الجَهل

IGNORANCE

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2- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Ignorance is death for the living and perpetuates wretchedness.’
[Ibid. no. 1464]

3- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Ignorance is the ruination of every affair.’
[Ibid. no. 930]

4- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Ignorance is the root of every evil.’
[Ibid. no. 819]

5- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Greed, voracity, and stinginess are a result of ignorance.’
[Ibid. no. 1694]

6– Imam al-`Askari (AS) said, ‘Ignorance is an enemy.’
[al-Durra al-Bahira, no. 44]

7- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The ignorant is one who disobeys Allah, even if he is beautiful to look at and of great importance.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 1, p. 160, no. 39]

8- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The characteristic of an ignorant person is that he oppresses whoever he associates with, acts unjustly towards his subordinates, flatters his superiors, and his speech is without deliberation.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 29]

9- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘An ignorant person does not see his own shortcomings and is not willing to accept any advice concerning them.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1809]

10- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘An ignorant person is dead, even though he is living.’
[Ibid. no. 1125]

11- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The ignorant is one who has allowed himself to be deceived by his desires and whims.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1285]

12- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘You will not see an ignorant person except that he is either committing excess in what he does or falling short of what he ought to do.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 70]

13- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The ignorant is one whose desires have enslaved him.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3864]

14- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The ignorant is a slave of his desires.’
[Ibid. no. 449]

15– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The deeds of the ignorant are doomed and his knowledge is error.’
[Ibid. no. 6327]

16– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The ignorant is one who considers himself knowledgeable about what he is
[in actual fact] ignorant of, and he is content with his own opinion. His attachment to scholars only increases his estrangement
[from knowledge] since he is constantly finding fault with them. He deems invalid the views of those who oppose him, and that which he does not understand he sees as fallacious. If he comes across something that he does not know, he denies it and falsifies it saying, ‘I have never heard of this!’ or ‘I do not see it as possible! or ‘How can it be!’ or ‘Where is this from?’ This is due to his confidence in his own opinion and the paucity of his awareness of his own ignorance.
For this reason he is attached to what he sees as beneficial from his own mistaken opinion, and as a consequence, denies the truth, remains confused in his own ignorance and too proud to seek knowledge.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 73]

17– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘The attributes of the ignorant are that: he answers before listening, objects before understanding, and passes judgment on that which he does not know.’
[A`alam al-Din, no. 303]

18– Imam al-Hadi (AS) said, ‘The ignorant is a prisoner of his tongue.’
[al-Durra al-Bahira, no. 41]

19– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The most ignorant of people is one who is deluded by the praise of a flatterer who beautifies evil to him and renders a sincere advice detestable.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3262]

20– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The utter extremity of ignorance is for one to glorify his own ignorance.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 6371]

21– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The greatest form of ignorance is for a person to be ignorant of the condition of his own self.’
[Ibid. no. 2936]

22– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘It suffices for one to be considered ignorant if he commits that which is forbidden.’
[MaÔÁlib al-Sa’Ùl, no. 55]

23– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Self-admiration in one’s knowledge is sufficient to be considered ignorance.’
[Amali al-Tusi, p. 56, no. 78]

24– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘It suffices as ignorance to be unaware of one’s status.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 7050]

25– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Do not utter all that you know since that is enough to be considered ignorance.’
[Ibid. no. 10187]

26– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘
[Possessing] fear of Allah suffices as knowledge, and being conceited towards Him suffices as ignorance.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 70, p. 379, no. 26]

27– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Ignorance is to display all that you know.’
[Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 2, p. 122]

28- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Relying on this world in spite of all that you face therein is ignorance.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 384]

29- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Your desire for the impossible is ignorance.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5384]

30- Imam al-Hasan (AS), when his father asked him the meaning of ignorance, said, ‘It is hastening to snatch up an opportunity before having made oneself capable
[of fulfilling it], and it is to refuse to answer.’
[Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 401, no. 62]

31- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Ignorance lies in three things: in compromising one’s brothers, declaring war without the command to do so, and spying into affairs that do not concern one.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 317]

32– Imam al-`Askari (AS) said, ‘Ignorance is to laugh without any reason.’
[Ibid. no. 487]

33- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘People are antagonists of what they are ignorant of.’
[MaÔÁlib al-Sa’Ùl, no. 57]

34- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘He who is ignorant of something finds fault with it.’
[Kashf al-Ghamma, v. 3, p. 137]

35- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘I have said four things which Allah has verified with verses He has revealed in His Book … I said: ‘He who is ignorant of something will oppose it’, and He revealed: “Rather, they deny that whose knowledge they do not comprehend”.
[ Qur’an 10:39]

36- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Do not oppose that which you are ignorant of; for most knowledge lies in that which you cannot fathom.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, no. 10246]