THIRD REMINDER. Thursday. CAN WE CALL RELIGIOUS INNOVATORS KAAFIRS/HYPOCRITES ETC, AND ITS THEIR IGNORANCE AN EXCUSE FOR ALLAH TO FORGIVE THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR SHAHAADAH?. BismilLah Let's conclude on our topic today. The correct view with regard to the issue of ignorance and whether ignorance is a valid excuse is that if a Muslim is proven to be a Muslim, he cannot be stripped of this description on the basis of mere doubt; rather he cannot be stripped of this description except on the basis of certainty and after establishing proof against him in such a way that leaves him with no excuse. it is well-established that basically some Muslims have grown up in countries and societies where ignorance of many of the rulings and teachings of Islam is the norm, especially with regard to issues having to do with the Sunnahs and also the foundations of Tawheed. Rather they believe in general terms, but are ignorant of many of the details. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Regarding someone as a disbeliever is like a warning of hellfire, even if it is because the one who is so described is saying something that implies rejection of what the Messenger taught; that man may be new in Islam, or may be living in the wilderness, far from centres of teaching. Such a person should not be deemed a disbeliever for something he rejected of the teachings of Islam until proof has been established in his case. A man may not have heard of some particular text, or he may have heard of it but it was not proven to him to be sound and correct, or he may have already some idea established in his mind that contradicts the text and so he misinterpreted the text. I always remember the hadith in as-Saheehayn about the man who said: “…When I die, burn me then crush (my bones), then scatter me in the wind and in the sea, for by Allah, if Allah grasps hold of me, He will punish me as He has never punished anyone. They did that to him, then ALLAH said to the land: Return what you have taken, and he was standing there. Then Allah said to him: What made you do what you did? He said: Fear of You, O Lord. And Allah forgave him because of that.” Allahu Akbar. This was a man who doubted the might of Allah, and doubted that He would be able to bring him back to life after his ashes were scattered; in fact he believed that he would not be resurrected, which constitutes disbelief according to the consensus of the Scholars. But he was ignorant and did not know that, yet he was a believer who feared that Allah would punish him, so Allah forgave him because of that. Let's check our anger on those who are deviating else we will end up hurting our own eemaan. Let me add this message someone share to me this morning to boost our understanding of my point. "A snake penetrated into a carpentry workshop. As it slipped, it passed over a saw and got slightly wounded. Suddenly, it turned and bit the saw, and biting the saw, the snake seriously got wounded in its mouth! Then not understanding what was happening and thinking that the saw was attacking "him," it decided to roll around the saw to suffocate it with all its body by squeezing it with all its strength, but it ended up being killed by the saw!!! *Sometimes we react in anger to hurt those who have harmed us, but we realize after all that we are being hurt ourselves*. *In life it is better sometimes to ignore situations, ignore people, ignore their behaviours, their words.* *Sometimes it is better not to react so as not to suffer consequences that can sometimes be deadly or harmful. Do not let hate take over your life because love is stronger than anything. May Allah keep guiding us all and protect us from any satanic influences. Aameen.