(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Amir of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Fiqhi")
Adel Abu Ahmad
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh... Our dear Sheikh and Amir, may Allah protect you from every evil and grant you authority on earth.
We have an understanding that Ahl al-Fatrah (the people of the interval) are saved from the punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection... They are those to whom no Messenger was sent, based on the saying of the Almighty:
وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا
"And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger." (Surah al-Isra [17]: 15)
However, there are noble Hadiths indicating that the Arabs during the Jahiliyyah (ignorance) and before the mission of Muhammad (saw) were disbelievers and that they are in the Fire... In Sahih Muslim: (A man asked the Messenger (saw): "Where is my father?" He said: "Your father is in the Fire." The man became sad. Then the Messenger (saw) said: "My father and your father are in the Fire.") There is more than one piece of evidence regarding this matter...
The question is: How can these two matters be reconciled? May Allah reward you with goodness.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
Your question concerns what was mentioned in The Islamic Personality (Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah), Volume III, under the title "No Ruling Exists Before the Arrival of the Shara'":
"...Things and actions are not permitted to be given a ruling unless there is a Shar'i evidence for that ruling, as there is no ruling for things or for the actions of rational people before the arrival of the Shara' (Divine Law). This is due to the saying of the Almighty:
وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا
"And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger." (Surah al-Isra [17]: 15)
And due to His (swt) saying:
لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ
"So that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the Messengers." (Surah an-Nisa [4]: 165)
And because a ruling is only established by one of two things: either the Shara' or the intellect. As for the intellect, it has no place here, because the issue is one of obligation and prohibition, and the intellect cannot obligate or prohibit; that is not its function, but rather it is the function of the Shara'. Thus, the ruling depends on the Shara'... This means nothing other than the absolute negation of a ruling for the people before Allah sends them a Messenger. From here, the Ahl al-Fatrah are saved. They are those who lived between the loss of a message and the sending of a new message, and their ruling is the ruling of those who were not reached by a message, such as those who lived before the mission of the Messenger Muhammad (saw)..." End quote.
This means that the people who were between the mission of the Messenger (saw) and the mission of the Prophets before him (i.e., Ahl al-Fatrah) are saved because they were not reached by a message, provided they were polytheists or did not follow a message. As for the People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab), they followed a message and then distorted it; they followed a Messenger and were reached by a message, but then they changed it. Therefore, they are not considered part of Ahl al-Fatrah, because Ahl al-Fatrah are those who did not follow the message of a Messenger... Accordingly, the People of the Book are not considered Ahl al-Fatrah... Similarly, the disbelievers of the West today are not considered Ahl al-Fatrah because Islam has reached them. So what about the disbelievers who live among the Muslims? Ahl al-Fatrah are only those who were not reached by the Da'wah (call), and anyone else is not from Ahl al-Fatrah.
As for the Hadiths indicating that the Arabs of the Jahiliyyah who died before the mission of the Messenger (saw) are punished... and how this apparently contradicts the meaning of the noble Ayah that Ahl al-Fatrah are saved... these Hadiths are studied according to the Usool (Principles). If reconciliation (Jam') is possible, then it is adopted. Otherwise, one resort to weighting (Tarjih) or the Hadith is rejected based on Dirayah (textual/rational critique)... Based on this, we review these Hadiths as follows:
A- Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah, from Affan, from Hammad bin Salamah, from Thabit, from Anas:
أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَيْنَ أَبِي؟ قَالَ: فِي النَّارِ. فَلَمَّا قَفَّى دَعَاهُ فَقَالَ: إِنَّ أَبِي وَأَبَاكَ فِي النَّارِ
"A man said: O Messenger of Allah, where is my father? He said: In the Fire. When the man turned away, he called him and said: My father and your father are in the Fire."
B- Ibn Majah narrated in his Sunan from Az-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father (meaning Abdullah bin Umar), who said:
جَاءَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ أَبِي كَانَ يَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ وَكَانَ وَكَانَ فَأَيْنَ هُوَ؟ قَالَ: فِي النَّارِ. قَالَ: فَكَأَنَّهُ وَجَدَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ. فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَأَيْنَ أَبُوكَ؟ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: حَيْثُمَا مَرَرْتَ بِقَبْرِ مُشْرِكٍ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِالنَّارِ
"A Bedouin came to the Prophet (saw) and said: O Messenger of Allah, my father used to maintain the ties of kinship and was like this and that, so where is he? He said: In the Fire. It was as if the man felt distressed by that. He said: O Messenger of Allah, where is your father? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Whenever you pass by the grave of a polytheist, give him the news of the Fire."
