The truly fortunate are named only among the four communities, for none of the Magians or the idolaters believe in God and the Last Day or perform righteous deeds; they are, all of them, disbelievers.

The Qur’an makes plain that the blessed are those who follow the messengers—perfection is reached only by such felicity—while the wretched are those who oppose them. God punishes in the Hereafter only those who reject the messengers, as He, exalted is He, says:

“We never punish until We have sent a messenger.”
(Sūrat al-Isrāʾ 17:15)

He also says:

“Whenever a host is cast into it, its keepers will ask them, ‘Did no warner come to you?’ They will answer, ‘Indeed, a warner did come to us, but we denied him and said, “God has sent down nothing; you are only in gross error.”’”
(Sūrat al-Mulk 67:8–9)

—and the like of these texts.

The Almighty further said to Iblīs:

“I will surely fill Hell with you and with all who follow you.”
(Sūrat Ṣād 38:85)

He swore that Hell would be filled with Iblīs and his followers, which indicates that none shall enter it except those who follow Satan; for if others were to enter, Hell would be filled by both groups, contradicting the explicit wording.

Thus, when people disputed about the fate of the children of the unbelievers—one faction insisting that they are all in Hell and another that they are all in Paradise—the correct position, attested by sound hadiths and adopted by Ahl al-Sunnah, is that no blanket judgment is passed for all of them, neither Paradise nor Hell. Instead, one should say of them what the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Every child is born upon the fitrah; then his parents make him a Jew, a Magian, or a Christian, just as an animal gives birth to a complete offspring—do you notice any defect in it?”
They asked, “O Messenger of God, what about those who die among the children of the idolaters while still young?”
He replied, “God knows best what they would have done.”