Ahl al-Fatrah

In Islamic theology, the term Ahl al-Fatrah (Arabic: أهل الفترة, ahl al-fatrah), which literally means "people of the time period", refers to the people who lived during a gap in revelation between the times of the prophets Jesus (Isa) and Muhammad, approximately between 30 CE and 610 CE.

It can also refer in a general sense to everyone whom the da‘wah (invitation to Islam) has not reached in an uncorrupted manner and live in ignorance of the teachings of Islam. In Arabic the term used was "conveyance of the message" (Arabic: تبليغ الرسالة, tabligh ar-risalah).

The time of Fatrah and the time of Jahiliyyah are fairly similar concepts in Islam, although there are some minor differences. Generally speaking, the concept of Fatrah refers to those whom the message of God was not or could not be transmitted, typically due to time or location. Meanwhile, Jahiliyyah refers to those who might have had the option of following monotheism (Hanif) as per their knowledge, but chose not to, due to ignorance, pride, or similar reasons.