Ahl al-Fatrah

In Islam, Ahl al-Fatrah (Arabic: أهل الفترة, lit. 'people of the time period') refers to the people who lived at any point between Jesus' disappearance around 30 CE and Muhammad's first revelation around 610 CE. The term denotes a period of interval, when God did not send an Islamic prophet or messenger to spread awareness of Abrahamic monotheism amongst humanity. This interval came to an end around 610 CE, when Muslims believe that Muhammad first received God's final message before the Day of Judgement: the Quran.

Many Muslims also use the term in a general sense to refer to everyone who lives in ignorance of the teachings of Islam—that is, those who have not been invited to Islam in an uncorrupted manner. In Arabic, the term used was "conveyance of the message" (تبليغ الرسالة, Tabligh ar-Risalah).

The periods of Fatrah and Jahiliyyah are fairly similar in Islam, although there are some minor differences. Generally speaking, the former concept refers to those whom the message of God was not or could not be transmitted, typically due to the inconvenience of time or location. Meanwhile, the latter concept refers to those who might have had the option of following Abrahamic monotheism (i.e., becoming a hanif) as per their knowledge, but chose not to do so out of deliberate ignorance or pride.