise. This is based on a narration from Anas ibn Malik (d. 93 AH), though many ulama judged it weak.

The seventh view: The children of the polytheists are in the Fire. This was based on hadiths reported from Salamah ibn Yazid (d. after 41 AH) and from Aishah, in which the Prophet ﷺ was asked about a child of the Jahiliyyah and he said that the mother and the child buried alive are in the Fire unless the mother reached Islam, and also that “the children of the Muslims are in Paradise, the children of the polytheists are in the Fire.” Some scholars explained these narrations as applying only to rulings in this world, not to their ultimate fate in the Hereafter.

The eighth view: Such children, along with others who did not receive the message like the insane, the very old, and those who died in the intervals between prophets, will be tested on the Day of Judgement. A messenger will be sent to them, and if they obey, they will enter Paradise, but if they disobey, they will enter the Fire.

The ninth view: They will be servants of the people of Paradise, while the children of Muslims will be dwellers of Paradise.

The tenth view: They will be in al-A‘raf, the place between Paradise and Hell, until Allah decides their final state.

The Strongest View

From these ten views, the strongest opinion according to the passage is that their matter is left to Allah, and that He alone knows what they would have done if they had lived. This is based on the authentic and established narrations in Bukhari and Muslim, and it is supported by reports from Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah.

Ibn Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH) affirms that this is the soundest view, since the hadith with this wording are sahih and established according to all scholars of transmission.

He further goes on to say that the other narrations which claim certainty about their outcome are either weak in chain or contradicted by these stronger reports. Therefore, the safest and strongest position is to withhold judgment, leaving their case to Allah, who knows best what they would have done.

End of Summary.

Ibn Abul Barr (d.463AH) said: As for the difference of opinion among the scholars regarding children.

A group said: All the children of people, whether believers or disbelievers, if they die as young children who have not reached puberty, then they are under the Will of Allah, He may place them wherever He wills, either in mercy or in punishment, and all of that is justice from Him. And He is the One who knows best what they would have done.

Others said, and they are the majority: The children of the Muslims are in Paradise, and the children of the disbelievers are under the Will of Allah.

Others said: The ruling of children is the same as the ruling of their parents in this life and the Hereafter, they are believers through the faith of their parents, and disbelievers through the disbelief of their parents, so the children of the Muslims are in Paradise and the children of the disbelievers are in the Fire.

Others said: The children of the Muslims and the children of the disbelievers, if they all die as young children, then they are all in Paradise.

Others said: The children of the polytheists will be servants of the people of Paradise.

Others said: They will be tested in the Hereafter.

Each group narrated reports supporting what they said, and they stopped at them and held to them because they believed them to be authentic. We will mention from these reports whatever comes to our mind, with the help of our Lord, who has no partner, and by Allah is all success.

Kitabb At Tamhid by Ibn Abd al Barr (18/96-97).

Reports used as evidence by those who testified that the children of the polytheists enter Paradise, and by those who said they are the servants of the people of Paradise

 ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salam reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Bashar reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar reported to us, he said: ʿAwf reported to us, from Khunasaʾ, a woman from Banu Suraym, from her uncle, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: The Prophet is in Paradise, the martyr is in Paradise, the child is in Paradise, and the one buried alive (al-waʾid) is in Paradise. (This was narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawud. See al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir with the commentary Fayd al-Qadir, 6/166, grading is in the next footnote)

Qasim ibn Muhammad reported to us, he said: Khalid ibn Saʿd reported to us, he said: Ahmad ibn ʿAmr reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Sinjar reported to us, he said: Hawdhah reported to us, he said: ʿAwf reported to us, from Khunasaʾ bint Muʿawiyah, who said: My uncle narrated to me, he said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, who is in Paradise? He said: The Prophet is in Paradise, the martyr is in Paradise, the child is in Paradise, and the one buried alive is in Paradise. (Reported by Imam Ahmad (5/409). Al Albani declared it weak in Da‘if al Jami‘ (5997).

