Allah ta’ala says:
{A group He guided, and a group upon whom misguidance became deserved. Indeed, they took the devils as allies instead of Allah, and they think that they are rightly guided.} (al-A‘raf 7/30)
There is evidence in it that the disbeliever who believes that he is upon the truth in his deen [i.e., the ignorant one], the denier, and the obstinate one are all the same.
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (310 AH) said: “Allah says: Indeed, the group upon whom misguidance became deserved only went astray from the path of Allah and deviated from the intended clear path by taking the devils as supporters instead of Allah, and as helpers, out of ignorance of the error of what they were upon in that. Rather, they did that while thinking that they were upon guidance and truth, and that what they had done and undertaken was correct.”
And this is among the clearest indications of the error of the statement of whoever claims that Allah does not punish anyone for a sin that he committed or a misguidance that he believed, unless he commits it after knowing that its position is correct, and then commits it out of defiance toward his Lord regarding it. Because if that were the case, there would be no difference between the group of misguidance who went astray while thinking that they were guided, and the group of guidance. Yet Allah differentiated between their names and their rulings in this verse.
Allah ta’ala says:
{Those whose effort has gone astray in the life of this world while they think that they are doing good in their work.} (al-Kahf 18/104)
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (310 AH) said: And His statement: “Those whose effort has gone astray in the life of this world” — He says: They are those whose work which they did in their worldly life was not upon guidance and uprightness. Rather, it was upon injustice and misguidance, because they acted contrary to what Allah commanded them, rather upon kufr from them toward Him, while they thought that by doing that they were obedient to Allah and striving in that to which He encouraged His servants.”
And this is among the strongest proofs of the error of the statement of whoever claims that no one disbelieves in Allah except insofar as he intends kufr after having knowledge of His Oneness.
That is because Allah ta’ala informed about those whom He described in this verse that their effort which they exerted in this world went astray, while they had thought that they were doing well in their actions. And He informed that they were the ones who disbelieved in the signs of their Lord.
And if the statement were as those who claim that no one disbelieves in Allah except insofar as he knows, then it would necessarily follow that these people, in the action concerning which Allah informed us that they thought they were doing well, would have been rewarded and given recompense for it.
But the matter is contrary to what they said. So He, may He be Glorified, informed us about them that they were disbelievers in Allah and that their deeds were rendered worthless.
And His statement, “that they are doing good in their work”, means an action. Al-sun‘, al-sinā‘ah, and al-sanī‘ have one meaning. It is said: “A sanī‘ horse,” meaning a made horse.
Allah ta’ala says:
{And if any one of the mushrikeen (polytheists) seeks your protection, then grant him protection until he hears the Word of Allah. Then convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.} (al-Tawbah 9/6)
“And if any one of the mushrikeen (polytheists) seeks your protection, then grant him protection until he hears the Word of Allah” — It is correct to call him a mushrik (polytheist) before he hears the Word of Allah [i.e. while he is ignorant].
“That is because they are a people who do not know” — meaning: they do not know the deen of Allah ta’ala and His Tawhid; thus, they are ignorant of Islam.
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (310 AH) said: Allah says, addressing His Prophet: If one of the polytheists, whom I commanded you to fight and kill after the passing of the sacred months, seeks your protection, O Muhammad, in order to hear the Word of Allah from you — which is the Qur’an that Allah revealed to him — “then grant him protection”, meaning: give him security until he hears the Word of Allah and you recite it to him.
“Then convey him to his place of safety”, meaning: then return him, after he hears the Word of Allah, if he refuses to become Muslim and does not take admonition from what you recited to him of the Word of Allah, “to his place of safety”, meaning: to a place where he is safe from you and from those who are in your obedience, until he reaches his home and his people among the polytheists.
“That is because they are a people who do not know”, meaning: You do this with them, by granting them security so that they may hear the Qur’an, and by returning them, if they refuse Islam, to their place of safety, because they are an ignorant people who do not comprehend a proof from Allah and do not know what they would have through believing in Allah if they believed, nor what burden and sin would be upon them by abandoning belief in Allah.
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (310 AH) said:
As for that which it is not permissible to be ignorant of from the deen of Allah for one who is among those subject to religious obligation, because the proofs concerning it are in agreement in indicating it and are not differing, and are apparent to perception and not hidden, then it is the Tawhid of Allah. [Al-Tabsir, pp. 116–117]