Belief in the Messengers
42216: The infallibility of the Prophets
Question:
I would like to ask a question about `aqeedah. Is it part
of our `aqeedah to believe that the Prophets committed
sins and were not infallible?.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
The Prophets are the best of mankind, and the most
noble of creation before Allaah. Allaah chose them to
convey the call of Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah to mankind, and
Allaah has made them the intermediaries between Him and
His creation in conveying His Laws. They were
commanded to convey the message from Allaah, as He
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"They are those whom We gave the Book,
AlHukm (understanding of the religious laws), and
Prophethood. But if these disbelieve therein (the Book, AlHukm
and Prophethood), then, indeed We have entrusted it to
a people (such as the Companions of Prophet
Muhammad) who are not disbelievers therein"
[al-An'aam 6:89]
The Prophets' task was to convey the message from
Allaah even though they were human, hence the issue
of infallibility may be examined from two angles:
1 _ Infallibility in conveying the message
2 _ Infallibility from human error
Firstly: With regard to the first issue, the Prophets
were infallible in conveying the message from Allaah.
They did not conceal anything that Allaah had revealed to
them, and they did not add anything from themselves.
Allaah said to His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning):
"O Messenger (Muhammad)! Proclaim (the
Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And
if you do not, then you have not conveyed His
Message. Allaah will protect you from mankind"
[al-Maa'idah 5:67]
"And if he (Muhammad) had forged a false
saying concerning Us (Allaah),
We surely would have seized him by his right hand
(or with power and might),
And then We certainly would have cut off his life
artery (aorta),
And none of you could have withheld Us from
(punishing) him"
[al-Haaqqah 69:44-47]
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And he (Muhammad) withholds not a knowledge of
the Unseen" [al-Takweer 81:24]
Shaykh `Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Sa'di (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said in his commentary on this verse:
He is not stingy with that which Allaah has revealed to
him, concealing some of it. Rather he (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) the most trustworthy of the inhabitants of heaven and the people of earth, the
one who conveys the message of his Lord, the
faithful conveyor (of the message). He does not withhold any
part of it, from rich or poor, from ruler or subject, from
male or female, from city-dweller or Bedouin. Hence
Allaah sent him to an illiterate and ignorant nation, and he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not die
until they had become knowledgeable scholars, steeped
in knowledge…"
So with regard to conveying the religion of his Lord,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
did not make any mistakes at all, whether major or
minor, rather he was infallible and under the constant
protection of Allaah.
Shaykh `Abd al-`Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said in Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 6/371:
All the Muslims are unanimously agreed that the
Prophets (peace be upon them) _ especially Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) _ are infallible
and protected from error in that which they conveyed
from Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"By the star when it goes down (or vanishes).
Your companion (Muhammad) has neither gone
astray nor has erred.
Nor does he speak of (his own) desire.
It is only a Revelation revealed.
He has been taught (this Qur'aan) by one mighty in
power [Jibreel (Gabriel)]"
[al-Najm 53:1-5]
Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) is infallible in all that he conveyed
from Allaah, in word and deed and in what he approved
of. There is no dispute on this point among the scholars."
The ummah is agreed that the Messengers are
infallible in their conveying the message. They did not
forget anything that Allaah revealed to them, except for
things that were abrogated. And Allaah guaranteed
His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) that he would remember it and would not forget it,
except for that which Allaah wanted him to forget, and
He guaranteed to remember the whole Qur'aan in his
heart. Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning):
"We shall make you to recite (the Qur'aan), so you
(O Muhammad) shall not forget (it)"
[al-A'la 87:7]
"It is for Us to collect it and to give you (O
Muhammad) the ability to recite it (the Qur'aan).
And when We have recited it to you [O Muhammad through Jibreel (Gabriel)], then follow its (the
Qur'aan's) recitation" [al-Qiyaamah
75:17-18]
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said in Majmoo'
al-Fataawa, 18/7]:
The verses which point to the Prophethood of the
Prophets indicate that they are infallible with regard to the
message that they convey from Allaah, so what they convey
from their Lord can only be true. This is the meaning
of Prophethood and this implies [?] that Allaah tells
[the Prophet] of the unseen and he tells the people of
the unseen. So the Messenger is commanded to call
people and to convey the message to them."
