Can People Be Excused from Takfeer for Ignorance of Clear Matters of the Deen?

The answer to this question is yes. Excuses of ignorance vary from person to person, depending on time and place. This could be due to access (or lack thereof) to correct information, the proliferation of false information, or both.

Take the example of the man who burnt himself because he was afraid that Allah would punish him:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ كَانَ رَجُلٌ يُسْرِفُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ، فَلَمَّا حَضَرَهُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ إِذَا أَنَا مُتُّ فَأَحْرِقُونِي ثُمَّ اطْحَنُونِي ثُمَّ ذَرُّونِي فِي الرِّيحِ، فَوَاللَّهِ لَئِنْ قَدَرَ عَلَىَّ رَبِّي لَيُعَذِّبَنِّي عَذَابًا مَا عَذَّبَهُ أَحَدًا‏.‏ فَلَمَّا مَاتَ فُعِلَ بِهِ ذَلِكَ، فَأَمَرَ اللَّهُ الأَرْضَ، فَقَالَ اجْمَعِي مَا فِيكِ مِنْهُ‏.‏ فَفَعَلَتْ فَإِذَا هُوَ قَائِمٌ، فَقَالَ مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَى مَا صَنَعْتَ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ، خَشْيَتُكَ‏.‏ فَغَفَرَ لَهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ وَقَالَ غَيْرُهُ ‏"‏ مَخَافَتُكَ يَا رَبِّ ‏"‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “A man used to do sinful deeds, and when death came to him, he said to his sons, ‘After my death, burn me and then crush me, and scatter the powder in the air, for by Allah, if Allah has control over me, He will give me such a punishment as He has never given to anyone else.’ When he died, his sons did accordingly. Allah ordered the earth saying, ‘Collect what you hold of his particles.’ It did so, and behold! There he was (the man) standing. Allah asked (him), ‘What made you do what you did?’ He replied, ‘O my Lord! I was afraid of You.’ So Allah forgave him. “Another narrator said “The man said, Fear of You, O Lord!” [Saheeh al-Bukhari]

Scholars have understood this man’s statement differently, but several scholars understood that this man was ignorant of Allah being All-Powerful. Yet, clearly, he was forgiven.[1]

Consider the eschatological hadeeth that discusses how rampant ignorance will become:

عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ بْنِ الْيَمَانِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ "‏ يَدْرُسُ الإِسْلاَمُ كَمَا يَدْرُسُ وَشْىُ الثَّوْبِ حَتَّى لاَ يُدْرَى مَا صِيَامٌ وَلاَ صَلاَةٌ وَلاَ نُسُكٌ وَلاَ صَدَقَةٌ وَلَيُسْرَى عَلَى كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي لَيْلَةٍ فَلاَ يَبْقَى فِي الأَرْضِ مِنْهُ آيَةٌ وَتَبْقَى طَوَائِفُ مِنَ النَّاسِ الشَّيْخُ الْكَبِيرُ وَالْعَجُوزُ يَقُولُونَ أَدْرَكْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى هَذِهِ الْكَلِمَةِ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ فَنَحْنُ نَقُولُهَا.‏ فَقَالَ لَهُ صِلَةُ مَا تُغْنِي عَنْهُمْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَهُمْ لاَ يَدْرُونَ مَا صَلاَةٌ وَلاَ صِيَامٌ وَلاَ نُسُكٌ وَلاَ صَدَقَةٌ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ حُذَيْفَةُ ثُمَّ رَدَّهَا عَلَيْهِ ثَلاَثًا كُلَّ ذَلِكَ يُعْرِضُ عَنْهُ حُذَيْفَةُ ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الثَّالِثَةِ فَقَالَ يَا صِلَةُ تُنْجِيهِمْ مِنَ النَّارِ ‏.‏ ثَلاَثًا ‏.‏

It was narrated from Hudhaifah bin Yaman that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“Islam will wear out as embroidery on a garment wears out, until no one will know what fasting, prayer, (pilgrimage) rites and charity are. The Book of Allah will be taken away at night, and not one Verse of it will be left on earth. And there will be some people left, old men and old women, who will say: “We saw our fathers saying these words: ‘La ilaha illallah’ so we say them too.” Silah said to him: “What good will (saying): La ilaha illallah do them, when they do not know what fasting, prayer, (pilgrimage) rites and charity are?” Hudhaifah turned away from his. He repeated his question three times, and Hudhaifah turned away from him each time. Then he turned to him on the third time and said: “O Silah! It will save them from Hell,” three times. [Sunan Ibn Majah]

Or consider how the Sahabah did not make takfeer of the Sahabi Qudamah b. Madh’un for permitting the drinking of khamr during the reign of Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). Similarly, in Sham, Abu Jandal and his companions allowed the drinking of khamr and tried to justify doing so by citing Surah 5:93. Yet, still, no takfeer was made of them.[2]

There were cases when some did not even know that zina was haram, and Umar b. al-Khattab instructed that they not be punished.[3]

What all this shows is that sometimes we might get tempted to immediately rush to make takfeer of someone for denying what we believe to be so clearly known and evident in the deen. Still, we ought to resist the temptation and ensure that we recognize the seriousness of takfeer and that proper protocol for such a severe ruling is adequately taken.

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[1] Ibn Abdul Barr al-Maliki said:

قال منهم قائلون :هذا رجل جهل بعض صفات الله عز و جل وهي القدرة فلم يعلم أن الله على كل ما يشاء قدير , قالوا : ومن جهل صفة من صفات الله عز و جل وآمن بسائر صفاته وعرفها لم يكن بجهله بعض صفات الله كافرا , قالوا :وإنما الكافر من عاند الحق لا من جهله , وهذا قول المتقدمين من العلماء ومن سلك سبيلهم من المتأخرين

[2] Abdulrahman al-Maqdisi (d. 682 A.H.) said in his commentary on al-Muqni‘:

روي أن قدامة بن مظعون شرب الخمر مستحلًا فأقام عمر عليه الحد ولم يكفره وكذلك أبو جندل بن سهيل وجماعة شربوا الخمر بالشام مستحلين لها مستدلين بقول الله تعالى (ليس على الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات جناح فيما طعموا) الآية فلم يكفروا

[3] Ibn Taymiyyah said:

وقد زنت على عهد عمر امرأة فلما أقرت به قال عثمان : إنها لتستهل به استهلال من لا يعلم أنه حرام , فلما تبين للصحابة أنها لا تعرف التحريم لم يحدوها , واستحلال الزنى خطأ قطعا

Also see Shaykh Salih Aal al-Shaykh’s book, al-Takmeel lima Faata Takhreejuhu min Irwaa’ al-Ghaleel, pp. 170-171 where he corrects Shaykh al-Albani’s weakening of the story.