Shafa'a: Difference between revisions

Finally, one should examine the question of those for whom intercession will be efficacious. In 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, prophetal intercession can only operate in favour 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 favour (fadl).<ref>see al-Ashʿari, Maqalat, 474; Mankdim, op. cit., 691; al-Razi, Tafsir, iii, 56</ref> Against the Sunni position, the Muʿtazila invoke certain of the Quranic verses cited above, notably XL, 18, and XXI, 28.<ref>cf. Mānkdīm, 689; al-Rāzī, op. cit., iii, 56</ref>

==In Popular Piety==

Although the Throne Verse (sura II, 155) asks, “Who could intercede with Him except by His permission?” many Muslims believed that the Prophet was granted this permission, as XVII, 79 speaks of his “special rank”. Another Quranic verse that seems to allow intercession was XL, 7, where “those who carry the divine throne” are mentioned as constantly asking divine forgiveness. Thus, the belief developed that even pious acts could serve as intercessors: the Quran will intercede for those who have studied and recited it devoutly, and this hope is often expressed in prayers written at the end of manuscripts of it. Other religious works could be imagined as interceding, such as the profession of faith; even mosques were thought to be transformed into white camels or boats to carry to Paradise those who had regularly performed their prayers in them, just as Friday might appear as a beautiful youth to intercede for people who had honoured him by attending the Friday worship. It was also believed that martyrs could intercede on behalf of family and friends, and that children who had died in infancy would intercede for their parents to have them brought to Paradise, because otherwise they would feel lonely.

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[[Category:Islamic Terminologies]]

[[Category:Concepts and Beliefs]]