ثُمَّ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لِلَّذِينَ عَمِلُوا۟ ٱلسُّوٓءَ بِجَهَٰلَةٍ ثُمَّ تَابُوا۟ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُوٓا۟ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهَا لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
4:18; 6:55.
Commentary:
The preceding verse said that Jews were punished for their disobedience. The present verse says if even now they repent and reform themselves, God will forgive them their past sins and once again shower upon them spiritual blessings of which they had become deprived on account of their disobedience. The expression بجھالة means both lack of knowledge and lack of spiritual realization. Here it is used in the second sense because there is no justification in punishing a person who does not possess knowledge of a commandment for the non-observance of which he is punished. The verse means to say that the Jews possessed requisite knowledge of the commandments which they were expected to observe but they broke those commandments not because of lack of knowledge, but because they did not fear God and were devoid of spiritual realization. This shows that the possession of both knowledge and spiritual realization is essential, for knowledge alone is no great help.
It may also be mentioned here that جھالة (ignorance) is of two kinds, viz. (a) permanent ignorance, the victim of which rushes headlong into sin and derives a sort of pleasure in indulging in it; such a one is completely
devoid of Divine realization; and (b) temporary ignorance, when his lapses are due to a temporary loss of true and living faith and to his realization being defective. See also 4:18, & 6:55.
4:18; 6:55.
Jahalah means, both lack of knowledge and lack of spiritual realization. Here it is used in the second sense because there is no justification for punishing a person who does not possess knowledge of a commandment for the non-observance of which he is being punished.