The Principle of Excuse Due to Ignorance (al-'Udhru bi-l-Jahl)

Main Part · Full-text chapter from the book The Doctrine of Monotheism · Read as PDF

The excuse due to ignorance is a well-known principle in Islamic theology, which was denied and entirely rejected only by some philosophical sects⁹². There are numerous Islamic source texts that clearly confirm this principle. The aforementioned sects distorted the meaning of such texts using illegitimate methods or – when they were unable to misinterpret them – simply rejected them outright because they did not align with their concept.

On the other hand, this principle cannot be extended to just any situation, which should likewise be self-evident. Any other assumption would lead to irrational conclusions.

That ignorance cannot turn a polytheist into a monotheist is thoroughly discussed and explained in this book. For numerous reasons, the principle of excuse due to ignorance cannot apply to major shirk. The mere fact that a person is ignorant of the foundation of Islam already makes his entry into Islam impossible.

This very circumstance shows that the principle of excuse due to ignorance cannot apply to just any situation. If it were so, a person who does not believe in the existence of a Creator could be considered a Muslim excused due to ignorance – a completely absurd notion.

Just as some philosophical groups had exaggerated and completely denied the excuse due to ignorance, other people fell into extending this principle to every conceivable case, thereby falling into the opposite extreme in this matter.