The shaykh said:

Regarding the children of unbelievers, the soundest view is:
“Allah knows best what they would have done.”

This was the answer given by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in an authentic hadith. A group of hadith scholars and others said that they are all in Hell. This has been cited as one of Ahmad’s explicit statements, but it is wrongly attributed to him. Another group asserted that they are all in Paradise. Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī and others adopted this view, citing as evidence a hadith that relates:

“In a dream, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw Abraham, the close friend of Allah, with the children of the believers beside him. He was asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, and the children of the polytheists?’ He replied, ‘And the children of the polytheists.’”

The correct position is to say:
“Allah knows best what they would have done.”

We do not judge any particular child among them to be destined for either Paradise or Hell. Several hadiths relate:
“On the Day of Resurrection, in the gathering grounds, they will be given commands and prohibitions. Whoever obeys will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter Hell.”

This is the position that Abū al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī reported from Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah. Being subject to divine commands ends only upon entering the abode of recompense: Paradise or Hell.