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Mutalib ibn Shuʿayb reported to us, he said: Abu Salih reported to us, he said: Ibn Abi Salamah reported to us, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Yazid al-Ruqashi, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: I asked my Lord concerning the children who play among the offspring of mankind that He would not punish them, and He granted them to me. Abu Umar said: They are called children who play (lahin) because their actions are like play and amusement, without firm intention or resolve, as in their saying: لهيت عن الشيء, meaning I did not intend it, like His saying “لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ” (al-Anbiya: 3).

Al-Hajjaj ibn Nasir narrated, from Mubarak ibn Fudalah, from ʿAli ibn Zayd, from Anas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: The children of the polytheists are the servants of the people of Paradise. (This narration was transmitted via Samurah. However, hadith authorities—most notably al-Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar in al-Fath (3/246)—considered its chain weak.)

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik reported to us, he said: Abu Saʿid ibn al-Aʿrabi reported to us. And Saʿid ibn Nasr reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Wakīʿ reported to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Yazid al-Ruqashi, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The young ones, or he said: the children, are the servants of the people of Paradise.

Al-Bukhari mentioned in the hadith of Abu Rajaʾ al-Mataridi, from Samurah ibn Jundub, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the long hadith of the vision, his saying: As for the tall man who was in the garden, he is Ibrahim, peace be upon him. And as for the children around him, they are every child born upon the fitrah. It was said: O Messenger of Allah, even the children of the polytheists? The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Even the children of the polytheists.

Al-Bukhari also narrated in another wording from Abu Rajaʾ in this hadith: The old man at the base of the tree is Ibrahim, and the children around him are the children of mankind. This outwardly implies, in its generality, all of mankind. And Allah is the One who grants success.

Kitab At Tamhid by Ibn Abd al Barr (18/116-118)

Just to add onto this Shayk Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentions regarding the view that the children of the kuffar, will be servants of the people of Paradise that it has no basis in Majmu Al Fatawa (4/279)

Mention of the reports used as evidence by those who testified that the children of the polytheists are in the Fire

Yaʿish ibn Saʿd reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Ishaq ibn al-Hasan al-Harbi reported to us, he said: Abu ʿUmar al-Hawdi reported to us. Marjiʾ ibn Rajaʾ said: And ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan also reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Bakr ibn Hammad reported to us, he said: Musaddad reported to us, he said: al-Muʿtamir reported to us.

Both said: Dawud reported to us, from ʿAmir al-Shaʿbi, from ʿAlqamah ibn Qays, who said: Salamah ibn Yazid al-Juʿfi reported to us, he said: I came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, along with my brother, and we said: O Messenger of Allah, our mother died in the time of ignorance.

She used to host the guests, keep family ties, and do such and such. Will any of that benefit her? He said: No. We said: Our mother gave birth to a son of ours in the time of ignorance, and he did not reach the age of accountability. Will that benefit our brother? The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Have you not considered the woman who gives birth and the one buried alive? They are in the Fire, except if the mother reaches Islam, then Allah forgives her. (Narrated by Ahmad, 3/178.)

Abu ʿUmar (Ibn Abdul Barr) said: This hadith has no chain stronger and better than this one. A group narrated it from al-Shaʿbi as Dawud narrated it. It was also narrated by Abu Ishaq from ʿAlqamah as al-Shaʿbi narrated it.

