His messengers, for no one who cannot comprehend an obligation can validly be placed under it. He has blessed the believers by enabling them to attain this, guiding them to it, and opening their hearts to know Him. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam; and whoever He wills to lead astray, He makes his heart tight and constricted, as though he were climbing into the sky.” [al-An‘ām: 125]

Allah, Mighty and Majestic, also says:

“By the soul and Him who fashioned it” [al-Shams: 7], “and inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.” [al-Shams: 8]

Section
On the Conditions of Religious Accountability

The conditions of religious accountability are three. The first is intellect, whose seat, according to Mālik—may Allah have mercy on him—is the heart. It is defined as possessing certain necessary knowledge, such as knowing that two is greater than one, that two bodies cannot occupy the same place, that the sky is above us and the earth beneath us, that a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle, and similar matters known to people of sound intellect. A more concise definition would be that it is a faculty through which knowledge can be apprehended. The first definition is more accurate and clearer; the latter is briefer.

The evidence from the Book that action is a condition for valid religious accountability is the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:

“None take heed except people of understanding.” [Āl ‘Imrān: 7]

And His saying, Most High:

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day are signs for people of understanding.” [Āl ‘Imrān: 190]

And His saying:

“Signs for people who reason.” [al-Baqarah: 164]

The evidence from the Sunnah is the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “The pen has been lifted from three,”