1)When Ignorance is an Excuse

 

The extent to which human ignorance can be regarded as excuse to exempt a person from sin and accountability in matters of Islamic Law is a matter that scholars have explored in depth. It is also matter about which they have expressed widely divergent opinions. Some people make ignorance a valid excuse for anything. Others never accept ignorance as an excuse, regardless of the circumstances. The true and balanced approach, of course, lies somewhere in between. This is what we will seek to uncover in this article.

 

Ignorance, as a term, can be defined as a person being devoid of knowledge. More precisely, it is to be lacking knowledge that one is supposed to be acquainted with. People, naturally, start out life in a state of ignorance. In fact, at the beginning of any pursuit, the person will be in a state of ignorance concerning it and will have to do what is necessary to dispel that ignorance.

 

Allah says: “And Allah brings you fourth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing.” [Sûrah al-Nahl: 78]

 

Once a man gave to the Prophet (peace be upon him) a flask of wine as a gift. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the man: “Do you know that Allah has prohibited this?” The man replied that he did not know of its prohibition. [Sahîh Muslim (1579)]

 

The man had not yet come to know that wine had been prohibited, so he was not blamed or rebuked. This hadîth shows us that a person who really does not know something is exempted from sin.

 

Allah says: “And we would not punish a people until after we had sent to them a Messenger.” [Surah al-Isrâ’: 15]

 

However, this is the case for someone who has truly not received knowledge. Someone who is able to learn and simply neglects to do so is accountable for the ignorance that he has on account of his negligence. This is stated as a general axiom of Islamic Law: “A legally accountable person can not use ignorance as a defense if he had been able to overcome his ignorance.”

 

This is because Allah has sent his Messengers to us and has required all of us to learn the Message and then to act upon it. Allah obligates us to know what is required of us and to act accordingly.

 

On this basis, a new convert who has just embraced Islam will be excused for not knowing that prayer is enjoined upon him or for thinking that drinking wine is alright. He will not be considered an unbeliever on account of it. However, if that person is properly presented the evidence for these matters and still insists that prayer is not obligatory or that wine is lawful, then the consensus of the Muslims is that he becomes an unbeliever.

 

Ibn Taymiyah says: There are some people who are ignorant of these rulings and have an excuse to be ignorant. Therefore, no one should be declared an unbeliever until the proof is established to him by way of conveying the message to Him, since Allah says: “…Messengers who gave glad tidings and warnings, sothat humanity will have an argument against Allah after the Messengers.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ’: 165]

 

    Therefore, if a person accepts Islam and does not know that prayer is incumbent upon him or does not know that wine is prohibited, then he will not fall into unbelief on either account. Likewise, he ill not be punishable for it until after the scriptural evidence has reached him…

 

Possibly the clearest proof that ignorance can be a legal excuse is the following hadith where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (7506) and Sahîh Muslim (2756):

 

    A man who had never done any good deed before instructed his family to burn him when he dies and to scatter his ashes half on the land and half in the sea. He said: “If Allah gets hold of me, He will punish me as he has never punished anyone else before.”

 

    When the man died (and his instructions were carried out), Allah ordered the land and sea to collect his remains together. Then Allah asked him: “Why did you do that?” The man said: “Out of your fear O Lord!” So Allah forgave him.

 

Ibn Taymiyah comments on this hadîth, saying: This man was ignorant of Allah’s ability to bring him back together, He had hoped that Allah would not resurrect him because he was ignorant of what had been revealed regarding the resurrection. Nevertheless, since he believed in Allah, His commands and prohibitions, and His promises and warnings, and since he feared His punishment, and since his ignorance was in a matter about which the proof that would have made him an unbeliever had never reached him, Allah forgave him.

 

Today, we live in an age where the means to disseminate the message of Islam throughout the word are so varied and so advanced as to make the world as if it were a single country. Nevertheless, there are still many cases of ignorance where that ignorance is excusable. This is because there is a scarcity of knowledgeable people who put their knowledge into practice, while at the same time there are numerous people who are calling what is wrong, who are experts at making falsehood and unbelief appealing to the masses and are equally expert at disseminating misinformation.

 

Indeed, Ibn Taymiyah lamented a similar state of affairs centuries ago. In spite of the factthat many of the people were engaged in all sorts of heresies and false beliefs, he did not declare them to be unbelievers, but pardoned them on account of their ignorance:

 

    Such people are plentiful today, and this is because of the scarcity of those who disseminate knowledge and call people to faith. There is an absence of the Islamic Message in most countries. Most of the people do not have with them enough of the Message – and of the Prophet’s legacy – to realize their guidance. It has not even reached many of them. In such times when the Message is absent, a man benefits from whatever little faith he has. Allah pardons for someone who has not had the proof established against him what he does not pardon for someone who has.

