A scholar has claimed that the holy Prophet’s parents are in Hell, because they were not Muslims. I need a clarification on the matter. He claimed that the Prophet Mohammad (sws) had once told a Muslim who had non-Muslim parents that his parents were in Hell. He got upset and the prophet clarified that his parents were with the Prophet’s parents, in Hell.

Now, I think that all those who were not introduced to the Holy Prophet should not be in Hell, because they existed before the revelation of Qur’ān or the advent of the Prophet (sws). I am sure that the Prophet’s parents followed Abraham’s religion which was also the predecessor of Islam in Arabia. Please, elaborate and comment with reference to the Qur’ān and Sunnah.

Your opinion in this regard is justified. Every person is held accountable only for the guidance provided to him. A person living in an era before the Prophet (sws) should certainly be judged according to the guidance provided to him that is innate guidance and what was left of Abraham’s religion. Even if after the departure of the Prophet (sws), the message of Islam did not reach a person at all or reached him in distorted form and that person in spite of exercising full sincerity was not convinced of the truth of the message, and therefore stuck to his faith and acted according to the guidance provided to him (innate guidance regarding moralities), he would not be punished in Hell; rather he would be rewarded for following the guidance provided.

Consequently, we cannot and should not judge the fate of the Prophet’s parents or of any other human being.