Editing Shafa'a (section)

==In the Quran and Hadith==
The word is usually found in the theological sense, particularly in eschatological descriptions; it already occurs in the Quran in this use. Muhammad became acquainted through Jewish and, more particularly, Christian influences with the idea of eschatological intercession. In Job xxxiii, 23 ff. the angels are mentioned who intercede for man to release him from death. In Job v, 1, there is a reference to the saints (by whom here also angels are probably meant), to whom man turns in his need. Abraham is a mortal saint whom we find interceding in the Old Testament (in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah).

In the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature, we find the same classes of beings with the same function: the angels<ref>Test. Adam, ix, 3</ref> and the saints.<ref>Maccab., xv, 14; Assumptio Mosis, xii, 6</ref> In the early Christian literature, the same idea repeatedly occurs, but here we have two other classes of beings: the apostles and the martyrs.<ref>cf. Cyril of Jerusalem in Migne, Patrologia Graeca , xxxiii, 1115; patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs; cf. xlvi, 850 lxi, 581</ref>

In the Quran, intercession occurs mainly in a negative context. The day of judgment is described as a day on which no Shafa’a will be accepted.<ref>sura II, 48, 254</ref> This is directed against Muhammad's enemies as is evident from X, 18: "they serve not God but what brings them neither ill nor good, and they say these are our intercessors with God"; cf. also LXXIV, 48: "the intervention of those who make Shafa’a will not avail them."

But the possibility of intercession is not excluded. XXXIX, 44 says: "Say: the intercession belongs to God, etc.”. Passages are relatively numerous in which this statement is defined to mean that Shafa’a is only possible with God’s permission: “Who should intervene with Him, without His permission?”.<ref>II, 255, cf. X, 3</ref> Those who receive God’s permission for Shafa’a are explained as follows: “The Shafa’a is only for those who have an ʿahd with the Merciful" (XIX, 87) and XLIII, 86: "They whom they invoke besides God shall not be able to intercede except those who bear witness to the truth." XXI, 26-8 is remarkable where the power of intercession is credited to the angels: "they say the Merciful has begotten offspring. Nay, they are but His honored servants who ... and they offer not to intercede on behalf of whom it pleaseth Him". It appears that the honored servants mean the angels. XL,<ref>cf. XLII, 5</ref> is more definite: “Those who bear the throne and surround it sing the praises of their Lord and believe in Him and implore forgiveness for those who believe (saying), Our Lord; who embraces all things in mercy and knowledge; bestow forgiveness on them that repent and follow Thy path and keep them from the pains of Hell."

Such utterances paved the way for open adoption by Islam of the principle of Shafa’a. We already have ample material in the classical [[Hadith]], which reflects the development of ideas to about 150 A.H.. Shafa’a is usually mentioned here in eschatological descriptions. But it should be noted that the Prophet, even in his lifetime, is said to have made intercession. ʿAʾisha relates that he often slipped quietly from her side at night to go to the cemetery of Baqiʿ al-Gharqad [q.v.] to implore forgiveness of God for the dead.<ref>Muslim, Janaʾiz , 102; cf. al-Tirmidhi, Janaʾiz, 59</ref> Similarly, his istighfar is mentioned in the salat al-janaʾiz,<ref>e.g. Ibn Hanbal, Musnad , iv, 170</ref> and its efficacy is explained.<ref>ibid., 388</ref> The prayer for the forgiveness of sins then became or remained an integral part of this salat,<ref>e.g. Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, Kitab al-Tanbih, ed. T.J.W. Juynboll, 48</ref> to which a high degree of importance was attributed. Cf. Muslim, Janaʾiz, 58: “If a community of Muslims, a hundred strong, perform the salat over a Muslim and all pray for his sins to be forgiven him, this prayer will surely be granted”; and Ibn Hanbal, iv, 79, 100, where the number a hundred is reduced to three rows (sufuf).

Muhammad’s intercession at the day of judgment is described in a tradition that frequently occurs;<ref>e.g. al-Bukhari, Tawhid , 19; Muslim, Iman , 322, 326-9; al-Tirmidhi, Tafsir , sura XVII, 19; Ibn Hanbal, i, 4</ref> the main features are as follows. On the day of judgment, God will assemble the believers; they turn to Adam for his intercession in their need. However, he reminds them that through him, sin entered the world and refers them to Nuh. But he also mentions his sins and refers them to Ibrahim. In this way, they appeal in vain to the great apostles of God until ʿIsa finally advises them to appeal to Muhammad for assistance. The latter will gird himself and, with God's permission, throw himself before Him. Then he will be told, "arise and say, intercession is granted thee." God will thereupon name him a definite number to be released, and when he has led these into Paradise, he will again throw himself before his Lord, and the same stages will again be repeated several times until finally, Muhammad says, "O Lord, now there are only left in hell those who, according to the Quran, is to remain there eternally."