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A time will come when the people will not know prayer, fasting , or either pilgrimage, except for some old man or woman among them. They will say: ‘We had known our fathers to say ‘There is no God except Allah’.”

 

The narrator of the hadîth, Hudhayfah, was asked: “What good will saying ‘There is no God except Allah’ be to them?”

 

Hudhayfah replied: “It will save them from Hell.” [Sunan Ibn Mâjah and Mustadrak al-Hâkim. It is authenticated by al-Albânî in al-Silsilah al-Sahîhah (78)]

 

Though we maintain that ignorance is an excuse in matters of faith and disbelief, this odes not mean that it is accepted from everyone who cites ignorance as a defense. The eminent jurist, al-Shâfi`î said: “There are some things that no sane adult can possibly be ignorant of – like the five prayers, and that the fast of Ramadan is due to Allah, and that the Pilgrimage is obligatory upon one who is able to do so, and that the Zakâh tax is due on their wealth, and that fornication, murder, theft, and wine are unlawful, and other such matters.”

 

There are various factor to consider when considering the excitability of someone’s ignorance. One of these is the nature of the matter that the person is ignorant about – is it something obscure or generally well known? The person’s state must also be taken into consideration. Is he new to Islam? Did he live his life in some remote area? The social circumstances must also be considered to determine whether or not someone in his environment would be likely to know the matter in question.

 

With respect to the essential tenets of faith, they are set forth in the Qur’ân, so anyone who has access to the Qur’ân and who can read and understand it would not be excused for ignorance in those matters.

 

May Allah give us success and bless us with beneficial knowledge.

Sheikh `Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Tayyâr, professor at al-Qâsîm University|
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2) AL-KHABEER - The All-Aware

 

 O you who believe! Have fear [and awareness] of Allah, and let each self look to what it has sent forward for tomorrow. Have fear [and awareness] of Allah. Allah is aware of what you do. ( Surat al-Hashr, 59:18)

Humanity, bounded by time and space, can be aware of only what is visible. Our inability to step outside of these boundaries is one of our greatest weaknesses.

Allah, Who created humanity as well as space and time, is not bound by these concepts. Allah, Who is exalted above anything, naturally is aware of all that takes place in the universe, regardless of time or location. He knows how many stars are in a galaxy located millions of light years away, each celestial body's orbit as well as the information hidden inside a seed lying underground.

Allah also knows everything about people's lives: their actions, where they were born and where they will die, and for what purpose they strove. He even knows such small details as when they cried or laughed, as well as their most secret thoughts, for He created them. The Qur'an states:

Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty Allah has given them should not suppose that that is better for them. No indeed, it is worse for them! What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks on the Day of Rising. Allah is the inheritor of the heavens and Earth, and is aware of what you do. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 3:180)

Eyesight cannot perceive Him, but He perceives eyesight. He is the All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. (Surat al-An‘am, 6:103)

Put your trust in the Living, Who does not die, and glorify Him with praise. He is well aware of the wrong actions of His servants. (Surat al-Furqan, 25:58)

Truly Allah has knowledge of the Hour, sends down abundant rain, and knows what is in the womb. And no self knows what it will earn tomorrow or in which land it will die. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Surah Luqman, 31:34)

http://www.harunyahya.com/en/works/16708/AL-KHABEER---The-All-Aware

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3) Wake up at night, recite this dhikr and seek forgiveness.

The Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: Who ever wakes up at night, and says:

 

"La ilaha ‘illa Allaahu wahdahu la shareeka lahu, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa ala kulli shayin qadeer Subhana allaahi, wal hamdu lillaahi, wa la illaah ila Allaah, wa Allaahu akbar, La hawla wa la quwwata illa billaa"

 

‘There is none worthy of worship in truth except Allaah Alone, He has no partners, He has the Dominion and for Him is all praise, and He is capable of all things, praise is for Him, and Far is Allaah from imperfection, and There is none worthy of worship in truth except Allaah, and Allaah is the Greatest, there is no capability nor is there any power except with Allaah the Most High the ‘Atheem.’ (Supreme)

 

Then he says : ?????? ?????????   O Allaah forgive me (Allaahumma aghfirlee), or he supplicates and his supplication is answered, and if he makes Wudu and prays then his prayer is accepted. 

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