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Fatwa CenterDestiny of a non-Muslim who did not try to know about Islam
Question
Salam Alaykom. I wanted to clarify this. If a person does not know about islam, will that person be punished? What if he had the internet, library area and he didn't investigate his religion, will he still be sinful for not looking into other religions, preferably islam? Jazak'allah khair.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The general principle in the religion of Islam is that Allaah will not punish any person unless the evidence is established against him. Allaah Says (what means): {And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning.}[Quran 17:15] It is for this reason that the scholars 
addressed the issue of one being excused because of ignorance.
However, here is an important issue; if a person is capable of knowing the truth and he was negligent in seeking it, he might not be excused as mentioned by Ibn Al-Qayyim 
.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90888, 86712 and 85624.
A person is not obliged to study all religions in order to find out the truth. However, he is obliged to seek the truth which is the religion of Islam. If he finds the truth which is the religion of Islam, and abides by its teachings, then it can not be said that he is sinful because he did not search other religions.
Allaah Knows best.
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