Is the ignorant person excused in matters of creed, such as the circumambulation of graves that we mentioned?

The questioner : Is the ignorant person excused in matters of creed, such as these matters?

The Shaykh : This, too, we have more than one tape on, I believe, and the question requires detail. Do you remember in a tape, or not?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : The point is: the ignorant person differs according to the society in which he lives. If it is a society of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, he is excused, because there is no one to establish the proof against him and explain to him the oneness of Allah. If it is a purely Islamic, monotheistic society, he is not excused. And between these two, of course, there are many aspects. And our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) is the One who knows what is in the breasts. So, if Allah knows from him that the proof of Allah did not reach him regarding what he was ignorant of, then he is excused by Allah. This is based on His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): , and His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
The Shaykh: This means: he hears of my call in its true reality, and yet he does not believe in it; so he will abide in the Fire forever.
The Shaykh: This is, in summary, the statement on this issue. The environment and surroundings have a very great effect in correcting a person or corrupting him. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the Muslim from traveling to the lands of disbelief and residing with them and associating with them, because nature is a thief. And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner : Those who said, O Shaykh, may Allah bless you: Those who said this held that a person is not excused by his ignorance, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) took the covenant from them from their emergence. What is your opinion of this evidence, O Shaykh? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This, may Allah bless you, is a very weak argument. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the previous verse: ? This argument means denying the wisdom of sending the messengers and sending down the books. If what occurred in the realm of spirits, as they say, were sufficient to establish the proof, then our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) would not have said: , and there would have been no extreme need for sending the messengers and sending down the books. And this is a wrong argument of the Mu'tazilah, because the Mu'tazilah interpret the verse I mentioned earlier: ; that is, intellect. And this is, of course, a deviation from the Sunnah, because the Sunnah clarifies that four types of people on the Day of Resurrection will be judged by their proof: the child who has not reached the age of accountability, the insane person, andThe Shaykh : the one who died, and the fourth I do not remember now. The important thing is that these people are judged on the Day of Resurrection with a judgment different from the judgment of people. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) sends to them a messenger, so whoever obeys this messenger enters Paradise, and whoever disobeys him enters the Fire. Therefore, the previous verse and this hadith and what came in the books of exegesis from the Salaf invalidate the argument by the verse I mentioned earlier, and it is necessary to...
The Shaykh: And the hadith I mentioned earlier, which is also among the proofs: , if the previous proof were correct, this hadith would have no meaning at all; because the previous proof equates the one who heard of the Messenger with the one who did not hear of him at all, and no scholar ever says this.

The questioner : What is the meaning of ?

The Shaykh : I explained it earlier: he heard of my call in its true reality, and of his known attributes and characteristics. And this, too, we have some recordings on this period with you.
Yes.