Explanation of the author's statement: "As for the impossibility of ignorance: because it is not possible for any heart that has life, awareness, and a desire for knowledge
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The Shaykh :"As for the impossibility of ignorance, the impossibility of ignorance regarding the names and attributes of Allah among the Companions, it is because it is not possible for any heart that has life, awareness, a desire for knowledge, and a passion for worship, except that its greatest concern is seeking knowledge of faith in Allah the Exalted and His attributes, yes, and knowing Him by His names and attributes, and realizing that through knowledge and belief". Every person who has life in their heart, love for knowledge, and a passion for worship, the first thing they seek is what? Knowledge of the names and attributes of Allah.
You might say to me that reality contradicts this, because we, praise be to Allah, love knowledge and have a passion for worship in our hearts, and yet we have not studied the science of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) regarding the names and attributes of Allah. What do we say? We say that we have, praise be to Allah, a portion of it; we have a great deal of it. We grew up in Islam, and from the very beginning of our upbringing, we have known our Lord, even if we did not know Him in detail, but in general terms. When a child is young, you ask, "Where is your Lord?" He says, "In the sky." Any child, even as soon as he reaches the age of discernment, says, "My Lord is in the sky," yes, or "above," yes, and so on, which indicates that the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) is ingrained in him. So we, praise be to Allah, have a great deal of knowledge of this. But a person who is ignorant and did not grow up in Islam, and who has a desire for worship, must seek out this God first, in order to build his belief on something, in order to build his belief on something. For this reason, the Companions sometimes the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would narrate a hadith to them and they would ask for clarification about it. ولما سألوه أقريب ربنا فنناجيه أم بعيد فنناديه أنزل الله وإذا سألك عبادي عني And when they asked, "Is our Lord near so that we speak to Him in confidence, or far so that we call out to Him?" Allah revealed: "And when My servants ask you about Me" There is disagreement regarding the authenticity of this chain, but my intention is that a person who has a desire to perfect his worship must seek out the attributes and names of the One worshipped so that he worships with insight. Therefore, ignorance is impossible for him.
You might say to me that reality contradicts this, because we, praise be to Allah, love knowledge and have a passion for worship in our hearts, and yet we have not studied the science of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) regarding the names and attributes of Allah. What do we say? We say that we have, praise be to Allah, a portion of it; we have a great deal of it. We grew up in Islam, and from the very beginning of our upbringing, we have known our Lord, even if we did not know Him in detail, but in general terms. When a child is young, you ask, "Where is your Lord?" He says, "In the sky." Any child, even as soon as he reaches the age of discernment, says, "My Lord is in the sky," yes, or "above," yes, and so on, which indicates that the fitrah (the innate natural disposition) is ingrained in him. So we, praise be to Allah, have a great deal of knowledge of this. But a person who is ignorant and did not grow up in Islam, and who has a desire for worship, must seek out this God first, in order to build his belief on something, in order to build his belief on something. For this reason, the Companions sometimes the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would narrate a hadith to them and they would ask for clarification about it.