بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Shaikh Uthaymeen [rahimahullaah] said: Which one is more repugnant- Al Jahlul Baseet [i.e. the type of ignorance which shows that the person knows nothing about a particular affair] or Al Jahlul Murakkab [i.e. the type of ignorance which shows that a person understands something in a manner contrary to what it is in reality – he neither knows nor knows that he does not know]? [Ref 1]

Answer: Yes, certainly. There is no doubt that Al-Murakkab is indeed more repugnant. It has been mentioned that there was a man called Tawm, who used to think that he was a wise person, but he gave verdicts without knowledge. And from those verdicts of his was that he said, “Give your daughters as charity to those who have not been married”, and he thought that this [statement or verdict] of his is good. And regarding it, a poet said: “The one who acquires [or pursues] knowledge without a Shaikh will deviate from the straight path; the sciences [of the religion] will become mixed up for him, until he becomes more misguided than Tawm – the [so called] wise man, who said that the [people] give their daughters to men as charity and [seek] the gardens of bliss [i.e. paradise] by way of that. [Ref 2]

Ref 1: An Excerpt from Sharh Al-Waraqaat- page 44-45. slightly paraphrased; Ref 2: An Excerpt from Sharh Al-Waraqaat – p 45. slightly paraphrased