Short answer
Yes. The Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born on the fitra, the natural state of knowing God (﷾). It is the parents who make the child a Jew, a Christian or a Magian (a Zoroastrian). Some atheists say a baby has no beliefs, so belief must be taught. A newborn can put no beliefs into words. But the fitra is a nature turned towards God (﷾), and studies of young children find a leaning like it. At Oxford, Olivera Petrovich asked British and Japanese preschoolers how natural things came to be, and most said a maker made them. Japanese culture does not teach one creator God (﷾), yet the children answered the same way. A larger Oxford project of more than 40 studies in 20 countries found that people are naturally inclined to believe in gods and an afterlife. Belief is where a child starts. Its religion is added later.
Full explanation
What the Prophet (ﷺ) said
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that every child is born upon the fitra, the natural disposition to know and worship God (﷾) alone. He said it is the parents who make the child a Jew, a Christian or a Magian (a Zoroastrian). He compared this to an animal that gives birth to a perfect young one. None is born with its ears cut. That is done to it later. Abu Hurayra, a companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), reported this hadith (a report of what the Prophet (ﷺ) said). He then recited the Qur'an's verse on the fitra. The claim is clear. A child is born with belief in the one God (﷾) as his natural disposition. The religions of the world are added afterwards.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra (the natural disposition God gave mankind), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal is born whole. Abu Hurayra then recited Qur'an 30:30.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra (the natural disposition to worship Allah alone), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal gives birth to a whole, unmarked young one. Abu Hurayra then recited Qur'an 30:30.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said no child is born except upon the fitra (the natural disposition God gave mankind), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian.
“So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith: (establish) Allah's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah: that is the standard Religion: but most among mankind understand not.”
The agreement made before birth
The Qur'an says God (﷾) drew out the descendants of Adam and made them testify that He is their Lord. This was so that no one could say on the Day of Judgment that they never knew. Nor could they say that they only followed their fathers. This is why the knowledge of God (﷾) is found in every soul.
“When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful": Or lest ye should say: "Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?"”
What researchers found
Researchers have studied how young children think about where things come from. Olivera Petrovich at Oxford showed British and Japanese preschoolers natural and man-made objects. She asked how they came to exist. Most said natural things were made by a maker, not by people. The Japanese children matter most. Their culture does not teach one creator God (﷾), yet they answered the same way. A larger Oxford project, the Cognition, Religion and Theology Project, ran more than 40 studies in 20 countries. It was led by Justin Barrett, a psychologist, and Roger Trigg, a philosopher. It concluded that human beings are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and an afterlife. Barrett called his book on children's belief Born Believers.
Reports an Oxford research programme with British and Japanese children and adults. Shown natural and man-made objects and asked how they came to exist, preschool children mostly said natural things were made by a maker rather than by people. Japanese children did so too, though their culture does not teach belief in one creator God.
A £1.9 million University of Oxford project of more than 40 studies in 20 countries, covering both religious and non-religious societies. It concluded that human beings are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and in an afterlife.
Argues from developmental psychology that young children are naturally inclined to believe in a creator god and to see purpose in the natural world, so that religious belief arises almost inevitably from ordinary human nature.
What the research does and does not show
The case does not rest on a psychology study, and a Muslim needs no study to believe a hadith. The research does not prove that God (﷾) exists. It also speaks of gods in general, while the hadith names the one God (﷾). What the two share is that belief comes first. Some atheists say a newborn has no beliefs at all, so unbelief comes first. That is true in one sense: a newborn has no beliefs he can put into words. The Qur'an says the same, that God (﷾) brought people from their mothers' wombs when they knew nothing (16:78). The fitra is not a lesson learned. It is a nature turned towards God (﷾). The studies found that young children lean towards seeing a maker behind natural things. The larger project found that people are naturally inclined to believe in gods and an afterlife. On this evidence, belief in a maker is the natural starting point, and turning away from it comes later. This fits what the Prophet (ﷺ) said fourteen centuries ago. It is the opposite of the claim that belief is only ever taught.
A £1.9 million University of Oxford project of more than 40 studies in 20 countries, covering both religious and non-religious societies. It concluded that human beings are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and in an afterlife.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra (the natural disposition God gave mankind), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal is born whole. Abu Hurayra then recited Qur'an 30:30.
Reports an Oxford research programme with British and Japanese children and adults. Shown natural and man-made objects and asked how they came to exist, preschool children mostly said natural things were made by a maker rather than by people. Japanese children did so too, though their culture does not teach belief in one creator God.
Argues from developmental psychology that young children are naturally inclined to believe in a creator god and to see purpose in the natural world, so that religious belief arises almost inevitably from ordinary human nature.
“It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing; and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections: that ye may give thanks (to Allah).”
Born in sin?
Many Christians follow Augustine, a Church teacher of the fourth and fifth centuries, and teach original sin. This is the belief that every child is born carrying Adam's sin and guilt. They point to Paul's words that sin came into the world through one man, and death spread to everyone. They also point to the words of David, a king of ancient Israel, that he was conceived in sin.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Born pure, not born guilty
Islam teaches that a child is not born in sin but turned towards his Lord. The Qur'an says no bearer of burdens carries the burden of another. The Hebrew Bible says the same through the prophet Ezekiel: the son shall not bear the iniquity (wrongdoing) of the father. Each soul answers for its own deeds, and every child begins on the fitra.
