Sunan ad-Darimi

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): A man submitted, "O Messenger of Allah! If a person committed a sin in the time of ignorance (before accepting Islam), will he be held accountable for it?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever does good deeds after accepting Islam will not be held accountable for the sins of his time of ignorance, but whoever does evil deeds after accepting Islam, he will be held accountable and taken to task for both his earlier and later periods."

Wadin bin Ata Khuzai narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! We were in the time of ignorance and used to worship idols and kill our children. I had a daughter; when she began to understand things and became happy at my call, one day I called her, and she started following me. While walking, I came to a well belonging to my relatives, which was nearby. I took her hand and pushed her into the well. She kept crying, "Father, father," and these were her last words. (Hearing this) the eyes of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) filled with tears, and he began to weep. One of the companions sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: You have saddened the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Wait, they have asked about something that is important for them." Then he said to him: "Tell your story again." He narrated it again until the Prophet's tears flowed and wetted his blessed beard. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: "Indeed, Allah the Exalted has forgiven the sins of the time of ignorance, so now begin to do good deeds."

It is narrated from Mujahid that his freed slave, Sa'ib bin Abi Sa'ib, stated that his family gave him a bowl of milk and butter and sent him to their idols. Sa'ib said: The fear of the idols prevented me from eating the butter, but a dog came and licked up the milk and butter, then urinated on the idols Isaf and Na'ilah. The narrator Harun said: In the days of ignorance, the situation was such that when a man set out on a journey, he would take four stones with him from Mecca—three stones to make a stove and the fourth stone for worship. (Their condition was such that) they would raise their dogs but kill their own children.

It is narrated from Abu Raja that in the days of ignorance, if we found a good stone, we would start worshipping it, and if we did not find a good stone, we would gather some sand, then bring a she-camel with plenty of milk, spread her legs wide, and milk her over the heap of sand until it was well soaked. Then, as long as we stayed at that place, we would worship that heap.

Imam Darimi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: «صفي» refers to a she-camel that gives a lot of milk, «فتفاج» means the posture of a she-camel when she spreads her legs to be milked, and for this reason, «فج» refers to a wide road, the plural of which is «فجاج».