A Summary of the Concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah Obstacles to Declaring Someone an Apostate (Takfir) There are obstacles to declaring someone an apostate. If one of these obstacles is found in a specific individual at the time they commit an act that could be considered apostasy, they are not to be individually declared an apostate. This continues until the obstacle is removed and they persist in that state afterward. The most important of these obstacles are: Error, misinterpretation, coercion, and ignorance. The details of this are in the following concepts. A Summary of the Concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah