A Response to Those Who Cite the Verse of Allah, “They said, ‘O Shu'ayb, we do not understand much of what you say,’” to Argue That Ignorance Is Not an Excuse
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
A Response to Those Who Cite the Verse of Allah, : “They said, ‘O Shu'ayb, we do not understand much of what you say’” regarding the lack of excuse due to ignorance
Your Eminence! Some people cite the saying of Allah, Glorified and Exalted: [Hud: 91] to argue that ignorance is not an excuse. Do they have a valid argument in this verse?
You must know that the established legal and creedal principle is that a person interprets the ambiguous texts in light of the clear ones, and all the clear texts indicate that a person is excused by ignorance, [Al-Isra: 15] ,And Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nisa: 165] ,And Allah the Exalted said: [At-Tawbah: 115] and there are many verses to this effect. If ignorance were an excuse, we would not have needed the messengers.
And this is the verse I mentioned: “We do not understand much of what you say” They did not say: “We do not understand what you say,”They said: “Much of what you say” ,Then they may be sincere in their statement: “We do not understand” and they may be lying, but they are defiant,So the verse now: There is no evidence in it that they do not understand everything he says, but rather that they do not understand much of what he says.
And the second: That they are defiant and not sincere in their statement: “We do not understand” , and therefore it is not permissible to contradict the explicit verses with such an ambiguous verse.
The questioner: The messengers have come, and there is no other messenger after them, so we are only obligated to -Meaning: hear the verse- If they hear the verse, the argument is established against them. Answer: What do you think if I recited the entire Qur'an from beginning to end to a man who does not know Arabic, would he understand? No.
For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: [Ibrahim: 4] .
Your Eminence! Some people cite the saying of Allah, Glorified and Exalted:
They said, "O Shu'ayb, we do not understand much of what you say
قَالُوا يَا شُعَيْبُ مَا نَفْقَهُ كَثِيراً مِمَّا تَقُولُYou must know that the established legal and creedal principle is that a person interprets the ambiguous texts in light of the clear ones, and all the clear texts indicate that a person is excused by ignorance,
And never would We punish until We sent a messenger.
وما كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولاً[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 Allah would not let a people stray after He has guided them until He makes clear to them what they should avoid
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِلَّ قَوْماً بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَاهُمْ حَتَّى يُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ مَا يَتَّقُونَAnd this is the verse I mentioned: “We do not understand much of what you say” They did not say: “We do not understand what you say,”They said: “Much of what you say” ,Then they may be sincere in their statement: “We do not understand” and they may be lying, but they are defiant,So the verse now: There is no evidence in it that they do not understand everything he says, but rather that they do not understand much of what he says.
And the second: That they are defiant and not sincere in their statement: “We do not understand” , and therefore it is not permissible to contradict the explicit verses with such an ambiguous verse.
The questioner: The messengers have come, and there is no other messenger after them, so we are only obligated to -Meaning: hear the verse- If they hear the verse, the argument is established against them. Answer: What do you think if I recited the entire Qur'an from beginning to end to a man who does not know Arabic, would he understand? No.
For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: