Surah Al-Isra · 17:15

No One will have to bear the Sins of Another

Allah tells us that whoever is guided and follows the truth, walking in the footsteps of the Prophet , he will gain the good consequences of that for himself.

وَمَن ضَلَّ

(And whoever goes astray,) meaning from the truth, deviating from the way of guidance, he is wronging himself and will have to bear the consequences. Then Allah says:

وَلاَ تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى

(No one laden with burdens can bear another's burden.) no one will have to bear the sins of another, and he does not wrong anyone besides himself, as Allah says:

وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَى حِمْلِهَا لاَ يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ

(and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, nothing of it will be lifted) 35:15 There is no contradiction between this and other Ayat:

وَلَيَحْمِلُنَّ أَثْقَالَهُمْ وَأَثْقَالاً مَّعَ أَثْقَالِهِمْ

(And verily, they shall bear their own loads, and other loads besides their own.) 29:13 and:

وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ

(and also of the burdens of those whom they misled without knowledge.) 16:25 For those who called others to do evil will bear the sin of their own deviation as well as the sin of those whom they led astray, without detracting the least amount from the burden of those people, and none of this burden shall be removed from them. This is the justice and mercy of Allah towards His servants. As Allah says:

وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولاً

(And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning).)

No Punishment until a Messenger has been sent

Allah tells us that out of His justice, He does not punish anyone until He has established proof against him by sending a Messenger to him, as He says:

تَكَادُ تَمَيَّزُ مِنَ الغَيْظِ كُلَّمَا أُلْقِىَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَآ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَذِيرٌ - قَالُواْ بَلَى قَدْ جَآءَنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ فِى ضَلَـلٍ كَبِيرٍ

(Every time a group is cast therein, its keeper will ask: "Did no warner come to you" They will say: "Yes, indeed a warner did come to us, but we belied him and said: `Allah never sent down anything (of revelation); you are only in great error."') (67:8-9) And,

وَسِيقَ الَّذِينَ كَـفَرُواْ إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ زُمَراً حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءُوهَا فُتِحَتْ أَبْوَبُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَآ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكُمْ وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَـآءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَـذَا قَالُواْ بَلَى وَلَـكِنْ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَةُ الْعَذَابِ عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ

(And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, till, when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened. And its keepers will say, "Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves - reciting to you the verses of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours" They will say: "Yes," but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!) (39:71) And,

وَهُمْ يَصْطَرِخُونَ فِيهَا رَبَّنَآ أَخْرِجْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَـلِحاً غَيْرَ الَّذِى كُـنَّا نَعْمَلُ أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُمْ مَّا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَن تَذَكَّرَ وَجَآءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ فَذُوقُواْ فَمَا لِلظَّـلِمِينَ مِن نَّصِيرٍ

(Therein they will cry: "Our Lord! Bring us out, we shall do righteous good deeds, not (the evil deeds) that we used to do." (Allah will reply:) "Did We not give you lives long enough, so that whosoever would receive admonition could receive it And the warner came to you. So taste you (the evil of your deeds). For the wrongdoers there is no helper.") (35:37) There are other Ayat which indicate that Allah will not make anyone enter Hell except after sending a Messenger to them.

The Issue of Small Children who die

Here there arises an issue over which the scholars in earlier and modern times have disagreed, may Allah have mercy on them. This is the issue of children who die when they are little, and their parents are disbelievers: what happens to them By the same token, what happens to the insane, the deaf, the senile and those who die during the circumstances of Fatrah, when no Message reached them Several Hadiths have been narrated on this topic, which I will quote here by the help and support of Allah. The First Hadith from Al-Aswad bin Sar ®299؛ Imam Ahmad reported from Al-Aswad bin Sari' that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«أَرْبَعَةٌ يَحْتَجُّونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ: رَجُلٌ أَصَمُّ لَا يَسْمَعُ شَيْئًا، وَرَجُلٌ أَحْمَقُ، وَرَجُلٌ هَرِمٌ، وَرَجُلٌ مَاتَ فِي فَتْرَةٍ، فَأَمَّا الْأَصَمُّ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ قَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَمَا أَسْمَعُ شَيْئًا، وَأَمَّا الْأَحْمَقُ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ قَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَالصِّبْيَانُ يَحْذِفُونِي بِالْبَعْرِ، وَأَمَّا الْهَرِمُ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ لَقَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَمَا أَعْقِلُ شَيْئًا، وَأَمَّا الَّذِي مَاتَ فِي الْفَتْرَةِ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ مَا أَتَانِي لَكَ رَسُولٌ. فَيَأْخُذُ مَوَاثِيقَهُمْ لِيُطِيعَنَّهُ، فَيُرْسِلُ إِلَيْهِمْ أَنِ ادْخُلُوا النَّارَ، فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ، لَوْ دَخَلُوهَا لَكَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا»

