Examining the Ruling of Guiding the Ignorant from the Perspective of Educational Jurisprudence

The guidance of the ignorant involves a set of actions such as teaching, informing and warning, because sometimes the trainee has no knowledge of the divine injunction, in which case, if he is informed, he will come to know the injunction. Sometimes the trainee does not know, and knowledge is not achieved by making an announcement only; rather he needs education. Sometimes the trainee knows the ruling and the subject-matter, but he is unmindful or oblivious in which case he is reminded and it is only then that he remembers his duty and obligation. Guiding the ignorant as a training measure is obligatory in some cases and recommended in others, but the necessity guiding is contingent largely upon the probability of effect and no substantial harm to the mentor and educator. This article examines the jurisprudential point of view in this regard using inferential and analytical methods. In short, to highlight the most important results of the research at hand, it is necessary to state that in the views of the jurists, the necessity of guiding the ignorant to the hukm (injunction) depends on a number of conditions including the person being a duty-bound, necessity of the duty, and the ruling being of daily use to the duty-bound. As for guiding the ignorant to the subject, the jurists differ in their opinion in this regard. Some believe it is obligatory to guide the ignorant (al-ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, 1401: 48) and others believe in the non-necessity of guiding such a person (al-ʿᾹmīlī, 1418: 2/579). Generally speaking, guiding the ignorant is preferable in the area of non-mandatory rulings and those rulings which are not of daily application.