This tradition is in its different forms the locus classicus for the limitation of the power of intercession to Muhammad to the exclusion of the other apostles. In some traditions, it is numbered among the charismata allotted to him.<ref>e.g. al-Bukhari, salat, 56</ref>

Muhammad’s Shafa’a then is recognized by the ijmaʿ; it is based on XVII, 79: “Perhaps the Lord shall call thee to an honorable place"; and on XCIII, 5: "And thy Lord shall give a reward with which thou shalt be pleased<ref>al-Razi’s commentary on sura II, 48, 2nd masʾala ; cf. earlier, Muslim, Iman, 320</ref> Muhammad is said to have been offered the privilege of Shafa’a by a message from his Lord as a choice; the alternative was the assurance that half of his community would enter paradise. Muhammad, however, preferred the right of intercession, doubtless because he thought he would get a considerable result from it.<ref>al-Tirmidhi, Ṣifat al- Ḳiyama, 13; Ibn Hanbal, iv, 404</ref>

The traditions vividly describe how the "people of hell" (Jahannamiyyun) are released from their fearful state. Some have had to suffer comparatively little from the flames; others, on the other hand, are already in part turned to cinders. They are sprinkled with water from the well of life and restored to a healthy condition (e.g., Muslim, Iman, 320). In another class of traditions, it is said that every Prophet has a "supplication" (daʿwa) and that Muhammad keeps his secret to intercede with God for his community on the day of judgment<ref>cf. e.g. Ibn Hanbal, ii, 313; Muslim, Iman, 334</ref>

Following the Christian conception mentioned above, Islam was not content to make Muhammad the sole conveyor of intercession. At his side, we find angels, prophets, martyrs, and even simple believers.<ref>al-Bukhari, Tawhid, 24/5; Ibn Hanbal, iii, 94; Abu Dawud, Jihad, 26; al-Tabari, Tafsir on Quran, XIX, 87</ref> But it is Muhammad who will be the prime intercessor.<ref>Muslim, Iman, 330, 332; Fadaʾil, 3; Abu Dawud, Sunna, 13</ref> For the Shiʿa, naturally, the power of intercession after the Prophet falls above all to the [[Imam|Imams]].<ref>see e.g. M.J. McDermott, The theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufid, Beirut 1978, 254-5</ref>

Finally, one should examine the question of those for whom intercession will be efficacious. In the classical tradition, the response in principle which is given there is that Shafa’a is valid for all those who do not associate anything with God,<ref>cf. al-Bukhari, Tawhid, 19; al-Tirmidhi, Sifat al-qiyama , 13</ref> even if they have nevertheless been guilty of grave sins (of which they have not repented). A famous hadith makes the Prophet say, “My intercession will be for the grave sinners of my community (li-Ahl al-kabaʾir min ummati)<ref>Abu Dawud, Sunna, 21; al-Tirmidhi, loc. cit., 11; Ibn Maja, Zuhd , 37</ref> Such is the position of the Sunni theologians,<ref>cf. al-Ashʿari, Maqalat, Wiesbaden 1963, 474</ref> including the Hanbalis.<ref>cf. Laoust, La profession de foi d’ Ibn Baṭṭa , Damascus 1958, 100 of tr.</ref> For them, the Prophet’s intercession will concern all those believers who, because of their sins, would have merited divine punishment, with God either admitting them to His Paradise immediately or else bringing them forth from Hell at the end of a period of time more or less protracted.<ref>see al-Razi, Tafsir on Quran, II, 48, beginning of the second masʾala, ed. Tehran n.d., iii, 56</ref> The Muʿtazila, on the other hand, as well as the Kharijites, reject this interpretation.<ref>see al-Baghdadi, Usul al-din , Istanbul 1928, 244; Ibn Hazm, Fisal , Cairo 1317-21, iv, 63</ref> For the Muʿtazila, prophetic intercession can only operate in favor of sinners who have already repented;<ref>see Mankdim = Ps. ʿAbd al-Jabbar, Sharh al-usul al-khamsa , Cairo 1965, 688, 691</ref> they consider it to be, on God’s part, an extra act of favor (fadl).<ref>see al-Ashʿari, Maqalat, 474; Mankdim, op. cit., 691; al-Razi, Tafsir, iii, 56</ref> Against the Sunni position, the Muʿtazila invoked certain of the Quranic verses cited above, notably XL, 18, and XXI.<ref>cf. Mānkdīm, 689; al-Rāzī, op. cit., iii, 56</ref>