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Tuesday, 26 May 2026 (10 Dhuʻl-Hijjah 1447 AH)
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[The Ruling Regarding One of a Sensitive Disposition Who Complains Much About the Actions of His Companions and Relatives]

Fatwa No: 24710
Date: 2026/05/21
Category: Miscellaneous Benefits
Answered by: Al-Sayyid Al-Allamah Al-Hujjah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah Awad al-Mu’ayyidi May Allah preserve him
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The Question

Question: If the disposition of the legally responsible person is sensitive such that he interprets the actions of his companions and relatives, and their statements, as meaning belittlement of him and contempt for him, then he increases in complaining about them and turning away from them—will he be taken to account for that?

The Answer

The answer: That disposition results from a deficiency in intellect; for the one of complete intellect—even if he hears from his companion, or his sitting-mate, or his friend, or his relative something that gives the impression of contempt for him—does not rely upon that impression, and does not pay attention to it. And if the matter is so, then what is closer is that he is not taken to account for it; because Allah, Exalted is He, calls people to account according to the measure of their intellects, so He does not call to account the deficient in intellect like the accounting of the complete in intellect: "Allah does not burden a soul except with what it can bear." [Al-Baqarah:286] and "Indeed, Allah does not wrong [anyone by] an atom’s weight." [Al-Baqarah:40].
If it is said: If that one is deficient in intellect, then does legal responsibility fall from him?
It is said: Legal responsibility does not fall from him altogether; rather, he is legally responsible for what his intellect has encompassed and what his understanding has grasped, not for what his intellect has not reached and his understanding has not encompassed.
- And I have myself perceived, from some of the legally responsible, during discussion on issues, that their thinking did not reach them, and that their intellects were not able to comprehend them; and I saw that the capacities of their intellects were limited, and that what they have of innate disposition was not able to understand some issues—while, at the same time, their perception was complete, and their knowledges were firm regarding the oneness of Allah and good knowledge of Him, Exalted is He, and what is connected to that of the fundamentals of religion.
- And what I have perceived myself drew my attention to that legal responsibility differs according to the disagreement of intellects, as we mentioned; and praise be to Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have been guided had Allah not guided us.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3