The ruling on one who falls into shirk (associating partners with Allah) out of ignorance, and an explanation of the Shaykh’s methodology in authorship
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Question:
Our Shaykh, regarding the one who says that it is necessary to establish the argument (hujjah) on every person for every action or statement that takes them out of the religion, meaning that if the argument has not been established against them, they are excused by their ignorance, even in clear matters.
Answer:
People do not come to every individual to establish the argument against them; rather, they clarify it in general terms for the general public. They clarify this in their lessons, in their lectures, and in their writings. This is the position of the scholars of the Muslims, both past and present. Yes. If, for example, O our Shaykh, a person falls into slaughtering for other than Allah, and he is ignorant, it is clarified to him. If he repents to Allah and avoids slaughtering for other than Allah, he is considered a Muslim, because when the truth became clear to him, he adopted it and abandoned what else. This is the position of the Muslims from the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) until now, and until the future. Our Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, was keen to write treatises on tawhid (the oneness of Allah) specifically, and this type of authorship, such as his treatise on the Three Fundamental Principles, his treatise on the Four Basic Rules, and the Exposing of Doubts. Also, the Book of Tawhid is broader than them and also beneficial, as is Al-Mufid al-Mustafid in the disbelief of the one who abandons tawhid, and others from
Our Shaykh, regarding the one who says that it is necessary to establish the argument (hujjah) on every person for every action or statement that takes them out of the religion, meaning that if the argument has not been established against them, they are excused by their ignorance, even in clear matters.
Answer:
People do not come to every individual to establish the argument against them; rather, they clarify it in general terms for the general public. They clarify this in their lessons, in their lectures, and in their writings. This is the position of the scholars of the Muslims, both past and present. Yes. If, for example, O our Shaykh, a person falls into slaughtering for other than Allah, and he is ignorant, it is clarified to him. If he repents to Allah and avoids slaughtering for other than Allah, he is considered a Muslim, because when the truth became clear to him, he adopted it and abandoned what else. This is the position of the Muslims from the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) until now, and until the future. Our Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, was keen to write treatises on tawhid (the oneness of Allah) specifically, and this type of authorship, such as his treatise on the Three Fundamental Principles, his treatise on the Four Basic Rules, and the Exposing of Doubts. Also, the Book of Tawhid is broader than them and also beneficial, as is Al-Mufid al-Mustafid in the disbelief of the one who abandons tawhid, and others from
Source
الرسائل الشخصية للشيخ الإمام محمد بن عبدالوهاب - رسائل منتقاة، رسائل منتقاة - الحلقة 6 - رسالة إلى حمد التويجري — alfawzan.live (9:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
