Given that Islam is the true religion, why did Allaah create me a Muslim who was brought up in a Muslim country among a Muslim family without the least effort and thereby favored me over a Jewish or a Christian youth who must seek and search for the true religion and if he fails he will enter Hell?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

It should be known that it is a pleasure for man and a bounty from Allaah when he is born in an Islamic environment and remains upon the Fitrah (innate belief) he was born with. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah the Prophet stated that every person is born Muslim, and it is his or her parents who make him Jewish or Christian or Magian. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

However, if the person who was born to Jewish or Christian parents and searched for the truth, reached it and believed in what the Prophet Muhammad brought us (i.e. Islam), he will attain a greater reward from Allaah. Additionally, such people’s belief usually becomes firmer and stronger than that of the person who is originally a Muslim and did not have to look for the truth himself.

In fact, Allaah ordered us to search for and look forward to attaining certainty, while He denounced the disbelievers' blind imitation of the customs of their fathers. Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {Rather, they say, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps [rightly] guided."}[Quran 43:22]

Nevertheless, if the person does not embrace Islam, he will be doomed to Hell, just like the person who was born in an Islamic environment and did not believe in Allaah. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Moosa Al-Ash‘ari the Prophet stated that no Jew or Christian who hears of the Prophet and fails to believe in him but will be among the inmates of Hell. [Ahmad] This is by no means strange because Allaah endowed man with insight whereby he can distinguish between right and wrong. Moreover, Allaah gave him no excuse by exempting him from religious obligations until the age of puberty and by sending messengers to him. Therefore were he not to execute the commands of Allaah, he would deserve punishment.