Secondly: With regard to the Prophets as people,
they may make mistakes. This may be discussed as follows:
1 _They do not commit major sins
With regard to major sins, the Prophets do not
commit major sins at all, and they are protected from such
major sins both before their missions began or afterwards.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said in Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 4/319:
The view that the Prophets are infallible and
protected against committing major sins, as opposed to minor
sins, is the view of the majority of Muslim scholars and of
all groups. It is also the view of the scholars of tafseer
and hadeeth and fuqaha'. Indeed, nothing has been
narrated from any of the salaf, imams, Sahaabah, Taabi'een
and those who followed them except that which is
in accordance with this view."
2 _ Matters that have nothing to do with conveying
the message and the revelation.
With regard to minor sins, these may be committed
by them, or by some of them. Hence the majority of
scholars are of the view that they are not infallible when it
comes to minor sins. But if they committed such actions
they were not left to persist therein, rather Allaah pointed
that out to them and they hastened to repent therefrom.
The evidence that they might commit minor sins and
that they were not left to persist therein is the verses in
which Allaah says of Adam (interpretation of the meaning):
"Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray.
Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness, and gave him guidance"
[Ta-Ha 20:121-122]
This indicates that Adam committed sin, but he was
not left to persist therein, and he repented to Allaah from that.
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"He said: `This is of Shaytaan's (Satan's) doing,
verily, he is a plain misleading enemy.'
He said: `My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself,
so forgive me.' Then He forgave him. Verily, He is
the OftForgiving, the Most Merciful"
[al-Qasas 28:15-16]
So Moosa (peace be upon him) confessed his sin
and sought forgiveness from Allaah after he killed
the Egyptian, and Allaah forgave him his sin.
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"and he [Dawood] sought forgiveness of his Lord,
and he fell down prostrate and turned (to Allaah)
in repentance.
So We forgave him that, and verily, for him is a near
access to Us, and a good place of (final) return (Paradise)"
[Saad 38:23-24]
Dawood's sin was hastening to pass judgement
before hearing the case of the second disputant.
And our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) was rebuked by his Lord for
several things that are mentioned in the Qur'aan, such as
the following (interpretation of the meaning):
"O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that
which Allaah has allowed to you, seeking to please your
wives? And Allaah is OftForgiving, Most Merciful"
[al-Tahreem 66:1]
This refers to the well-known story with some of
his wives.
Allaah also rebuked His Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) concerning the prisoners of war
at Badr:
Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (4588) that Ibn
`Abbaas said: When the prisoners were taken captive,
the Messenger of Allaah (S) (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said to Abu Bakr and `Umar (may
Allaah be pleased with them): "What do you think about
these prisoners?" Abu Bakr said: "O Prophet of Allaah,
they are our cousins and kinsmen. I think that we should
accept a ransom from them which will give us some
support against the kuffaar, and perhaps Allaah will guide
them to Islam." The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "What do you think, O
Ibn al-Khattaab?" He said: "I say, no, by Allaah, O
Messenger of Allaah. I do not agree with Abu Bakr. I think that
you should hand them over to us so that we may strike
their necks (execute them). Hand over `Aqeel to `Ali so
that he may strike his neck, and hand over So and so _ a
relative of `Umar _ to me, for these are the leaders and
veterans of kufr." The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) liked what Abu Bakr said and
he did not like what I [`Umar] said. The next day I came
and found the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) and Abu Bakr weeping. I said:
"O Messenger of Allaah, tell me, what has made you
and your companion weep? If there is a reason to weep, I
will weep with you, and there is no reason, I will pretend
to weep in sympathy with you because you are
weeping." The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "I am weeping because I was
shown the torture to which they were subjected. It was
brought as close to me as this tree" _ a tree which was near
the Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) _ then Allaah revealed the words (interpretation
of the meaning):
"It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners
of war (and free them with ransom) until he had made
a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land. You
desire the good of this world (i.e. the money of ransom for
freeing the captives), but Allaah desires (for you) the
Hereafter. And Allaah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
Were it not a previous ordainment from Allaah, a
severe torment would have touched you for what you took.
