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The judge asked the killer of former Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat, "Why did you kill Sadat?"

He said to him, "Because he is secular!"

The judge replied: "What does secular mean?"

The killer said: "I don't know!"

In the case of the attempted assassination of the late Egyptian writer, Naguib Mahfouz,  the judge asked the man who stabbed Naguib Mahfouz, "Why did you stab him?"

The terrorist said: "Because of his novel - The children of our neighborhood."

The judge asked him: "Have you read this novel?"

The criminal said: "No!"

Another judge asked the terrorist who killed the Egyptian writer 'Faraj Fara': "Why did you murder Faraj Fouda?"

The terrorist replied: "Because he is unfaithful!"

The judge asked him: "How did you know he was unfaithful?"

The terrorist replied: "According to the books he wrote."

The judge said: "In which of his books did you know he is unfaithful?"

The Terrorist: "I haven't read his books!"

Judge: "How?"

The terrorist replied: "I can't read or write!"

Hate never spreads through knowledge. It always spreads through ignorance. This is how societies pay the price of ignorance.

Ignorance is the reason we hate others based on what we heard about them (In most cases without evidence) not what we know.

Please don't hate anyone because of what they told you about him or her.

Remember someone's enemy can be your helper.

Whether the exact courtroom dialogue happened word for word or not, the lesson is very clear. Many people act on borrowed hatred. They rely on what someone else told them instead of personal understanding. History is full of people punished or killed based on rumors, labels, and fear, not facts. That is the real danger being highlighted here.

This post reminds me that ignorance is not just lack of education, it is refusal to ask questions. Someone can be educated but still ignorant if they never verify information. Acting violently on ideas you do not even understand is the peak of ignorance, and societies suffer greatly from it.

Some people will rush to argue about whether the judge actually asked those questions. That misses the point. The pattern is real. Many extremists do not read, do not verify, and do not understand the ideas they claim to be fighting. They are tools in the hands of louder voices.

What scares me is how easily humans can be programmed to hate. Just repeat something long enough and it becomes truth to them. No reading. No thinking. Just obedience. This is not limited to religion or politics. It happens in tribes, families, and even workplaces.

This is why freedom of thought is dangerous to extremists. Once people start reading and thinking independently, manipulation becomes difficult. Ignorance is fertile ground for hatred, while knowledge slows it down.

The story also shows how responsibility is shared. Those who spread false interpretations are just as guilty as those who act on them. When leaders push hatred, the ignorant become weapons.

Many people confuse belief with understanding. You can believe something without understanding it. But once belief turns into violence without understanding, it becomes blind destruction. That is what this post is warning against.

I like the statement “hate never spreads through knowledge.” Knowledge encourages questions. Hate discourages questions. That difference alone explains why ignorance is often protected by those who benefit from it.

Some will say, “This only applies to extremists.” That is not true. Everyday people hate others because of gossip, tribe, religion, or social media narratives they never confirmed. Violence is just the extreme end of the same mindset.

The tragedy is that the victims were thinkers, writers, and leaders. People who used words, not weapons. Yet they were attacked by people who never even engaged with those words. That contrast says everything.

This post should be shared in schools. Young people need to learn early that disagreement does not require destruction, and criticism requires understanding first.

Another issue here is laziness. Thinking is hard. Reading is hard. It is easier to accept what you are told and act on it. Ignorance is often a choice, not an accident.

What happened to these figures also shows how dangerous labels can be. Once someone is labeled “enemy,” “unfaithful,” or “evil,” people stop seeing them as human. From there, violence becomes easy.

This also applies to online spaces today. People cancel, insult, and threaten others without reading full posts or understanding context. The tools have changed, but the ignorance is the same.

The line “someone’s enemy can be your helper” is powerful. History proves it. Many societies progress when former enemies talk, not when they destroy each other based on hearsay.

This post also exposes how dangerous it is when people outsource thinking. When you stop thinking for yourself, you become available for any agenda.