The hadith is authentic in terms of chain, except that it is possible that it came out as a reply to the specific questioner regarding a specific case, and the reference was to that. Allah knows best. This is the most appropriate way to interpret this hadith, because of the reports that oppose it. In this way its meaning is valid. Allah is the One from whom help is sought.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Bakr reported to us, he said: Abu Dawud reported to us, he said: Ahmad ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Sarh reported to us, he said: Sufyan reported to us, from al-Zuhri, from ʿUbayd Allah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from al-Saʿb ibn Juthamah, that he asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about the people of the polytheists who are attacked at night and their women and children are struck.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: They are from them. ʿAmr ibn Dinar used to say: They are from their fathers. Al-Zuhri said: Then afterwards the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the killing of women and children. (Al-Tibi rejected this interpretation and said the general wording must be applied, not limited to the reason for revelation. See Fayd al-Qadir on al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir, 6/270, 871. Also see Sunan Abi Dawud, 502. This hadith is agreed upon.)

Abu ʿUmar said: The meaning of this hadith according to the people of knowledge is in the rulings of this world, that they are from their fathers. This is how the hadith is understood.

Therefore, there is no retaliation or blood money upon those who kill them, since they are the children of those for whom there is no blood money if killed, nor retaliation because of their fighting and disbelief. This hadith is not about the rulings of the Hereafter, it is only about rulings in this world. So there is no proof in this hadith, nor in the one before it, for this chapter.

Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid narrated, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-Almani, who said: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Qays say: I heard ʿAʾishah say: I asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about the children of the believers. He said: They are with their parents. I said: Without deeds?

He said: Allah knows best what they would have done. Abu ʿUmar said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Qays was a trustworthy Tabiʿi from Sham. He was narrated from by Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-Almani, Muʿawiyah ibn Salih, and Rashid ibn Saʿd.

As for Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid, he is weak, and most of his hadith are denounced. But this hadith was also narrated from ʿAʾishah as a marfuʿ hadith through other than this route. It can be interpreted the same as the hadith of al-Saʿb ibn Juthamah, that it concerns rulings in this world.

Khalaf ibn Qasim reported to us, he said: Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Jaʿfar al-Zayyat reported to us, he said: Yusuf ibn Yazid reported to us, he said: Hajjaj ibn Ibrahim reported to us, he said: Abu ʿAqil Yahya ibn al-Mutawakkil from Bahiyyah, from ʿAʾishah, who said: I asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: Where are the children of the Muslims? He said: In Paradise, O ʿAʾishah.

She said: I asked him: Where are the children of the polytheists on the Day of Resurrection? He said: In the Fire. She said: So I said to him in response: O Messenger of Allah, they did not reach the age of deeds, and the pens had not yet written upon them. He said: Your Lord knows best what they would have done. By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you wish I could let you hear their crying in the Fire. (Their crying means their wailing and screams.)

Abu ʿUmar said: This Abu ʿAqil, the companion of Bahiyyah, is not relied upon by the people of knowledge of transmission.

Even if this hadith were authentic, it could be understood as specific to a certain group of polytheists, as is indicated by his words: “If you wish I could let you hear their crying in the Fire.” This can only apply to those who have already died and entered the Fire. And this hadith has been opposed by other reports stronger than it. All praise belongs to Allah.

Among what is used as evidence by those who took the apparent meaning of the reports in this chapter are the words of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: “Those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith, We shall join their offspring with them, and We shall not deprive them of anything of their deeds” (al-Tur: 21). And His words to Nuh, peace be upon him: “None of your people will believe except those who have already believed” (Hud: 36).

When it was said to Nuh and he knew they would not believe and would die upon disbelief, he supplicated against them for the destruction of all of them, saying: “My Lord, do not leave on the earth any of the disbelievers dwelling. Indeed if You leave them, they will mislead Your servants, and they will beget none but wicked disbelievers” (Nuh: 26–27). Thus Allah informed that due to their disbelief they will only beget disbelievers. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: They are from their fathers.

Kitab At Tamhid by Ibn Abd al Barr (18/119-123)

Mention of the reports used as evidence by those who held it necessary to withhold from testifying that the children of the polytheists are in Paradise or in the Fire

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salam reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Bashar reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar reported to us, and Shuʿbah also reported to us, from Abu Bishr, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he was asked about the children of the polytheists, and he said: Allah knows best, when He created them, what they would have done.

