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Fatwa CenterUnintentional mistakes of Muslims are pardoned
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. What is the ruling on hurting someone unintentionally, like when you bump into them, for example, or when your pockets are full of things, so the person praying beside you gets hurt or feels uneasy.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
One of the well-established Shariah principles is that actions done out of mistake or forgetfulness are excused and the doer bears no sin for them. Ibn Rajab 
wrote:
"The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, 'Verily, Allah has pardoned, for me, my Ummah (nation) their mistakes, their forgetfulness, and what they have been forced to do under duress.' It is stated in the Quran that mistakes and acts of forgetfulness are excused and forgiven by Allah. He says (what means): {Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred.} [Quran 2:286] He also says (what means): {And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred, but (only for) what your hearts intended.} [Quran 33:5] A mistake is to do something with a specific intention, and then the action turns out to be contrary to the person's original intent. For example, a Muslim may intend to kill a disbeliever (a belligerent non-Muslim) and he mistakenly kills a Muslim instead. Forgetfulness means that the person is aware of something but later becomes oblivious of it during the action. Both mistakes and acts of forgetfulness are pardoned; meaning that the person bears no sin for them." [Jaamiʻ Al-ʻUloom wa Al-Hikam]
Allah knows best.
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