MAGAZINE: EDITION JULY 2025
World Religions

World Faiths – Ignorance

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Symbol of Islam: Crescent Moon and StarO ye who believe! if an unrighteous person brings you any news, ascertain the correctness of the report fully, lest you harm a people in ignorance, and then become repentant for what you have done.

ISLAM, THE HOLY QUR’AN, 49:7.

Symbol of Islam: Crescent Moon and StarVerily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when He leaves no learned person, people turn to the ignorant as their leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray.

ISLAM, SAYING OF THE HOLY PROPHET (SA), SAHIH MUSLIM, HADITH 2673A.

Symbol of Islam: Crescent Moon and StarThe root cause of all insolence is ignorance. Anyone who partakes of insight that is certain in nature cannot remain insolent. If a homeowner comes to know that a terrible flood is surging towards him, or if his property is encircled by a fire and only a small opening remains, then such a person would never remain there.

ISLAM, SAYING OF THE PROMISED MESSIAH (AS), NOAH’S ARK, P. 109.

Symbol of Judaism: The Star of DavidThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

JUDAISM, THE BIBLE, PROVERBS 1:7.

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practise every kind of impurity.

CHRISTIANITY, THE BIBLE, EPHESIANS 4:17-19.

Symbol of Buddhism: Dharmachakra, the eight-spoked wheelLong is the night to the wakeful; long is the league to the weary; long is the cycle of reincarnation to the foolish who know not the sublime Truth.

BUDDHISM, DHAMMAPADA 60.

In vain I have looked for a single man capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself.

CONFUCIANISM, ANALECTS 5:26.

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  • Ignorance, as beautifully explored in this article, is not simply a lack of knowledge—it is a spiritual affliction that distorts judgment and corrodes compassion. The Holy Qur’an warns: ‘I seek refuge with Allah from being one of the ignorant’ (2:68), and instructs, ‘Take to forgiveness, and enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant’ (7:200). These verses call us to respond to ignorance not with mockery or rage, but with mercy and moral clarity. Across faiths, we find this same call: Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that ‘fools despise wisdom,’ while the Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, affirms that ‘the root cause of all insolence is ignorance’ (Noah’s Ark, p. 109). May we be among those who seek truth with tenderness and uphold dignity in the face of darkness. Ameen.

    Quran verses shared:
    2:68 “And remember when Moses said to his people: ‘Allah commands you to slaughter a cow,’ they said: ‘Dost thou make a jest of us?’ He said: ‘I seek refuge with Allah from being one of the ignorant.’”
    7:200 “Take to forgiveness, and enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant.”