and His messengers, He—exalted is He—said about the deviant People of the Book: “When a messenger from Allah came to them confirming what they already possessed, a group of those who had been given the Scripture cast the Book of Allah behind their backs as though they did not know.” (al-Baqarah 2:101)

A comparable example is Moses’—peace be upon him—reply when the Children of Israel said to him, “Are you making a mockery of us?” He answered, “I seek refuge with Allah lest I be among the ignorant.” (al-Baqarah 2:67)

Just as the absence of knowledge is ignorance, failing to act upon knowledge is an ugly form of ignorance as well.