So enjoy what you have gotten of booty in war,
lawful and good"
[al-Anfaal 8:67-69]
So Allaah permitted booty to them.
From this hadeeth it is clear that when the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) chose to
ransom the prisoners, this was a decision that he made by
ijtihaad after consulting his companions, and he had no
revelation from Allaah concerning that.
The words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):
"(The Prophet) frowned and turned away.
Because there came to him the blind man (i.e.
`Abdullaah bin Umm Maktoom, who came to the Prophet while
he was preaching to one or some of the Quraysh chiefs)"
[`Abasa 80:1-2]
This is the famous story of the great companion
`Abd-Allaah ibn Umm Maktoom and the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), when
Allaah rebuked him.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in Majmoo'
al-Fataawa, 4/320:
What has been narrated from the majority of scholars
is that they (the Prophets) are not infallible with regard
to minor sins, but they are not left to persist therein.
They do not say that this does not happen under
any circumstances. The first group from whom it was
narrated that they are infallible in all cases, and who say that
the most, are the Raafidis (Shi'ah), who say that they
are infallible and protected even against forgetfulness
and misunderstanding."
Some people think this is too much to suggest
that Prophets may commit sin, and misinterpret some of
the texts of the Qur'aan and Sunnah which indicate that.
Two specious arguments lead them to do that:
(i) _ The fact that Allaah has commanded us to follow
the Messengers and take them as our example. The
command to follow them is taken as meaning that everything
they did is an example for us to follow, and that every
action and belief of theirs is an act of worship. If we
suggest that that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) committed a sin, there will be a
dilemma, because that implies that we are commanded to
imitate this sin which was committed by the Prophet because
we are commanded to follow his example, but at the
same time we should no agree with it or do it, because it is
a sin.
This argument is valid and is appropriate if the sin
is hidden and not obvious in such a way that it could
be confused with acts of obedience. But Allaah has
explained to His Messengers where they went wrong and
enabled them to repent without delay.
(ii) _ Sins contradict perfection and are a
shortcoming. This is true if they are not accompanied by
repentance, for repentance brings forgiveness of sin, and does
not contradict perfection or bring blame upon a person.
Rather in many cases a person may be better after repenting
than he was before he fell into sin. It is well known that
no Prophet committed sin but he hastened to repent and
seek forgiveness. The Prophets did not persist in sin or
delay repentance, for Allaah protected them from that, and
after repenting they became more perfect than they were before.
3 _ Unintentional mistakes with regard to some
worldly matters
With regard to mistakes in some worldly matters, it
is permissible for them to make such mistakes although
their reason is sound and their insight is strong. This
happened to several of the Prophets including our
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him). This happened with regard to various spheres of life
such as medicine, agriculture, etc.
Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (6127) that Raafi'
ibn Khadeej said: The Prophet of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah and
found them pollinating the palm trees. He said: "What are
you doing?" They said: "We always do this." He said:
"Perhaps if you do not do it, that will be better." So they did not
do it, and the harvest failed. They told him about that and
he said: "I am only human. If I tell you to do something
with regard to your religion, then do it, but if I tell you to
do something based on my own opinion, then I am
only human." Hence it is known that the Prophets are
infallible and protected from error with regard to the
Revelation, so we should beware of those who cast aspersions
upon the Messenger's conveying of the Message and his
laws, and say that it is his own personal opinion. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) could
never do such a thing. Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"Nor does he speak of (his own) desire.
It is only a Revelation revealed"
[al-Najm 53:3-4]
The Standing Committee was asked: Do the Prophets
and Messengers make mistakes?
They replied:
Yes, they make mistakes but Allaah does not let
them persist in their mistakes, rather he points out their
mistakes to them as a mercy to them and their nations, and
He forgives them for their mistakes, and accepts
their repentance by His Grace and Mercy, for Allaah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, as will be clear to anyone
who studies the verses of the Qur'aan which speak of that.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 3/194
For more information see question no.
7208
And Allaah knows best.
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