What is the intercession in islam? What is the intercession of prophet muhammad?
Abu Hurayra (may Allah be well pleased with him) relates:
“We accompanied the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as he responded to an invitation. Some meat was presented to him, as he liked it. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) ate a piece of it and said:
‘I will be the master of all the people on the Day of Rising. Do you know why? Allah will gather the first and the last on the same plain such that an announcer will be able to have his voice heard by all and an observer will be able to see all of them at once. The sun will draw very near to the people. They will suffer such distress and trouble that it will become unbearable (another narration mentions this period of waiting as being seventy years).[1]
Then some people will say: “Do you not see what a state you are in and what has befallen you? Why do you not look for someone to intercede with your Lord on your behalf?”
Some people will say to the others, “Go to your father, Adam (peace be upon him).”
So they will go to Adam and say to him, “O Adam! You are the father of mankind. Allah created you with His Hand and breathed into you out of His Spirit and He ordered the angels to prostrate before you. And He made you dwell in the Garden. Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf? Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us?”
Adam will say, “My Lord today is angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be again. He forbade me the tree, but I disobeyed. O my soul! My soul! My soul! Go to someone else. Go to Nuh.”
So they will go to Nuh (peace be upon him) and say, “O Nuh! You are the first of the Messengers to be sent to the people of the earth and Allah called you “a thankful slave.”[2] Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us? Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf?”
He will say, “My Lord today is angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be again. I was granted the right to make one absolutely accepted supplication and I made it against my nation. O my soul! My soul! My soul! Go to someone else. Go to Ibrahim.”
They will go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and say to him, “O Ibrahim, you are the Prophet of Allah and His intimate friend (khalil) among the people of the earth. Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf? Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us?”
He will say to them, “My Lord today is angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be again. I once uttered three ambiguous words. O my soul! My soul! My soul! Go to someone else. Go to Musa.”
The people will then go to Musa (peace be upon him) and say to him, “O Musa! You are Allah’s Messenger and Allah gave you superiority above the others with His Message and He spoke to you directly. Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf? Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us?”
Musa will say, “My Lord today is angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be again. I killed a person I had not been commanded to kill. O my soul! My soul! My soul! Go to someone else. Go to ‘Isa (Jesus).”
So they will go to ‘Isa (peace be upon him) and say, “O ‘Isa! You are Allah’s Messenger and His Word which He conveyed to Maryam and a spirit from Him and you spoke to the people while you were in the cradle. Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf? Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us?”
Isa will say, “My Lord today is angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be again.” Prophet Isa will not make mention of any wrongdoing, but will say, “I myself am more in need of intercession. Go to someone else. Go to Muhammad.”‘
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) relates the continuation of this incident in another narration which states:
“They will come to me and say, ‘O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets and Allah has forgiven you your past and future sins.[3] Will you not intercede with your Lord on our behalf? Do you not see what we are suffering and what has befallen us?’
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) added, “They will come to me and I will prostrate before my Lord under the Throne (in which state he will remain for one week).[4]
Then, He will bestow upon me knowledge of such praises and glorifications to Him as He has never bestowed upon anybody else before me. (After an extended time reciting such praise and glorification), it will be said, ‘O Muhammad! Raise your head. Intercede and your intercession shall be accepted. Ask and your request shall be granted.’
So I shall raise my head and say, ‘My community, O my Lord! My community, O my Lord! My community, O my Lord!’
It will be said, ‘O Muhammad! Let those of your community who are not subject to reckoning enter through gate of the Garden furthest to the right. They will share the other gates with others.'”
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) then added, “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the distance between the two gateposts of all the gates of the Garden is like the distance between Mecca and Hajar, or that between Makkah and Busra (in Syria).”[5]
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said in another narration:
“…I will ask the permission of my Lord and it will be granted to me. I will then stand before Him and praise Him with praises which I am not able to do now, but at that time only Allah will inspire me to do.
I will then fall before Him in prostration and it will be said to me, ‘O Muhammad! Raise your head and speak and it shall be listened to. Ask and your request shall be fulfilled. Intercede and it shall be accepted.’
I will say, ‘My Lord, my people, my people!’
It will be said, ‘Go, and bring forth from it the Fire whoever has in their heart belief equal to the weight of a grain of wheat or a barley seed.’
I will go and do so.
Then I will return to my Lord and offer those praises (taught to me by Allah) …”
After the second entreaty of The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) he will be told, “Go and take out from it the Fire whoever who has in their heart belief equal to the weight of a mustard seed.” His third appeal would engender the response, “Go, and bring out of the Fire whoever has in their heart belief that is smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than that, and then even smaller than that.” (See Muslim, Iman, 326, 322)
As can clearly be seen in these narrations, human beings are going to seek to escape the severity and torment of the Day of Reckoning. However, they will watch in horror as all their chances for deliverance are slip away one by one. When at last their hopes begin to completely fade, they will realise the only person who will have any say on that fearsome Day will be the final Messenger, Allah’s Beloved (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and they will appeal to him. The Prophet of Mercy will then intercede on their behalf and deliver them from these horrors.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will also have a special intercession reserved for his community. The “praiseworthy station” (maqām al-maḥmūd) that Allah mentions in the Qur’anic verse,” (Isra, 17:79) is the authority to intercede with Allah.
Concerning this, he says:
“My intercession will be for those of my people who have committed major wrong actions.” (Abu Dawud, Sunna, 20-21/4739; Tirmidhi, Qiyama, 11/2435-6; Ibn Maja, Zuhd, 37; Ahmad, III, 213)
The Messenger’s stating in this narration that his intercession will be on account of the major wrong actions of his followers, does not mean that his intercession is particular to them. Those who commit certain major wrong actions will of course be most in need of intercession. But there are many kinds of intercession. For this reason, whoever Allah wills will have a share in this intercession commensurate with their particular state and situation.
