The Excuse of Ignorance and the Details Thereof
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Question:
You have already answered, Your Eminence, one of the questions posed by a questioner regarding the excuse of ignorance, when one is excused and when one is not, and you mentioned that the matter requires detailed consideration. Among the points you mentioned is that no one is excused by ignorance in matters of creed. I say, Your Eminence: If a man dies while not calling upon the dead for aid, and not doing such prohibited things, except that he did so once, as far as I know, where he sought aid from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) without knowing that it was forbidden and shirk (associating partners with Allah). Then he performed Hajj afterwards without anyone alerting him to it, and without knowing the ruling, I think, until Allah took his soul. This man used to pray and seek forgiveness from Allah, but he did not know that that one instance he committed was forbidden. Do you think that if one did that, even once, and died while ignorant of such a thing, is he considered a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah)? We ask for clarification and guidance. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If the person you mentioned repented to Allah after the instance you mentioned, and returned to Him, the Exalted, and sought forgiveness for it, then the ruling of that is removed and his Islam is established. However, if he persisted in the creed of seeking aid from other than Allah, and did not repent to Allah from it, then he remains in his shirk (associating partners with Allah), even if he prays and fasts, until he repents to Allah from the shirk in which he is.
Likewise, if a person insults Allah and His Messenger, or insults the religion of Allah, or mocks the religion of Allah, or Paradise or the Fire, then his praying and fasting do not benefit him. If a nullifier of Islam is found in him, the deeds are invalidated until he repents to Allah from it. This is an important rule. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-An'am: 88], and He, the Exalted, said: [Az-Zumar 39:65] But Allah, then worship Him and be among the grateful [Az-Zumar: 65-66]. And the mother of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sought permission from his Lord to seek forgiveness for her, but he was not granted permission. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the one who asked him about his father: Sahih Muslim 203 And they both died in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.
The point is that one who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) is not sought to be forgiven for, nor is supplication made for him, nor is charity given on his behalf, except if it is known that he repented to Allah from it. This is the well-known rule among the scholars of knowledge. And success is from Allah.
You have already answered, Your Eminence, one of the questions posed by a questioner regarding the excuse of ignorance, when one is excused and when one is not, and you mentioned that the matter requires detailed consideration. Among the points you mentioned is that no one is excused by ignorance in matters of creed. I say, Your Eminence: If a man dies while not calling upon the dead for aid, and not doing such prohibited things, except that he did so once, as far as I know, where he sought aid from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) without knowing that it was forbidden and shirk (associating partners with Allah). Then he performed Hajj afterwards without anyone alerting him to it, and without knowing the ruling, I think, until Allah took his soul. This man used to pray and seek forgiveness from Allah, but he did not know that that one instance he committed was forbidden. Do you think that if one did that, even once, and died while ignorant of such a thing, is he considered a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah)? We ask for clarification and guidance. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If the person you mentioned repented to Allah after the instance you mentioned, and returned to Him, the Exalted, and sought forgiveness for it, then the ruling of that is removed and his Islam is established. However, if he persisted in the creed of seeking aid from other than Allah, and did not repent to Allah from it, then he remains in his shirk (associating partners with Allah), even if he prays and fasts, until he repents to Allah from the shirk in which he is.
Likewise, if a person insults Allah and His Messenger, or insults the religion of Allah, or mocks the religion of Allah, or Paradise or the Fire, then his praying and fasting do not benefit him. If a nullifier of Islam is found in him, the deeds are invalidated until he repents to Allah from it. This is an important rule. Allah the Exalted said:
But if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَAnd it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers."
وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ Verily my father and your father are in the Fire.
إن أبي وأباك في النارThe point is that one who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) is not sought to be forgiven for, nor is supplication made for him, nor is charity given on his behalf, except if it is known that he repented to Allah from it. This is the well-known rule among the scholars of knowledge. And success is from Allah.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.