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Bakr ibn Hammad reported to us, he said: Musaddad reported to us, he said: Abu ʿAwanah reported to us, from Abu Bishr, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the children of the polytheists. He said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

And Abu ʿAwanah narrated from Hilal ibn Hubab, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the same. And Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, just as Ibn ʿAbbas narrated from him.

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Abu al-Zanbaʿ Ruh ibn al-Faraj reported to us, he said: Saʿid ibn ʿUfayr reported to us, he said: al-Layth reported to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khalid ibn Musafir reported to us, from Ibn Shihab, from ʿAtaʾ ibn Yazid al-Laythi, that Abu Hurayrah said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the offspring of the polytheists, and he said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

This was also narrated by Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, Ibn Abi Dhiʾb, and Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri, with this chain, with the same wording. And Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah also narrated from Abu al-Zinad, from al-Aʿraj, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he was asked about the children of the polytheists, and he said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan reported to us, he said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Bakr ibn Abi Hammad reported to us, he said: Musaddad reported to us. And ʿAbd al-Warith also reported to us, he said: Qasim reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salam reported to us, he said:

Muhammad ibn Bashar reported to us. They both said: Yahya ibn Saʿid reported to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, from Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he was asked about the children of the polytheists, and he said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

And in the narration of Musaddad with this chain, from Abu Hurayrah, he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the children, and he said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

ʿAmmar narrated, and Ismaʿil ibn ʿUlayyah narrated from Khalid al-Haddaʾ, the freedman of Banu Hashim, that Ibn ʿAbbas said: I used to say regarding the children of the polytheists: They are with their fathers, until a man narrated to me from one of the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: Their Lord knows best about them. He created them, and He knows best about them and what they would have done.

Abu ʿUmar said: The hadiths of this chapter, in terms of chain of transmission, are sound and established according to all the scholars of transmission. And Allah is the One who grants success to what is correct.

Kitab At Tamhid by Ibn Abd al Barr (18/124-126)

Sharh of the hadith from Ibn Hajar

In the hadith of Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayrah: he was asked about the children of the polytheists. I did not come across in any of the chains the name of the one who asked, but in the Musnad of Ahmad (24545) and in Abu Dawud (4712) there is a narration from Aishah that suggests she may have been the one who asked.

They both transmitted through the chain of Abdullah ibn Abi Qays from her. She said: I said, O Messenger of Allah, what about the offspring of the polytheists? He said: They are with their parents. I said: O Messenger of Allah, without any deeds? He said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

This is the hadith. Ibn Abd al-Barr transmitted through the chain of Abu Muadh from al-Zuhri from Urwah from Aishah. She said: Khadijah asked the Prophet about the children of the polytheists, and he said: They are with their parents.

Then she asked him after that, and he said: Allah knows best what they would have done. Then she asked him after Islam had become firmly established, and the verse was revealed, “And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another” (al-Anam: 164). He said: They are upon the fitrah or he said: in Paradise. Abu Muadh is Sulayman ibn Arqam, and he is weak. If this narration were authentic, it would cut off the dispute and remove much of the earlier difficulty.

His saying, Allah knows best, Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH) explained its meaning as: what they would have done, that is, if He had allowed them to live. So do not pass judgment on them with anything.

Others said it means: He knew that they would not do anything, nor would they return and act, or that He informed of His knowledge of something that, if it existed, how it would be, as in His saying, “And if they were returned, they would go back to what they were forbidden” (al-Anam: 28). However, it was not mentioned that they would be judged in the Hereafter for that, because the servant is not recompensed for what he did not do.

Note: Ibn Abbas did not hear this hadith directly from the Prophet. Ahmad clarified this (20697 and 23484) through the chain of Ammar ibn Abi Ammar from Ibn Abbas. He said: I used to say about the children of the polytheists that they are with them, until a man narrated to me from a man among the companions of the Prophet.