(There are four who will present their case on the Day of Resurrection: a deaf man who never heard anything, an insane man, a very old and senile man, and a man who died during the Fatrah. As for the deaf man, he will say, "O Lord, Islam came but I never heard anything." As for the insane man, he will say, "O Lord, Islam came and the young boys were throwing camel dung at me." As for the senile man, he will say, "O Lord, Islam came and I did not understand anything." As for the one who died during the Fatrah, he will say, "O Lord, no Messenger from You came to me." Allah will accept their pledge of obedience to Him, then He will send word to them that they should enter the Fire. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, if they enter it, it will be cool and safe for them.) There is a similar report with a chain from Qatadah from Al-Hasan from Abu Rafi` from Abu Hurayrah, but at the end it says:

«فَمَنْ دَخَلَهَا كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِ بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَدْخُلْهَا يُسْحَبُ إِلَيْهَا»

(Whoever enters it will find it cool and safe, and whoever does not enter it will be dragged into it.) This was also recorded by Ishaq bin Rahwayh from Mu`adh bin Hisham, and by Al-Bayhaqi in Al-I`tiqad. He said: "This is a Sahih chain." It was reported by Ibn Jarir from the Hadith of Ma`mar from Hammam from Abu Hurayrah, who attributed it to the Prophet . Then Abu Hurayrah said: "Recite, if you wish:

وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولاً

(And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning))." This was also narrated by Ma`mar from `Abdullah bin Tawus from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, but it is Mauquf (it was not attributed directly to the Prophet ).

The Second Hadith from Abu Hurayrah

He said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ، كَمَا تُنْتِجُ الْبَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ، هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاءَ؟»

(Every newborn is born in a state of Fitrah (the natural state of man), then his parents make him into a Jew or Christian or Zoroastrian, as animals produce whole animals - do you see any that is born mutilated (with something missing)) According to one report they said: "O Messenger of Allah, what about those who die when they are little" He said,

«اللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا كَانُوا عَامِلِين»

(Allah knows best what they would have done.) Imam Ahmad reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet () as far as I know - the narrator was not sure if it was attributed to Musa - said:

«ذَرَارِيُّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ يَكْفُلُهُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام»

(The children of the Muslims are in Paradise, being taken care of by Ibrahim.) In Sahih Muslim it is reported from `Iyyad bin Hammad that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah said:

«إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاء»

(I have created My servants as Hunafa.) According to another version, the wording is "as Muslims."

The Third Hadith from Samurah

In his book Al-Mustakhraj `Ala Al-Bukhari, Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Al-Barqani recorded the Hadith of `Awf Al-A`rabi, from Abu Raja' Al-`Utardi from Samurah that the Prophet said:

«كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَة»

(Every newborn is born in a state of Fitrah.) The people called out to him: "O Messenger of Allah! What about the children of the idolators" He said,

«وَأَوْلَادُ الْمُشْرِكِين»

(And the children of the idolators too.) At-Tabarani reported that Samurah said: "We asked the Messenger of Allah about the children of the idolators, and he said,

«هُمْ خَدَمُ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّة»

(They are the servants of the people of Paradise.)

The Fourth Hadith from the Paternal Uncle of Hasna

Ahmad reported that Hasna' bint Mu`awiyah, from Bani Suraym, said that his paternal uncle said to him: "I said, `O Messenger of Allah, who is in Paradise' He said,

«النَّبِيُّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، وَالشَّهِيدُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، وَالْمَوْلُودُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، وَالْوَئِيدُ فِي الْجَنَّة»

(Prophets are in Paradise, martyrs are in Paradise, infants are in Paradise and baby girls who were buried alive are in Paradise.)

It is Makruh to discuss this Matter

In order to discuss this issue we need good, sound proof, but people who have no knowledge of Shari`ah may try to speak about it. For this reason some of the scholars did not like to discuss it. This view has been narrated from Ibn `Abbas, Al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr As-Siddiq, Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyyah and others. Ibn Hibban recorded in his Sahih that Jarir bin Hazim said: I heard Abu Raja' Al-`Utardi saying that he heard Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) saying, "While he was on the Minbar, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«لَا يَزَالُ أَمْرُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ مُوَاتِيًا أَوْ مُقَارِبَا مَا لَمْ يَتَكَلَّمُوا فِي الْوِلْدَانِ وَالْقَدَر»

(This Ummah will be fine so long as they do not talk about children and the divine decree.)" Ibn Hibban said: "This means talking about the children of the idolators." Abu Bakr Al-Bazzar also recorded it via Jarir bin Hazim, then he said, "A group narrated it from Abu Raja' from Ibn `Abbas, but it is Mauquf".