What will be the destiny of the parents of the Prophet?

A debatable issue within the Muslim community is in regards to the destiny of the parents of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Some claim they were from amongst a tiny group of people called the Hanifs who practiced a form of monotheism so will be in paradise. Others claim they were polytheists and therefore will be in hell and back this up with evidence from the hadith. But what does the Qur'an actually say on the matter and does it provide a clear answer to this question.

Idol worship

The Qur'an says that Allah "... was not to destroy any town because of its wickedness while its people were unaware" (6:131). Regards to the people of Mecca, the biggest crime they were committing was associating gods with Allah. The Qur'an has categorically stated that "Allah does not forgive that partners be set up with Him, and He forgives other than that for whom He pleases..." (4:48 & 4:116). Allah through His infinite mercy will forgive all sins a person commits and then repents on except for their belief in polytheism.

For a person to die whilst persisting in polytheism, the consequences are extremely dire as Allah says "...whoever sets up partners with Allah, then Allah will restrict paradise from him, and his destiny will be the fire..." (5:72).

The Arabs

The Arabs prior to the revelation were known as the gentiles, meaning a people without knowledge of prior scripture. Allah "... is the One who sent to the gentiles a messenger from among themselves..." (62:2), meaning a messenger without prior scriptural knowledge sent to a people without prior scriptural knowledge. Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was one of those who "...did not know what was the Book, nor what was faith..." (42:52) and as was from among "...those who were unaware" (12:3). Allah sent the Qur'an to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to teach the Arabs "...what you did not know" (2:151, 2:239 and 4:113).

If Allah had not sent Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to the Arabs and by extension to the rest of humanity, they would have come up with the excuse "...the Book was only sent down to two groups before us (Jews & Christians), and we were unaware of their study" (6:156) in addition to saying "...no bearer of good news or warner has come to us..." (5:19). This would have been a very strong claim for them on the day of judgement against any potential punishment.

No punishment without a warner

The Qur'an has stated that " ...We were not to punish until We send a messenger" (17:15). Without the messenger being sent, such people will always have an excuse against any punishment that they may face. The Qur'an makes it clear "...that there will be no excuse for the people with Allah after the messengers..." (4:165), as they will not be able to say "...no bearer of good news or warner has come to us..." (5:19).

Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was "...one of the messengers" (36:3) sent "to warn a people whose fathers were not warned, for they are unaware" (36:6).

Conclusion

The Qur'an has clearly stated that Allah will never punish a person as long as their ignorance was due to the lack of a messenger being sent. History has established that the father of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) passed away before he was born, and his mother passed away in his early childhood; well before the Qur'an was revealed to him.

If Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) did not know anything of the religion before the Qur'an was revealed to him, it is unreasonable to assume his parents were somehow practicing a form of monotheism. Even if both of his parents had been idol worshippers, based on Allah's system they would avoid punishment from Allah. This is simply because they were unaware and Allah never punishes a people until messenger has been sent to them.