Al-Busiri said: "This chain of narration is authentic and its narrators are trustworthy." In Az-Zawa'id, the chain of this Hadith is authentic.
It is stated in As-Sindi’s commentary on Sunan Ibn Majah (1/476, 477) regarding the aforementioned Hadith of Ibn Majah:
"As-Suyuti said: As for the mention of ('My father and your father are in the Fire' in the Hadith of Muslim), it was mentioned by Hammad bin Salamah from Thabit, but Ma'mar contradicted him from Thabit and did not mention it. Instead, he said: 'Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him the news of the Fire.' There is no indication in this wording regarding the state of the (Prophet's) father, and this is more established. Ma'mar is more reliable than Hammad; Hammad’s memory was criticized and some rejected reports (Manakir) appeared in his Hadiths. Al-Bukhari did not narrate from him, nor did Muslim in the Usool except from his narration via Thabit. As for Ma'mar, his memory was not criticized, and none of his Hadiths were considered objectionable, and the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) agreed on narrating from him, so his wording is more established. Then we found that the Hadith was reported from the Hadith of Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas with the same wording as Ma'mar from Thabit from Anas; it was recorded by Al-Bazzar, At-Tabarani, and Al-Bayhaqi. Similarly, from the Hadith of Ibn Umar recorded by Ibn Majah. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on this wording and prioritize it over others. Thus, it is known that Muslim's narration was due to the narrators' paraphrasing according to their understanding... Our Shafi'i and Ash'ari Imams have agreed that whoever has not been reached by the Da'wah will not be punished and will enter Paradise because of His (swt) saying: 'And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger' [Al-Isra: 15]... And Allah knows best." End quote.
C- At-Tabarani narrated in Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir from Az-Zuhri, from 'Amir bin Sa'd, from his father (meaning Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas), who said:
جَاءَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَقَالَ: إِنَّ أَبِي كَانَ يَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ، وَكَانَ وَكَانَ، فَأَيْنَ هُو؟ قَالَ: فِي النَّارِ، فَكَأنَّ الأَعْرَابِيَّ وُجِدَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَأَيْنَ أَبُوكَ؟، قَالَ: حَيْثُ مَا مَرَرْتَ بِقَبْرِ كَافِرٍ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِالنَّارِ
"A Bedouin came to the Prophet (saw) and said: My father used to maintain the ties of kinship, and was like this and that, so where is he? He said: In the Fire. It was as if the Bedouin felt distressed by that, so he said: O Messenger of Allah, where is your father? He said: Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him the news of the Fire."
Al-Haythami said: "Its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih."
By reconciling these evidences, the following becomes clear:
The Ayah indicates that Ahl al-Fatrah are saved and not punished... Therefore, any Hadith that contradicts it is not relied upon if reconciliation is not possible...
Reconciliation is possible as stated by As-Suyuti regarding Muslim's Hadith in As-Sindi’s commentary on Sunan Ibn Majah, that the Messenger (saw) most likely did not answer the questioner with "My father and your father are in the Fire," but rather answered him with "Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him the news of the Fire." This is supported by what appeared in the Hadith of At-Tabarani from Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (ra) and the Hadith of Ibn Majah from Ibn Umar (ra).
In conclusion, the answer regarding the ruling on Ahl al-Fatrah is that they are saved... What I prefer by way of reconciling the evidences is what As-Suyuti said: (As-Suyuti said in the commentary of this book, meaning Sunan Ibn Majah: "This is among the best of answers; that when he found the Bedouin felt distressed, the Prophet (saw) spoke kindly to him and diverted to a general answer regarding every polytheist, and did not address the answer regarding the father of the Messenger (saw) with either negation or affirmation")... This is as in the Hadith of At-Tabarani:
حَيْثُ مَا مَرَرْتَ بِقَبْرِ كَافِرٍ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِالنَّارِ
"Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him the news of the Fire."
And the Hadith of Ibn Majah:
حَيْثُمَا مَرَرْتَ بِقَبْرِ مُشْرِكٍ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِالنَّارِ
"Whenever you pass by the grave of a polytheist, give him the news of the Fire."
Both are authentic Hadiths. This is what I see in reconciling the evidences, with the emphasis that any contradiction between the Ayah and the Hadith, if reconciliation is impossible, then the ruling is that the Hadith is rejected based on Dirayah and the Ayah is relied upon, as is well known in the Usool. And Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
18 Ramadan 1439 AH Corresponding to 03/06/2018 CE
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