that no funeral prayer is offered for him, he is not buried in Muslim cemeteries, Muslims do not inherit from him, such children may be enslaved, and so forth—no one may therefore invoke this hadith to argue that children are subject to the rulings applicable to believers in this world until they can speak for themselves. This is correct.

However, he thought that the hadith required applying the worldly rulings governing believers to these children. He therefore said that this had been abrogated and had applied before jihad, since jihad made it permissible to enslave women and children, whereas a believer may not be enslaved. Yet a child’s following his father’s religion in worldly rulings has always been prescribed, and children have always followed their parents in worldly matters.

The hadith was not intended to explain these rulings, but rather the natural disposition upon which a child is born.

When it is said that a child is born upon the natural disposition of Islam, or is created inclined to pure monotheism, or something similar, this does not mean that he knows this religion and desires it as soon as he emerges from his mother’s womb. For Allah Most High says:

“Allah brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing.”

Rather, his natural disposition inherently calls for and necessitates the religion of Islam—knowing it and loving it. The natural disposition itself entails acknowledging his Creator, loving Him, and devoting religion sincerely to Him. What this disposition necessitates and entails develops gradually as it matures, provided it remains free of opposing influences.