The Issue of Excuse Through Ignorance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: O teacher of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), I ask you for the sake of Allah to clarify for us the issue of excuse due to ignorance. He says: O teacher of tawhid, I ask you for the sake of Allah.
The Shaykh:
My brother, let us clarify this issue as you understand it. The complaint is to Allah. We say that the one who is excused for ignorance is the one who has not heard anything about Islam, in an isolated place where he hears nothing, has not heard the Qur'an, has not heard the hadiths, and the call has not reached him. This person is excused for ignorance. But as for a person who lives with Muslims, in Muslim lands, hears the adhan (the call to prayer) all the time, sees people praying, and sees what is right and what is wrong, is it said that he is excused for ignorance? This is the one who is ignorant of himself. He does not seek knowledge, nor does he seek the truth. He remains as he is. This person is not excused. Yes.
The questioner:
That is, in the continuation of his question, he says: If a person grows up in a remote desert or is new to Islam, is he excused for his ignorance if he calls upon other than Allah while claiming to be a Muslim?
The Shaykh:
The one who calls upon other than Allah, we rule that he is a disbeliever and we treat him as a disbeliever. But if, as mentioned, nothing has reached him, then his case is left to Allah. However, we rule that he is a disbeliever, that he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah), and that he worships graves, based on what appears to us. But if he has an excuse with Allah, then his case is left to Allah. They say this person is among the people of the period (those to whom the message did not reach), among the people of the period to whom nothing reached. Yes.
But today, as you know, today nothing is hidden. The media is widespread, and the Qur'an is heard in every part of the world. Now the Sunnah is heard, the preachers speak, and Islam is widespread. There is almost no country on earth that Islam has not entered. Is that so or not? Is there any country without mosques, without Islamic centers, without Muslim minorities? Islam is widespread now, and the rituals are being performed in the lands of disbelief now, the rituals of Islam. So the argument is established, praise be to Allah. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: O teacher of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), I ask you for the sake of Allah to clarify for us the issue of excuse due to ignorance. He says: O teacher of tawhid, I ask you for the sake of Allah.
The Shaykh:
My brother, let us clarify this issue as you understand it. The complaint is to Allah. We say that the one who is excused for ignorance is the one who has not heard anything about Islam, in an isolated place where he hears nothing, has not heard the Qur'an, has not heard the hadiths, and the call has not reached him. This person is excused for ignorance. But as for a person who lives with Muslims, in Muslim lands, hears the adhan (the call to prayer) all the time, sees people praying, and sees what is right and what is wrong, is it said that he is excused for ignorance? This is the one who is ignorant of himself. He does not seek knowledge, nor does he seek the truth. He remains as he is. This person is not excused. Yes.
The questioner:
That is, in the continuation of his question, he says: If a person grows up in a remote desert or is new to Islam, is he excused for his ignorance if he calls upon other than Allah while claiming to be a Muslim?
The Shaykh:
The one who calls upon other than Allah, we rule that he is a disbeliever and we treat him as a disbeliever. But if, as mentioned, nothing has reached him, then his case is left to Allah. However, we rule that he is a disbeliever, that he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah), and that he worships graves, based on what appears to us. But if he has an excuse with Allah, then his case is left to Allah. They say this person is among the people of the period (those to whom the message did not reach), among the people of the period to whom nothing reached. Yes.
But today, as you know, today nothing is hidden. The media is widespread, and the Qur'an is heard in every part of the world. Now the Sunnah is heard, the preachers speak, and Islam is widespread. There is almost no country on earth that Islam has not entered. Is that so or not? Is there any country without mosques, without Islamic centers, without Muslim minorities? Islam is widespread now, and the rituals are being performed in the lands of disbelief now, the rituals of Islam. So the argument is established, praise be to Allah. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 04 من 04/شرح كتاب نواقض الإسلام (شرح ثان مختصر)/التاسع إلى نهاية الكتاب/صالح الفوزان/العقيدة — youtube.com (31:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.