those who deem it lawful to kill Muslims unjustly, take their women captive, seize their wealth as spoils, and commit other forbidden acts whose prohibition is manifest and established by mass transmission.

Some people, however, may be excusably ignorant of certain rulings. No one is therefore judged an unbeliever until the proof has been established against him through the message reaching him. As Allah Most High says:

“So that people will have no argument against Allah after the messengers.”

And He Most High says:

“We never punish until We have sent a messenger.”

Thus, if a man embraces Islam without knowing that prayer is obligatory upon him, or without knowing that wine is forbidden, he does not become an unbeliever for failing to believe that the former is obligatory and the latter forbidden. Indeed, he is not punished until the proof brought by the Prophet reaches him.

Scholars have even differed concerning someone who embraces Islam in dār al-harb (the abode of war), does not know that prayer is obligatory, and then learns of its obligation: must he make up the prayers he missed while ignorant? There are two positions within the school of Imam Ahmad and elsewhere:

The first is that he is not required to make them up. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah.

The second is that he must make them up. This is the well-known position among the followers of al-Shāfi'ī.

Indeed, the disagreement among scholars extends to anyone who omits an obligation before the proof reaches him: for example, someone who neglects prayer when water is unavailable, believing that prayer is not valid with dry ablution; or someone who eats until he can distinguish a white thread from a black thread, believing that this is what the verse means, as happened