Intercession Holds Special Significance in Islamic Belief System
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
11 March
2022
Muslims Believe
That The Holy Prophet Pbuh Will Intercede For Them.
Main Points:
1. Jews
believed that they were sons of God and God will forgive their sins.
2. Christians
believe that Jesus will take all their sins upon him.
3. Hadiths and
Qur'an support the belief in intercession.
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Intercession
(Shafa'at) holds special significance for Muslims. The Muslims believe
that on the Day of Judgement, the holy Prophet Pbuh will do intercession for
the sinners of his community (Muslims). There are some hadiths to this effect
that strengthen this belief. One hadith says, "Shafa'ati Li Kabairi
Ummati"(My intercession is for the major sinners (those who committed
major sins) among my Ummah.)
The holy
Quran says that the fate of every individual will be decided on the basis of
his deeds during his life time.
"No one is your supporter or intercessor
except Him."(As
Sajda: 4)
"O believers! Spend from what We gave you
provisions before the advent of the day when there will be no business nor
friendship nor intercession."(Al Baqarah: 254)
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Also
Read: Intercession: Indispensible Way to Reach God
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It also
says on a number of occasions that nobody's intercession will be accepted in
anyone's favour nor any one's help will reach anyone on the Day of Judgment nor
will the reward of good deeds of others will be accepted as compensation for
any one's sins.
"And
fear the day when no one will be of any help to any one nor any body's
intercession will be accepted or anything in compensation nor will any help
reach him."(Al Baqarah:48)
There are
other verses that reiterate the fact that human beings should do good deeds and
abstain from evil if they want to be blessed and rewarded on the Day of
Judgment. No intercession will be accepted in their favour and so they should
not be complacent. This has been reiterated in the Qur'an many times because
communities of earlier prophets had invented similar beliefs. The Christians
believe that Jesus Christ will purify all the Christians of their sins. The
Jews developed the belief that they were God's sons and so they won't be put
into the Hell. All their sins will be forgiven. This belief made them
complacent and they transgressed and committed grave sins though God forbade
them to commit mischief (fasad) on earth.
Therefore,
Qur'an warned Muslims against such beliefs so that they did not become
complacent and live a pious and righteous life on earth.
However,
there are some other verses in the Qur'an that support the belief of Muslims in
the intercession (Shafa'at) done by the holy prophet pbuh in favour of sinners
of his Ummah. Though the holy Prophet's name has not been mentioned as the
intercessor, the verses hint at someone who will be granted the permission to
do intercession in favour of some chosen people.
"Who can do intercession before Him but
with His permission."(Al Baqarah: 255)
"No one has the power to do intercession
except the one who has been granted promise from Rahman."(Maryam: 87)
In the
background of the hadiths which talk of intercession by the holy prophet pbuh,
the person whom God will grant permission to do intercession will be the holy
prophet pbuh.
In some
other verses, it is also said that angels also do intercession for people on
earth. In some verses it is also said that angels beg God to forgive the sins
of some people but God accepts their intercession in favour of only those whom
He loves or like”
"There are many angels in the Heavens
whose intercession is of no help except when Allah permits them in favour of
one whom He loves."(At Tur: 26)
"And they do not do intercession but for
the one with whom Allah is pleased."(Al Anbiya: 48)
Interestingly,
the angels did not have a good opinion of man when God had expressed to them
His plan to create Man and send Him to the earth. They had said that Man will
spread fasad on earth. This apprehension was based on their past experience.
Before Man, djinns were created and sent to the earth. The djinns had spread Fasad
on earth. Therefore, when God planned to create Man and send him to the earth
the angels had become apprehensive.
But why
will anyone whom God loves or likes need intercession in the first place?
Obviously, God loves only those who are righteous and they will go to heaven
thanks to their good deeds.
Actually,
there will be a lot of righteous people on earth who, despite being righteous
and pious, may have committed major sins under unavoidable circumstances or
unintentionally. Take the example of Prophet Moses pbuh. Before he became a
prophet, he hit a man hard unintentionally and the man died. Since, he did not
kill the man intentionally, God forgave his sin. Therefore, there may be scores
of people who despite all their efforts to abstain from sins may have committed
not only minor sins but major sins like murder. Since, they will be otherwise
righteous people and may have done great services to the society and humanity
at large, they will be granted intercession by either the angels or the prophet
pbuh.
However,
the intercession will be a privilege and not the right of the people. It will
depend on the discretion of God. Only He knows the state of the heart of
believers and so He will decide who deserves intercession. Therefore, there is
no room for complacency for Muslims.
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S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/intercession-islamic-jews-christians/d/126548
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