I met him and he narrated to me from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: Their Lord knows best about them. He created them, and He knows best what they would have done. So I stopped saying what I used to say. This also nullifies the first opinion that we mentioned.

As for the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, it is part of the second hadith of the chapter. It will come under the section of Qadr (6599) through the chain of Hammam from Abu Hurayrah. At the end of it, they said: O Messenger of Allah, what about one who dies while still a child? He said: Allah knows best what they would have done.

Imam Muslim also narrated it (23/2658) through the chain of Abu Salih from Abu Hurayrah with the wording: A man said, O Messenger of Allah, what if he died before that? And Abu Dawud (4714) transmitted through Malik from Abu al-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayrah something similar to the narration of Hammam.

Abu Dawud also transmitted after that (4715) from Ibn Wahb who said: I heard Malik, and he was asked: The people of desires use this hadith as evidence against us, meaning his saying, So his parents make him a Jew or a Christian. Malik said: Argue against them with the ending of the hadith, Allah knows best what they would have done. The point of this is that the people of Qadr used it as evidence to claim that Allah decreed the servants upon Islam and that He does not misguide anyone, but rather the disbeliever is only misled by his parents.

Imam Malik pointed to refuting them with the saying, Allah knows best, which indicates that He knows what they will end up with after being brought into existence upon the fitrah. This is evidence for the precedence of Allah’s knowledge, which the extremists among them deny. And for this reason al-Shafii (d. 204 AH) said: If the people of Qadr affirm Allah’s knowledge, they are refuted.

Fatḥ al-Bārī By Ibn Hajar (4/778-779)

Mention of the reports used as evidence by those who held it necessary that the children of the polytheists will be tested and examined in the Hereafter

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿUbayd ibn Muhammad reported to us, they said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Masrur reported to us, he said: ʿIsa ibn Miskin reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn Sinjar reported to us, he said: Saʿid ibn Sulayman reported to us, from Fudayl ibn Marzuq, from ʿAtiyyah, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said about the one who perished during the interval between prophets, the mentally incapable, and the child:

The one who perished during the interval will say: No book came to me and no messenger. Then he recited: “If We had destroyed them with a punishment before it, they would have said, Our Lord, why did You not send to us a messenger” (Ta Ha: 134) to the end of the verse. The mentally incapable will say: My Lord, You did not give me intellect by which I could understand good or evil. The child will say: My Lord, I did not reach the age of action.

Then a fire will be raised for them, and it will be said: Enter it. Whoever Allah knows would have been happy if he had reached action will enter it, and whoever Allah knows would have been wretched if he had reached action will refrain. Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic will say: You disobeyed Me, so how would you have responded to My messengers if they had come to you?

Abu ʿUmar said: Some people stop this hadith at Abu Saʿid and do not raise it, among them Abu Nuʿaym al-Malabi.

ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan and Saʿid ibn Nasr reported to us, they said: Qasim ibn Asbagh reported to us, he said: Musa ibn Muʿawiyah reported to us. And ʿAbd al-Warith ibn Sufyan also reported to us, from Saʿid ibn Nasr, from Qasim ibn Asbagh, from Ahmad ibn Zuhayr, from his father, both said: Jarir reported to us, from Layth, from ʿAbd al-Warith, from Anas, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Four will be brought on the Day of Resurrection: the child, the mentally incapable, the one who died during the interval, and the decrepit old man. Each of them will speak with his argument. The Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will say to a neck of Hellfire: Come forth. Then He will say to them: I used to send to My servants messengers from among themselves, and now I am My own messenger to you. He will say to them: Enter this.

