Did Mohammed Hijab say something theologically wrong here? I dont think so. The kuffār (disbelievers) as a general category are in Hell. The Muslims as a general category are in Heaven. However, some Muslims might enter Hell due to unrepentant sins. They will remain there until they are purified and eventually taken out. Similarly, some non-Muslims might end up in Heaven because they were never given the message of Islam at all, or they were only presented with a distorted version of it. As we know from the Qur’an, the only path acceptable to Allah is Islam (willful submission to the Creator). However, a person’s ultimate salvation rests with Allah alone. Allah knows best where any particular individual will end up. The scholars of Islam state that the only beings we are allowed to say with certainty will be in the Hellfire are: Shayṭān (the Devil) Firʿawn (Pharaoh) The Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be upon him), arch-nemesis and uncle, Abū Lahab These individuals are explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. As for everyone else who died following a path of kufr (disbelief) such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Atheism, Buddhism, Agnosticim, Perennialism etc. the most we can say as Muslims is that they died upon a path of kufr /disbelief. We do not pray for them at all. However, the ultimate decision regarding their individual salvation or damnation belongs to Allah alone. A kāfir, in the sight of Allah, is one who understood in his heart that Islam was the truth but rejected it out of arrogance. Imām al-Ghazālī said that a person who died on a path of kufr may have an excuse before Allah and may be further tested after death if, during their lifetime, they were never introduced to the message of Islam or were only presented with a distorted version of it and rejected that distortion rather than true Islam. This is what I’ve learned from Shaykh @DrShadeeElmasry. Remember, there’s a distinction between a kafir in the jurisprudential (fiqh) sense (while in this world and the rulings pertaining to that) and a kafir in the sight of Allah.