There is no doubt that Almighty Allah, after He sent the Messenger and required people to believe him and act upon the ruling of the religion, has established the evidences to prove the truth of the message, so He will reward those who obey and accept the call, and He will judge those who did not accept and did not have an excuse. As for those who had valid excuses for their non-acceptance, like the lack of available evidences or because of lack of sanity, Almighty Allah will judge them accordingly, since He “wrongeth not even of the weight of an ant” (4:40). However, we cannot determine those who are excused and those who are not, and one should undertake his personal search for the right religion. Allah Almighty knows the circumstances and the intentions of His slaves. We, as humans, are only aware of the apparent behavior of people. The verse that you were referring to, that talks about the believers in previous religions, is interpreted in many religious texts to be referring to the believers of those religions before the emergence of Islam. This interpretation of the verse is consistent with the teachings of the rest of the Quran, like when Almighty Allah said: “And whoso seeks as religion other than Islam it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in the Hereafter” (3:85). The interpretation that you have chosen is inconsistent with the message of the rest of the Quran.