Nevertheless, this narration should not make us neglect our duties of slavehood. For an act that we see as small and insignificant or think “will be forgiven anyway” can be a great act of wrongdoing in the eyes of Allah. Another narration states that a woman was condemned to punishment for starving a cat to death.[6]
As declared in a Qur’anic verse:
“You were bandying it about on your tongues, your mouths uttering something about which you had no knowledge. You considered it to be a trivial matter, but in Allah’s sight, it is immense.” (An-Nur, 24:15)
As stated in the Prophetic narration above, this station is reserved solely for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). At such a time, Allah’s Messenger will hold the “standard of praise” (liwa’ al-hamd), under which all the Prophets, including Prophet Adam (upon him be peace) will be gathered.[7]
It ought to be stated here that the fact that the Prophets, to whom the people will appeal for intercession and who will not see themselves as worthy of offering intercession due to their individual lapses, is both a demonstration of their elevated nobility and humility, as it is an indication of the degrees of intercession – the greatest authority of which lies with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Subsequently, the other Prophets will be granted permission to intercede with Allah.
Indicated in another narration is that Allah granted him three prayers that would be accepted and then said: “..I said, O Allah! Forgive my people, forgive my people! And I have deferred the third for the Day on which the entire creation will turn to me, even Ibrahim (upon him peace).” (Muslim, Musafirin, 273)
Despite all these truths, there are still some people who claim that no one can intercede except Allah, thus refusing to accept the Prophetic narrationsconcerning intercession. However, there are many Qur’anic verses which explicitly state that those to whom the All-Merciful gives permission can intercede with Him on the Day of Reckoning. The following verses are clear cases in point:
“Allah, There is no god but Him, the Living, the Self-sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent.” (Al-Baqara, 2:255)
“You Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself firmly on the Throne. He directs the whole affair. No one can intercede except with His permission. That is Allah your Lord, so worship Him. Will you not pay heed?” Jonah (Yunus, 10:3)
“They have no right of intercession. None do but those who have a contract with the All-Merciful.” (Maryam, 19:87)
“”Intercession with Him will be of no benefit, except from someone who has His permission. So that when the terror has left their hearts then will they say, ‘what did your Lord say? ´they will say, ´The truth. He is the All-High, The Great.’” (Saba, 34:23)
These verses are unmistakeable examples of the truth of intercession, being only by Allah’s permission.
[1] Ishaq ibn Rahuya, Musnad, I, 84/10; Bayhaqi, al-Ba’th wa al-Nushur, I, 336/609.
[2] See (17:44).
[3] There is reference here to the expression contained in the second verse of the Qur’anic chapter al-Fath (The Victory): “That Allah may forgive you (O Messenger) your sins of the past and those to follow…” This expression is one that is used for the purpose of emphasis. That is to say, by means of this statement, Allah Almighty draws attention to the innocence of His Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and his being protected against committing sin.
The use of the term “sin” here has been elucidated as follows:
Implied by ‘sin’ is the Messenger’s preference for the less correct, as opposed to the better or best course, when exercising juristic interpretation (ijtihad). Reference to such a preference as ‘sin’ while it is normally not sinful, is by virtue of the Messenger’s elevated standing and station. For it has been said that, “The good deeds of the pious (abrar) are considered as the bad deeds of those who are brought near (muqarrabin).” In other words, certain acts that are considered good and acceptable for the God-revering and virtuous may be regarded as shortcomings by individuals who are more advanced in nearness to Allah. This is because their level of closeness to Allah necessitates a much higher degree of virtue.
Minor sins, or lapses, are suggested. Lapses are involuntary errors. Whether inadvertently or on purpose, they are permissible concerning the Prophets and these lapses protect them from self-conceit. Moreover, the notion that the Prophets too, by virtue of their being human, can fall into error, prevents their respective communities from over-glorification and from ascribing Lordship to them.
This statement is aimed at encouraging the Muslim community to seek forgiveness.
The circumstances of the verse’s revelation expressly reveal that what is meant by the sins forgiven here are those mistakes that the Muslims made in the preceding nineteen years, during the struggles, efforts and military campaigns under the leadership of Allah’s Messenger, undertaken in spreading Islam. No one knows exactly what these are. Human comprehension is at a loss as to identifying a failing among these sincere endeavours. However, there were such shortcomings in these endeavours in the eyes of Allah, because of them the Muslims were not granted (an immediate) victory against the polytheists.
Therefore, what is meant in this Divine ordinance is the following:
“Had you continued your endeavours and striving in the way of Allah with these mistakes, it would have taken you much longer to overcome the Meccan polytheists. But by forgiving you all your faults and errors and removing them through our grace, We opened to you this door to triumph at Hudaybiya. Else you could not have achieved this victory with your own efforts.”
[4] See Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, I, 4; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, XIV, 394; Haythami, X, 374.
[5] See Bukhari, Anbiya 3, 9, Tafsir, 17:5; Muslim, Iman 327, 328; Tirmidhi, Qiyama 10.
[6] See Bukhari, Anbiya, 54.
[7] See Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 1/3615, Tafsir, 18; Ibn Maja, Zuhd, 37; Ahmad, I, 281, 295, III, 2, 144.
Source: An Excellent Exemplar II , Osman Nuri Topbaş, Erkam Publications
