Errors of Ascription and Its Role in Man's Conduct in the Light of the Qur an

In what follows, the author has studied the errors of ascription in the light of the Qur’an. He has made use of descriptive-analytic method and for that matter, he has referred to celebrated works of psychology on the subject, the verses of the Qur’an, and the Shiite and Sunni celebrated commentaries of the Qur’an; then he has embarked on analyzing the related verses. According to the findings and the Qur’an, errors of ascription point to a few partialities that do not comply with the religious and sound beliefs or are risky for the society and human relations. The correct ascription is that everything happens according to Allah’s command; all bounties are due to Allah’s grace, but tribulations are brought about by man’s evil practice. However, as for the practice of other people in the Islamic society, it is recommended that one should give a good and positive account of their apparently evil practice as far as possible. The findings suggest that the Qur’an introduces eight kinds of errors of ascription. Six errors of ascription conceptually are similar to that of serving oneself, and one is similar to the fundamental error of ascription. According to the Qur’an, the major and common point of errors of ascription is made due to the motive introduced by psychology, i.e. the disclaiming of responsibility. As the consequences of error of ascription, mentioned can be made to arrogance and vanity, despair and disappointment, laziness and refrain from helping others.