An Inquiry into the Legal-Theological Rule of

One of the significant legal-theological rule، which has drawn little attention in legal texts، is the rule of “not reprimanding a person for another person’s sin and the unaccountability of the person for other people’s action،” which is expressed as part of āya 164 of Sūrat al-An‘ām، ﴾no bearer shall bear another''s burden﴿. According to this rule، which includes both matters of this world and the Hereafter، no legal ruling should leave the responsibility of a person’s action upon others. Although some jurists have dispersedly relied on this rule in inference of rulings، some legal rulings have also been noticed in opposition to this rule. The legal rulings examined in this article include: rulings about disbelievers’ children، bastards and their otherworldly fate because of their parents، and the tormenting of the dead because of their relatives’ weeping. Furthermore، the role of this rule in the content criticism of the traditions has also been analyzed.