The one for whom wretchedness was decreed will say: O Lord, shall we enter it, when we used to flee from it? As for the one for whom happiness was decreed, he will proceed and throw himself into it. The Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will say:

You have seen Me and yet disobeyed Me, so you would be even more disbelieving and disobedient towards My messengers. Then these will enter Paradise, and those will enter the Fire. (Ibn Kathīr said in Tafsīr (3/29–31): «وله شواهد كثيرة… وهذا القول يجمع بين الأدلة كلها، وقد صرحت به الأحاديث المتقدمة المتعاضدة الشاهد بعضها لبعض». “It has many supporting reports… This opinion reconciles all of the evidences, and the earlier narrations support and strengthen each other.

Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi reported to us, he said: Abu Bakr ibn Zanjuyah reported to us, he said: Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak al-Suri reported to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Waqid reported to us, from Yunus ibn Hulayṣ, from Abu Idris, from Muʿadh ibn Jabal, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

On the Day of Resurrection, the one born deformed or without intellect, the one who perished in the interval, and the one who died small will be brought. The one without intellect will say: O Lord, if You had given me intellect, none who was given intellect would have been more fortunate with it than me.

The one who perished in the interval will say: O Lord, if You had sent me a covenant, none who was given a covenant would have been more fortunate with it than me. The one who died small will say: O Lord, if You had given me a lifespan, none who was given a lifespan would have been more fortunate with it than me. The Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will say: I command you with a command, will you obey Me? They will say: Yes, by Your might, O Lord. He will say: Go, enter the Fire. Had they entered it, it would not have harmed them.

Then huge creatures will come out to them, and they will think that they have destroyed all that Allah created, so they will return quickly and say: O Lord, by Your might, we intended to enter it, but these creatures came out to us, and we thought they had destroyed everything. Then He will command them a second time, and they will return as before, saying the same.

Then the Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will say: Before I created you, I knew what you would do. Upon My knowledge I created you, and to My knowledge you will return. Then the Fire will take them. (The word qawanis refers to huge beings or creatures. They thought they had destroyed all of creation.)

Abu ʿUmar said: This meaning has also been narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the hadith of al-Aswad ibn Sariʿ, Abu Hurayrah, and Thawban, with authentic chains from the chains of the early shuyukh, except for what ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated, from Maʿmar, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, as a mawquf report not raised, but with the same meaning we have mentioned.

In none of these is there mention of the child, rather they mention four who each present their argument on the Day of Resurrection: a deaf mute, a fool, one who died during the interval, and a decrepit old man. Since the child is not mentioned in them, I did not include them in this chapter.

The summary regarding all the hadiths of this chapter, those I have mentioned and those I have not, is that they are from the hadiths of the shuyukh, and they contain flaws, and they are not from the hadiths of the imams of fiqh. It is a great foundational issue, and to make a definitive ruling upon it with these hadiths is weakness in knowledge and understanding, especially since they are opposed by reports stronger than them. Allah knows best. And Allah is the One who grants success to what is correct.

Kitab At Tamhid by Ibn Abd al Barr (18/127-130)

Ibn Taymiyyah says: As for those upon whom the proof of the message has not been established in this world, such as children, the insane, and the people of intervals between prophets, then regarding them there are different views.

The strongest of them is what has come in the reports, that they will be tested on the Day of Judgement. Allah will send to them one who commands them with His obedience. If they obey, they will deserve reward, and if they disobey, they will deserve punishment.

Jawab Al Sahih (2/298)

Ibn Al Qayyim On The 10 Views Regarding The Fate Of The  Children of The Polytheists

As for the children of the polytheists, the scholars differed concerning them into ten views. We will mention the evidences for each view, and we will clarify what is stronger and what is weaker, by the help, power, and success granted by Allah.

The first view: Withholding judgment concerning them.

We do not testify for them either to Paradise or to the Fire, and we leave their matter to Allah. This may be referred to as the view of withholding, and it may also be referred to as the view of being under the Will, that they are under the Will of Allah, He will judge concerning them as He wills, and none knows what His ruling upon them is.

Those who held this view used as proof a number of evidences. Among them: what is narrated in the two Sahihs from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There is no newborn except that he is born upon the fitrah.

