Question Summary:
Could you elaborate for me the saying that goes like ‘every child is born a muslim’?.

Question Detail:

Could you elaborate for me the saying that goes like ‘every child is born a muslim’?.

Answer :

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In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh
 
The statement you have queried requires a brief background.
 
 
It is recorded in the Qurān and Ahādīth, that Allāh Ta’āla after creating Adam (‘alayhis salām), addressed the souls of man, saying: “Am I not your Lord”? All the souls replied in the affirmative, testifying to Allāh Ta’āla as their Lord. The Qurān refers to this incident in Chapter 7, Verse 172, as follows:
 
وإذ أخذ ربك من بني آدم من ظهورهم ذريتهم وأشهدهم على أنفسهم ألست بربكم قالوا بلى شهدنا
“(Recall) when your Lord brought forth their progeny from the loins of the children of Adam, and made them testify about themselves (by asking them,) ―Am I not your Lord?They said, ―Of course, You are. We testify”.
 
In accordance to the above verse, the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) stated:
 
كل مولود يولد على الفطرة فأبواه يهودانه أو ينصراه أو يمجسانه
“Every child is born with the belief of Allāh (as God). It is then the influence of the parents that make him a Jew, Christian or Magus”
 (Sahih Bukhāri, #1319)
 
 
Hence, every child is born after having acknowledged the lordship of Allāh Ta’āla and has the natural ability of choosing Islām as a religion. If one chooses Islām as a religion, then one has acted on the belief that one was born upon. However, if one denies the existence of Allāh Ta’āla or believes in Allāh Ta’āla, but ascribes partners unto him, then one has shifted away from the belief that was instilled within him before birth and in all probability was influenced by his/her (non-Muslim) parents in adopting an incorrect belief.
 
Imām Abu Hanīfa (rahimahullāh) had stated that if the message of Islām did not reach an individual, it is then still compulsory on an individual to recognize the existence of Allāh Ta’āla, as this is the demands of a sane intellect.^[1]  We hope the above answers your query.

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And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum  
Muftī Talha Desai,
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā, Madrasah In῾āmiyyah