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At one place there is a hadith which says people who die upon fatrah will be tested on day of judgement.

The man who died during the fatrah will say, ‘O Lord, no Messenger from You came to me.’ He will accept their promises of obedience, then word will be sent to them to enter the Fire. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if they enter it, it will be cool and safe for them.”

According to another report, he said: “Whoever enters it, it will be cool and safe for him, and whoever does not enter it will be dragged to it.” (The hadeeth was reported by Imaam Ahmad and Ibn Hibbaan, and deemed saheeh by al-Albaani, Saheeh al-Jaami’, 881).

At another place it is mentioned that last prophet's parents who died between fatrah will go to hell without testing.

Muslim (203) narrated from Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that a man said: “O Messenger of Allaah, where is my father?” He said: “In Hell.” When he turned away he called him back and said: “My father and your father are in Hell.”

Muslim (976) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I asked my Lord for permission to pray for forgiveness for my mother, but He did not give me permission. And I asked Him for permission to visit her grave, and He gave me permission.”

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  • There is nothing to reconcile. The hadith about the testing refers to the methodology used to judge those who have not come across a messenger or a prophet, or their message. The second hadith is about the final outcome awaiting the father of the Prophet ﷺ. There is nothing that says the Prophet's father will not be tested prior to ending up in Hell.
    – III-AK-III
    Sep 17, 2017 at 19:23
  • They died as Kaafirs, hadith of zaid bin amr bin nufayl is proof , that parents rejected religion of ibrahim.
    – Abdur rehman
    Sep 17, 2017 at 19:43
  • Understood, but it does not say they would not be tested among others from Fatrah periods. They may well be tested, too, then fail, then enter Hell.
    – III-AK-III
    Sep 17, 2017 at 20:07

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Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

This shows that whoever dies in a state of kufr will be in Hell. And being related to one who is close to Allah will not avail him anything. It also shows that whoever died during the fatrah (the interval between the Prophethood of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) and that of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) and was the follower of the way of the Arabs at that time, which was idol worship, will also be among the people of Hell. There is no excuse for the call not reaching them, because the call of Ibraheem and other Prophets (peace be upon them) had reached these people.

So from al Nawawi we can conclude a few things:

1- Dying as a mushrik even during fatrah will make you among the people of Hell. And it seems the Prophet's father used to worship idols.

2- Quraysh used to follow the religion of Ibraheem until the innovations were introduced by Amr ibn Luhayy al-Khuzaa’i and his innovations became widespread among the people, such as the propagation of idols and praying to them instead of to Allah. So maybe the Prophet's father heard something that showed him that the idol worship of Quraysh was wrong, but he still followed them, and thus proof was established against him.

Some scholars like Ibn Katheer say that the Prophet knew that his father will be tested but he will fail.

And Allah knows best.

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