“Say: "Shall I seek for (my) Cherisher other than Allah, when He is the Cherisher of all things (that exist)? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal in the end is towards Allah: He will tell you the truth of the things wherein ye disputed."”
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra (the natural disposition to worship Allah alone), and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal gives birth to a whole, unmarked young one. Abu Hurayra then recited Qur'an 30:30.
Perspectives
Belief is learned, not inborn
Many people without a religion hold that children are not born believing in anything. Belief in gods, they say, grows out of people's hopes and fears. Parents and society then pass it on.
Hume argued that religion first came from people's hopes and fears about what happens in life. Children learn it from the people around them.
Rebuttal
The research points the other way. An Oxford project ran more than 40 studies in 20 countries, both religious and non-religious. It found that people are naturally inclined to believe in gods and in life after death. Petrovich found that British and Japanese preschool children mostly said natural things were made by a maker. This was true even where the culture teaches no creator God (﷾).
Hindu: an old soul in a new body
Hindu teaching holds that a child is not a new soul. The self has lived before. It comes into a new body as a man puts on new clothes, and it brings the results of its past deeds with it.
A man throws off old clothes and puts on new ones. In the same way the self in the body throws off old bodies and goes into new ones.
Rebuttal
No child remembers a past life, and the Prophet (ﷺ) taught something simpler. Every child is born on the fitra, the natural state God (﷾) gave mankind, and it is the parents who change it. The Qur'an says that before they were born, the children of Adam were asked "Am I not your Lord?" and answered "Yea!". So a child begins life knowing its Lord, not paying a debt.
Buddhist: born in ignorance and craving
The Buddha taught that beings come into each life covered by ignorance and tied by craving. They carry these over from a cycle of rebirth with no known beginning. So a child is not born knowing God.
Beings wander from life to life, covered by ignorance and tied by craving. And no starting point of this can be found.
Rebuttal
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught the opposite starting point. Every child is born on the fitra, sound and whole, and it is upbringing that changes it. Research agrees that young children naturally see the world as made. Petrovich found that even Japanese preschool children, in a culture that teaches no creator, mostly said natural things were made by a maker.
Shinto: people are not sinful by nature
Shinto teachers say people are not sinful by nature, and that there is usually no idea of original sin. Uncleanness comes later, and is washed away by cleansing rites.
Human beings are not sinful by nature; there is no original sin.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees: no child is born carrying another's sin, and no soul bears another's burden. Islam adds that the child is born knowing its Lord. Petrovich found that Japanese preschoolers, in a culture that does not teach one creator, mostly said natural things were made by a maker.
Daoist: born in natural simplicity
The Tao Te Ching teaches that people began in natural simplicity, at one with the Tao. Benevolence, righteousness and rules came only when the Tao was lost.
When the Great Tao was no longer followed, kindness and right conduct came into fashion. So the natural state comes before all teaching.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that a person begins in a natural state, the fitra, and that upbringing changes it. But the fitra is not empty. The Qur'an calls it the pattern on which God (﷾) made mankind, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born on it. Research in 20 countries finds that people are naturally inclined to believe in gods.
Confucian: human nature tends to good
Mencius taught that human nature leans toward good, as water flows downhill. Kindness, right conduct, good manners and wisdom are not put into us from outside, he said. Xunzi disagreed. He said our nature must be shaped by teachers and rites.
Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and knowledge are not infused into us from without; we are furnished with them.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that the sense of right and wrong is inborn. The Qur'an says the soul was shown what is wrong for it and what is right for it. Mencius himself said that whoever knows his own nature knows Heaven. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born on the fitra, which knows its Lord.
Chinese tradition: religion is the family's customs
Most people in China say they have no religion, yet most keep the family customs, such as visiting their ancestors' graves. On this view, a child is not born with a faith. It grows up into the family's ways.
Religion is not something a child is born with. It is the family's customs, which even people who say they have no religion keep.
Rebuttal
The Prophet (ﷺ) said just this about upbringing: every child is born on the fitra, and it is the parents who give it another path. The customs come later. Knowing there is a Maker comes first. Petrovich found that preschool children, even in a culture that teaches no creator, mostly said natural things were made by a maker.
Christian
Many churches, following Augustine, teach that every child is born with original sin inherited from Adam.
Paul writes that sin entered the world through one man and death passed upon all men.
Rebuttal
Paul does say that by one man's disobedience many were made sinners (Romans 5:19). But even Romans 5:12 says death reached all "for that all have sinned". The Law of Moses rules that no one is put to death for another's sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). Ezekiel and the Qur'an say the same of every soul's burden.
David says he was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin.
Rebuttal
Grant that David says this of himself. He is confessing his own sin in a prayer for forgiveness, not teaching that every baby is guilty. The Hebrew Bible says plainly that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father (Ezekiel 18:20).
The Islamic perspective
Every child is born on the fitra, knowing God (﷾), as the Prophet (ﷺ) taught. Religion is added by upbringing. No child is born carrying another's sin, and modern research points to belief as the natural starting point.
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said every child is born on the fitra, the natural faith. Its parents make it a Jew, a Christian or a Magian.
Every human being bears an inborn knowledge of God (﷾) from the covenant taken from the children of Adam.
Petrovich found that British and Japanese preschool children mostly said natural things were made by a maker, not by people. This included children from a culture that does not teach one creator God (﷾).
An Oxford project ran more than 40 studies in 20 countries. It found that people are naturally inclined to believe in gods and in life after death.
No child inherits another's sin; each soul bears only its own burden.