Then his parents make him a Jew or a Christian, just as livestock give birth to an intact animal. Do you perceive among them one born mutilated?” They said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the one who dies while still small? He said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.”

Among them also: what is in the two Sahihs from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the children of the polytheists, and he said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.” These hadiths were mentioned previously.

And in the Sahih of Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban, from the hadith of Jarir ibn Hazim, he said: I heard Abu Rajaʾ al-ʿAtaridi say: I heard Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, saying on the pulpit: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “This ummah will continue in harmony, or close to harmony, as long as they do not speak concerning the children and concerning Qadar.” Abu Hatim said: By “children” he meant the children of the polytheists. (Narrated in Ibn Hibban, hadith 6724. Also narrated by al-Hakim 1/33, al-Tabarani in al-Kabir 12764 and al-Awsat 289, and al-Bazzar 2180 through the route of Jarir ibn Hazim with the same wording. Al-Hakim said: This hadith is authentic according to the condition of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and we do not know any flaw in it. Al-Dhahabi agreed with him. Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid 7/200: It was narrated by al-Bazzar, al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat, and the narrators of al-Bazzar are narrators of the Sahih.

Jarir ibn Hazim al-Azdi was trustworthy, narrated by the authors of the Sunan, though he experienced confusion, but he did not narrate after his confusion, as is said in al-Taqrib. Abu Rajaʾ al-ʿAtaridi, his name was ʿImran ibn Milhan, known by his kunyah, was a trustworthy early narrator, narrated by the authors of the Sunan as is said in al-Taqrib. Al-Bazzar said after it: A group narrated it and stopped it at Ibn Abbas. It was also narrated by ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad in al-Sunnah 703 and by Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr in al-Tamhid 18/131.)

As for using this hadith as evidence for withholding, there is room for consideration. For the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not answer by withholding concerning them, rather he referred the knowledge of what they would have done if they had lived to Allah.

The meaning is: Allah knows what they would have done if they had lived. He knows who among them was receptive to guidance and would act by it if he had lived, and who among them was receptive to disbelief and would prefer it if he had lived. But this does not mean that Allah punishes them merely because of His knowledge of them without deeds. Rather it means that He knows who would believe and who would disbelieve if life had been decreed for them.

And in the Sahih of Abu ʿAwanah al-Isfarayini, from Hilal ibn Khabbab, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was in one of his battles.

A man asked him: What do you say about the children? He was silent. When he returned from the battle of al-Taʾif, he saw a child digging in the earth, so he ordered the caller to call out: Where is the one who asked about the children? The man came, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the killing of children, and said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.” (Abu ʿAwanah was Yaʿqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Isfarayini, the imam, the hadith master, prolific in narration. His book al-Sahih was an extraction upon Sahih Muslim. Parts one, two, four, and five have been printed, the third is missing, and the book has not been completed, as in Muʿjam al-Musannafat 266–267. From his route, al-Tabarani also narrated it in al-Kabir 11906 and al-Awsat 286, and al-Bazzar 2173 from Hilal ibn Khabbab with the same wording.

Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid 7/221: Narrated by al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. In it is Hilal ibn Khabbab, and he is trustworthy, though there was some dispute about him. The rest of its narrators are from the Sahih. Hilal ibn Khabbab al-ʿAbdi, Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Basri, there was some difference about him. Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: He was truthful but his memory changed towards the end of his life. He is marked as one narrated by the authors of the Sunan. His hadith does not fall below the level of hasan unless contradicted. Here he was followed in the main wording of the hadith as has been mentioned. ʿIkrimah Abu ʿAbd Allah, the freedman of Ibn Abbas, was trustworthy, firm, and a scholar of tafsir, as has been mentioned repeatedly.)

The “children” here are those who had not committed sin, or those who had not deliberately committed sin, but only did so forgetfully or in error, as in the Arabic language lahawtu ʿan al-shayʾ, meaning I did not intend it, like His saying: “their hearts are distracted” (al-Anbiya: 3).

