عَنْ اَبِي حَمْزَةَ قَالَ قَالَ اَبُو جَعْفَرٍؑ لَا يُعْذِرُ اللهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ اَحَداً يَقُولُ يَا رَبِّ لَمْ اَعْلَمْ اَنَّ وُلْدَ فَاطِمَةَ هُمُ الْوُلَاةُ عَلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً وَ فِي شِيعَةِ وُلْدِ فَاطِمَةَ اَنْزَلَ اللهُ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ خَاصَّةً يا عِبادِيَ الَّذِينَ اَسْرَفُوا عَلى اَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ الْآيَةَ
Abu Hamzah al-Thumaali (r.a.) reports from Imam Abu Ja’far (al-Baqer) (peace be upon him), “Allah will not accept the excuse on the Day of Judgment of the one who says, ‘O Lord! I did not know that the progeny of Fatima (peace be upon her) they are the rulers upon the people all of them. And for the Shias of Fatema’s progeny especially this verse was revealed, ‘O My servants who have been extravagant with themselves! Don’t despair of Allah’s mercy…”
Note:
Often lack of knowledge of a matter can be an excuse for a thing. But for extremely important matters ignorance cannot be an excuse. For example, in a battle if a person is told to keep a watch on the enemies during the night, he cannot go to sleep citing that he was not sure that the enemies would attack during the night. The same applies for Imamate. You understand matters like praying, not drinking wine, looking at other’s women is bad, etc. but you did not follow Imamate?
References:
1. Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 23, p. 80, H. 16
2. Tafseer al-Qummi (r.a.), vol. 2, p. 250