An Analysis of Ghuluww on the Spread of Permissivism

Permissivism (ibāḥa) is a threat to religious communities. It originates from several factors, including ghuluww (exaggeration). A brief consideration of the history of permissivism reveals that wherever there was exaggeration, it was followed by permissivism. In other words, without exaggeration, there will be no ground for permissivism. In this paper, we will begin by providing an account of permissivism exhibited by exaggerators, and then criticize their justifications for permissivism. Since their arguments for avoiding their religious obligations are very weak, we refer to them as “justification” in the negative sense of the term. What is surprising is their tendency to such thought, which arises in turn from their indolence, ignorance, and lack of insight, as well as misuses on part of leading exaggerators and distortions by deviated rulers and statesmen. The present paper deploys an analytic approach to discover the relation between exaggeration and permissivism.