So his saying, “Allah knows best what they would have done,” immediately after forbidding their killing, clarifies the meaning, that Allah knows what they would have done if they had lived, but you do not know. Perhaps one of them, if he had lived, would have obeyed Allah and become a Muslim. This is one possible meaning of his answer, peace and blessings be upon him.

The second meaning is that it was an answer to them when he informed them that they are with their fathers. They said: Without deeds? He said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.” As in the Sunan, from the hadith of ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, the offspring of the believers?

He said: They are with their fathers. I said: O Messenger of Allah, without deeds? He said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.” I said: O Messenger of Allah, and the offspring of the polytheists? He said: They are with their fathers. I said: O Messenger of Allah, without deeds? He said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.”

In this hadith is evidence that those who are joined with their fathers are those whom Allah knew that, had they lived, they would have chosen disbelief and acted upon it. These are with their fathers. It does not mean that every child is with his father in the Fire. For the speech here, question and answer, is concerning the general group. His saying, “Allah knows best what they would have done,” indicates that they differ in following their fathers according to how they differ in what Allah knows about them.

It could be said: The hadith indicates that they are joined with their fathers without deeds. This is why ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, understood this and said: Without deeds? He affirmed her and said: “Allah knows best what they would have done.” The answer to this is that the hadith indicates that they are joined with their fathers without deeds in the rulings of this world, which is what ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, understood.

But this does not prevent them from being joined with them in the Hereafter by other causes, such as their being tested on the plains of the Resurrection, as will be mentioned if Allah wills. At that point they would be with their fathers, without having done deeds in this world.

And the Mother of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with her, only found it problematic that they would be joined with their fathers without deeds, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, answered her that Allah knows what they would have done. He did not tell her that they would be punished merely due to His knowledge of them. This is clear, praise be to Allah.

As for the hadith of Abu Rajaʾ al-ʿAtaridi from Ibn Abbas, there is a problem with raising it, and most people narrated it as stopped upon Ibn Abbas, and this is the closer. Ibn Hibban often raises in his book that which the hadith masters know to be stopped, as when he raised the saying of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, “Every instance of the word qanut in the Quran means obedience.” This is not the speech of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and at most it is the speech of Ubayy. (The hadith of Ibn Abbas was mentioned earlier in this section, and we clarified there that it was narrated both marfuʿ and mawquf. As for Ibn al-Qayyim’s weakening of the marfuʿ report by saying that Ibn Hibban often raises in his book what the hadith masters know to be mawquf, the reply is that Ibn Hibban was not alone in raising it, for al-Hakim also raised it and authenticated it, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him, as did al-Tabarani and al-Bazzar.

Al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid also raised it and authenticated it. Therefore there is no room to weaken the marfuʿ narration. It is authentic and established. As for the hadith Ibn Hibban mentioned about qanut, he did not narrate it from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, rather he narrated it from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, as a marfuʿ hadith.)

And even if the hadith is authentic, it only indicates blame for speaking about them without knowledge, or for striking the texts against one another, as those who engage in disputation and debate without depth of understanding do. They have not reached the essence of knowledge, but are only at its fringes. The calamity of the ummah is often from this type, and they are the majority of people. By Allah is all success. (This last statement of Ibn al-Qayyim was directed to the people of his time who spoke about the revealed texts without knowledge. As for those of our time, who are many, no words fit them better than the words of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “Allah does not seize knowledge by taking it away from the people, but He seizes knowledge by taking the scholars. When no scholar remains, the people will take ignorant leaders, who will be asked, and they will give fatwas without knowledge. So they go astray and lead others astray.” Narrated by al-Bukhari 1/130, 13/282, 19/194, and by Muslim 1/223–224, from the hadith of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, may Allah be pleased with them both.)

Aḥkām ahl al-dhimmah​ by Ibn Al Qayyim Pages 108-1092