The Criterion for Excuse Due to Ignorance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
His Eminence the Shaykh: What is the criterion for excuse due to ignorance in matters of worship? And does every person who is ignorant of something in matters of worship—especially in matters of independent legal reasoning—have the consequences of leaving off that matter due to his ignorance lifted from him?
Excuse due to ignorance is established by the Qur'an and the Sunnah;By the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): [al-Baqarah: 286] So Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: I have done so,And by His saying, Exalted is He: [al-Ahzab: 5] Meaning: what your hearts intentionally did in a way that contradicts the Shari'ah.
Likewise, it is established in the Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) several cases that indicate excuse due to ignorance, among them is what is established in Sahih al-Bukhari from Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both): that they broke their fast on a cloudy day during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then the sun appeared and they were not ordered to make it up.
And among them: The hadith of 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), when he woke up fasting and was eating, and he had placed under his pillow two cords, one white and the other black, and he kept eating until the white cord became distinct from the black cord, so he stopped. He informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified to him that what was intended by that was the whiteness of the day and the darkness of the night, not the whiteness of the cord, which is the white rope from the black one. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order him to repeat it.
Then Allah Glorified and Exalted is He said in His Book: [al-Nisa: 165] And this indicates that if there are no messengers, then they have an argument against Allah. Likewise, if they had messengers but did not know about them; because there is no difference between not having a messenger, and having a messenger about whom they did not know,And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: [al-Qasas: 59] And the verses in this meaning are numerous.
And for this reason we say: Every person who does something forbidden while ignorant of it, he has no sin upon him, and no punishment is established for him; because Allah the Exalted is more merciful than to punish one who did not intentionally contradict Him and disobey Him.
But the consideration remains if a person is negligent in seeking the truth, by being careless, and seeing what people are doing and doing it without researching, then he may be sinful, indeed he is sinful for being negligent in seeking the truth, and he may not be excused in this case. And he may be excused if it did not occur to him that this action is a contradiction, and he has no scholar to alert him, so in this case he is excused. For this reason, the stronger position is that if someone lived in the desert far from the cities, and did not fast Ramadan thinking that it is not obligatory, or if he had intercourse with his wife in Ramadan thinking that intercourse is lawful, then he has no making up of fasts; because he is ignorant, and a condition of being charged with the Shari'ah is that it be conveyed to the one charged so that he knows it.
So the summary, then: That a person is excused by ignorance, but he is not excused for his negligence in seeking the truth.
Excuse due to ignorance is established by the Qur'an and the Sunnah;By the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):
Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred.
رَبَّنَا لا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَاAnd there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended
وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْLikewise, it is established in the Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) several cases that indicate excuse due to ignorance, among them is what is established in Sahih al-Bukhari from Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both): that they broke their fast on a cloudy day during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then the sun appeared and they were not ordered to make it up.
And among them: The hadith of 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), when he woke up fasting and was eating, and he had placed under his pillow two cords, one white and the other black, and he kept eating until the white cord became distinct from the black cord, so he stopped. He informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified to him that what was intended by that was the whiteness of the day and the darkness of the night, not the whiteness of the cord, which is the white rope from the black one. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order him to repeat it.
Then Allah Glorified and Exalted is He said in His Book:
[We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers
رُسُلاً مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِAnd never would your Lord have destroyed the cities until He had sent to their mother a messenger reciting to them Our verses. And We would not destroy the cities except while their people were wrongdoers.
وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى حَتَّى يَبْعَثَ فِي أُمِّهَا رَسُولاً يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا وَمَا كُنَّا مُهْلِكِي الْقُرَى إِلَّا وَأَهْلُهَا ظَالِمُونَAnd for this reason we say: Every person who does something forbidden while ignorant of it, he has no sin upon him, and no punishment is established for him; because Allah the Exalted is more merciful than to punish one who did not intentionally contradict Him and disobey Him.
But the consideration remains if a person is negligent in seeking the truth, by being careless, and seeing what people are doing and doing it without researching, then he may be sinful, indeed he is sinful for being negligent in seeking the truth, and he may not be excused in this case. And he may be excused if it did not occur to him that this action is a contradiction, and he has no scholar to alert him, so in this case he is excused. For this reason, the stronger position is that if someone lived in the desert far from the cities, and did not fast Ramadan thinking that it is not obligatory, or if he had intercourse with his wife in Ramadan thinking that intercourse is lawful, then he has no making up of fasts; because he is ignorant, and a condition of being charged with the Shari'ah is that it be conveyed to the one charged so that he knows it.
So the summary, then: That a person is excused by ignorance, but he is not excused for his negligence in seeking the truth.