You mentioned in the past the issue of excusing ignorance regarding the attributes. Is a person excused for ignorance if he is in a town where slaughter is performed for the awliya (close friends of Allah)?
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The questioner : O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Please proceed.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, and may prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. As for what follows: You mentioned in previous questions the issue of excusing ignorance regarding the attributes. Is a person excused for ignorance if he is in a town where slaughter is performed for the awliya (close friends of Allah) and circumambulation is done around their graves, and they claim to be Muslims, and the character of his town or their towns is this in all the lands? Is this man excused for ignorance or not? He believes that the awliya (close friends of Allah), or that around whom he circumambulates, benefit and harm, and this is the prevalent belief in this land. Is this man excused for ignorance or what? And the second question is...
The Shaykh : No, that is enough. One question at a time. My answer to your question, with complete frankness, is yes, and it is fully understood from my previous answer. Because the question, as you just said, is about 'aqidah (creed): Is a person excused if he is misguided in 'aqidah (creed) or not? And what I rambled about regarding circumambulation around graves is from shirk (associating partners with Allah) (Blessed and Exalted is He). So the answer is the answer we rambled about and stated explicitly in the past. There is nothing new in the question. If you remember, I categorized the society in which this person who is excused or not excused lives into three types: either a correct Islamic society, or a disbelieving society, or a society that is Islamic in name, but the scholars, who are supposed to be guides leading others, are themselves misguided. And I mentioned from where this ignorant person gets his knowledge? So he is excused if he is found in the second type of society, the disbelieving society, or the third type, the Muslim society that has no people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and no people of correct 'aqidah (creed). So what prompted you to renew the question by giving an example, when there are countless examples that cannot be counted? Perhaps there is something hidden from some of the attendees, and perhaps you are among them. Can you say: What prompted you to direct this question, which is included in the previous answer?
Please.
The questioner : In many verses of the Qur'an, it is stated that if people call upon the awliya (close friends of Allah), they do not harm them nor benefit them.
The Shaykh : There is no need, my brother. You are now as if you are debating a person who acknowledges calling upon other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from among the dead. We are not on this point. Our discussion is about the ignorant person who lives among people who believe that this istighathah (calling for aid) to other than Allah is from the category of prescribed tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means). We are not on this point. We, and praise be to Allah, have been from the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) since our infancy. That is from the favor of Allah upon us and upon people. But our discussion now is about the one who is found in a society of shirk (associating partners with Allah): Has the proof of Allah been established against him? Has the proof of Allah been established against him?
The questioner : ... If the scholars of the people of the town are on these beliefs?
The Shaykh : It is clear that the proof has not been established. This is what we are rambled about. And therefore, there is nothing new in your question. And when we say that he is excused, this point may need clarification. What do we mean by "he is excused"? We mean that we do not rule that he is from the people of eternal disbelief in the Fire. That is what we mean. We do not mean that he enters Paradise "in transit." No, we do not mean that. No one enters Paradise, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, except a believing soul. He declared this in the Farewell Pilgrimage. But I want from my saying that he is excused: that we do not rule for him the Fire with which disbelievers are threatened. He has a known treatment on the Day of Resurrection in some authentic hadiths. If he obeys, he enters Paradise, and if he disobeys, he enters the Fire.
The Shaykh: Please proceed.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, and may prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. As for what follows: You mentioned in previous questions the issue of excusing ignorance regarding the attributes. Is a person excused for ignorance if he is in a town where slaughter is performed for the awliya (close friends of Allah) and circumambulation is done around their graves, and they claim to be Muslims, and the character of his town or their towns is this in all the lands? Is this man excused for ignorance or not? He believes that the awliya (close friends of Allah), or that around whom he circumambulates, benefit and harm, and this is the prevalent belief in this land. Is this man excused for ignorance or what? And the second question is...
The Shaykh : No, that is enough. One question at a time. My answer to your question, with complete frankness, is yes, and it is fully understood from my previous answer. Because the question, as you just said, is about 'aqidah (creed): Is a person excused if he is misguided in 'aqidah (creed) or not? And what I rambled about regarding circumambulation around graves is from shirk (associating partners with Allah) (Blessed and Exalted is He). So the answer is the answer we rambled about and stated explicitly in the past. There is nothing new in the question. If you remember, I categorized the society in which this person who is excused or not excused lives into three types: either a correct Islamic society, or a disbelieving society, or a society that is Islamic in name, but the scholars, who are supposed to be guides leading others, are themselves misguided. And I mentioned from where this ignorant person gets his knowledge? So he is excused if he is found in the second type of society, the disbelieving society, or the third type, the Muslim society that has no people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and no people of correct 'aqidah (creed). So what prompted you to renew the question by giving an example, when there are countless examples that cannot be counted? Perhaps there is something hidden from some of the attendees, and perhaps you are among them. Can you say: What prompted you to direct this question, which is included in the previous answer?
Please.
The questioner : In many verses of the Qur'an, it is stated that if people call upon the awliya (close friends of Allah), they do not harm them nor benefit them.
The Shaykh : There is no need, my brother. You are now as if you are debating a person who acknowledges calling upon other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from among the dead. We are not on this point. Our discussion is about the ignorant person who lives among people who believe that this istighathah (calling for aid) to other than Allah is from the category of prescribed tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means). We are not on this point. We, and praise be to Allah, have been from the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) since our infancy. That is from the favor of Allah upon us and upon people. But our discussion now is about the one who is found in a society of shirk (associating partners with Allah): Has the proof of Allah been established against him? Has the proof of Allah been established against him?
The questioner : ... If the scholars of the people of the town are on these beliefs?
The Shaykh : It is clear that the proof has not been established. This is what we are rambled about. And therefore, there is nothing new in your question. And when we say that he is excused, this point may need clarification. What do we mean by "he is excused"? We mean that we do not rule that he is from the people of eternal disbelief in the Fire. That is what we mean. We do not mean that he enters Paradise "in transit." No, we do not mean that. No one enters Paradise, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, except a believing soul. He declared this in the Farewell Pilgrimage. But I want from my saying that he is excused: that we do not rule for him the Fire with which disbelievers are threatened. He has a known treatment on the Day of Resurrection in some authentic hadiths. If he obeys, he enters Paradise, and if he disobeys, he enters the Fire.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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