Examining the relevance of ignorance to the Shari'a ruling in criminal liability

Ignorance is one of the less frequent but very important concepts in Iranian criminal law. The legislator did not provide a precise definition of ignorance, and in Article 155 of the Islamic Penal Code, the meaning of ignorance is used in an indefinite manner, as it considered ignorance of the ruling as a legitimate excuse. In Article 217, one of the conditions for the implementation of the limit is the awareness of the criminal about the sanctity of his behavior. Therefore, the meaning of ignorance should be obtained in jurisprudence, because the fundamental concepts of Iranian Islamic law originate from jurisprudence and the principles of Twelver Imam Shia jurisprudence. By examining the history of the debate from ignorance to judgment in the two sciences of jurisprudence and jurisprudence, this research seeks to find an answer to the definition of ignorance in the Islamic penal law of Iran, especially Article 155 of the Islamic Penal Code on the issue of ignorance to judgment from a Sharia point of view. The summary of the research is that according to Sharia, if the ignorant person is incapable or the guilty party is not complicit, his ignorance is considered as an excuse in Sharia and is punishable. Otherwise, his claim of ignorance will not be accepted.