notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
#تکمله3080
When people lack knowledge or understanding of a particular phenomenon, this may naturally lead them to respond wrongly, show little patience, refuse to accept it, and so on. Will such a person be held to account for this on the Day of Resurrection? Given that people have different levels of knowledge, can a person be punished for lacking knowledge or understanding of a subject?
People’s obligations are proportionate to their abilities and knowledge. If someone lacks knowledge of a subject and has no access to a reliable source, they will not be punished for it. But resisting the Two Weighty Things or the conduct of a wise, learned person is clear evidence of ignorance, and ignorance is no excuse.
People are surely held accountable according to their abilities and the extent of their knowledge. One principle no one can be unaware of is that we must refrain from passing judgment on matters we do not fully understand.
A general principle is that “whatever a learned, rational, discerning and trustworthy person does is done in accordance with truth and reality, and rests on a particular body of knowledge.”
Thus, any opposition, resistance or objection to the conduct of a learned, rational and trustworthy person is blameworthy and amounts to an admission of one’s limited knowledge.
Khidr, peace be upon him, was a prophet of God Most High; his actions were certainly guided by a source of absolute trust.
Any resistance to the Thaqalayn is blameworthy and reveals the objector’s manifest ignorance.
Once we have established that a source is trustworthy, we must obey it completely.
An ignorant person’s excuse is acceptable only when they have been denied access to a trustworthy source.