He was asked:

What did the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mean when he said, “Every child is born upon the innate disposition”? Did he mean one’s natural constitution, or the innate disposition of Islam?

And regarding his statement, “The wretched is the one who is wretched in his mother’s womb,” and the remainder of the hadith: is this specific or general in its application? As for domestic and wild animals, will Allah bring them back to life on the Day of Resurrection or not?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. Regarding the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Every child is born upon the innate disposition; then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian.”

The correct view is that this is the innate disposition upon which Allah created mankind: the innate disposition of Islam. It is the disposition upon which He created them on the day when He said:

“‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes.’”

It consists in freedom from false beliefs and receptiveness to sound beliefs. The essence of “Islam” is to submit to Allah, and to none other. This is the meaning of “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, illustrated this by saying:

“Just as an animal gives birth to an animal that is physically intact: do you see any mutilation in it?”

He explained that the heart’s freedom from defect is like the body’s soundness, and that the defect arises subsequently.

In Sahīh Muslim, it is narrated from ‘Iyād ibn Himār that he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, relating from Allah:

“I created My servants upright in faith, but the devils led them astray and declared unlawful