a messenger to recite Our verses to them. And We would not destroy the cities except while their people were wrongdoers.” [al-Qasas 28:59]

There is no wrongdoing on the part of one who commits something without knowing that it is sinful or that it constitutes disbelief.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah has pardoned my ummah for mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are compelled to do.” (1) Ignorance is undoubtedly among mistakes. Accordingly, we say: if a person commits, in word or deed, something that entails disbelief, while unaware that it is disbelief—that is, unaware of its legal proof—then he does not become a disbeliever. Yet the question remains: is every person excused on account of ignorance?

We say: whoever is able to learn but does not do so may not be excused for his ignorance. In that case, he falls outside the general rule. For example, if someone says, “I do not know that prayer is obligatory,” while living in a Muslim land, he should be told: “How can you not know, when you see people giving the call to prayer, going to the mosques, and praying?” Such a person is not excused. Thus, this matter requires consideration: is one who is ignorant of the ruling excused for failing to seek knowledge, or not?

It may be said that he may be excused, or he may not be excused. Suppose he has lived in an environment where acts of disbelief are committed, and its scholars are present yet approve of them and do not condemn them, and none of them has told him that this is disbelief—as is the case with many ordinary Muslims in Muslim lands who supplicate to graves, those buried in them, and the like. It may then be said that this man is excused. He has lived in a land that is regarded as a place where polytheism is openly practised, yet he has never heard that this is polytheism. Such a person may be excused, because he has no cause prompting him to take notice and seek knowledge.