Was Prophet Muhammad Al Mustafa Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Alehe Wa Sallam Infallible? Options

[Moostee]

Salaams,

What is the sunni perspective on the infallibility of the prophets (peace and blessings be upon them all) in general and the infallibility of our prophet - Muhammad in particular?

There are several possibilities:

- He was completely infallible in every aspect of his life.
- He was completely fallible in every aspect of his life.
- He was infallible in religious matters but fallible in other matters. ( i have heard stories that the prophet was asked advice about farming and when the advice he gave turned out to be rubbish advice - he told the person who had relied upon his advice that he was a prophet of god and not a farmer and therefore the person should not have relied on his advice in the field of farming)

I look forward to sunnis from different schools insha allah coming forward and stating their beliefs and trying to prove them logically and quranically.

for those who do not know - shias believe all the prophets (peace be upon them all) to be 100% infallible - the logical argument being that how can Allah entrust the responsibility of his message to people who will dilute the truth of his message by failing to act in accordance with the message themselves?

As for the quranic evidence - i will share a couple of ayats which will clarify their position:

"And we did not send any messenger, unless he should be obeyed by Allah's authority." (Quran 4:64)

"Whoever obeys the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah." (Quran 4:80)

In the above verses as well as many other verses of the Quran, obedience of Allah has become synonymous with the obedience of the prophets. Such assertion would have been impossible if the prophets were not infallible (Ma'soom). Now, note the following verse:

"....and obey not from among them a sinner or an ungrateful one." (Quran 76:24)

The picture is complete! "The prophets are to be obeyed," and "the sinners are NOT to be obeyed." The only conclusion is that the prophets were NOT sinners or wrong-doers. In other words, they were infallible (Ma'soom) and sinless.

Salaams

[Abu Ismaa'il...]

Salaamun 'alaa man ittaba'al hudaa;

Akhi, please shed some light on the following:

1) "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 Allah desires (for you) the Hereafter. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise" (Quran, 8:67)

* Allaah is correcting the Prophet for making a mistake in his choice.

2) "O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allah has allowed to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Quran, 66:1)

* Allah censures His Prophet for Prohibiting Himself from what He has allowed for Him In the Book of Vows

3) The Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) came to Madinah, and they were pollinating the date-palms. He said, "What are you doing?" They said, "We always used to pollinate them." He said, "Perhaps if you do not do that, it will be better." So they did not do it, and the harvest was lacking. They mentioned that to him, and he said, "I am only a human being like you. If I tell you to do something with regard to religion, then follow it, but if I tell you to do something based on my own opinion, I am only a human being." (narrated by Muslim, 2361).

* in this case, please prove that this is inauthentic, beacuse you can't merely say, "my "logic" tells me different, that's why I don't accept it"; that's no good.

[Moostee]

the prophet was the greatest mujtahid and so when he made decisions prior to a quranic verse being revealed - how can this be a sin?

the quran was not revealed to perfect prophet muhammads manners because he was already regarded as amin and sadiq by the pagan arabs before he announced his prophethood.

do sunni muslims think allah made muhamad a prophet at the age of 40 because he never told a lie or is it because allah had already made him a prophet was the reason he never lied cheated stole drank alcohol etc etc?

you have completely miunderstood the concept of prophethood by believing allah is censuring the prophet in the quran. prohibiting what is not prohibited for yourself is not a sin and if you regard it a sin in light of the verse - how can the pophet have committed a sin which did not yet exist?

the same would apply to the issue of the captives.

with regard to the hadith about pollinating the dates - why would the prophet give insructions on a worldly issue about which he was neither asked his opinion nor did he have any knowledge over the issue. the hadith is insulting the prophet by saying he gave advice which he was not even asked about which turned out false.

the quran talks about obeying the prophet and never gives any clause on only obeying with regard to revelation.

33:6 says the prophet has more authority over us than we have over ourselves. that means if i am praying my salat and the prophet orders me to break it - i must break it.

thanks for clarifying your position on why you believe the prophet was an ordinary human being but it is something we wil never agree on.

i would also appreciate other sunnis opinions - espcially sufis as i understand their thoghts on the prophet is close to the shias.

salaams

[Abu Ismaa'il...]

Salaamun 'alaa man ittaba'al hudaa; Bismillaah al-Rahmaan al-Raheem;

Firstly, I should say that anything I mention, is not aimed at reviling or degrading the Prophet’s of Allaah, a’udhubillaah. Anything which may seem that way is completely unintentionally. Anything I say will not make a difference to their status anyway. I know this topic is somethign better avoided in the first place, but it must be discussed to refute the deviants ideologies which stem from it.

Akhi Moostee, I have not clarified my opinion; I have just merely asked for your opinion on the above quotes.

The issue at hand is the concept of infallibility and how this relates to the Prophet’s (‘alayhimus salaam) of Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) and in particular, the greatest of them all, our beloved Muhammad (salawaatullaahi wa salaamuhu ‘alayh).
It is important that we know exactly what we are discussing.

The dictionary definition of ‘infallible’:

Infallible

/infalib’l/

• adjective 1 incapable of making mistakes or being wrong. 2 never failing; always effective.

— DERIVATIVES infallibility noun infallibly adverb.

Source: Compact Oxford English Dictionary

From a Shee’ah point of view:

Shaykh Muhamad Riza Muzaffar, a famous and eminent scholar of the first half of this century writes,

“We [Shias] believe that all Prophets are infallible… Infallibility means purity from all sins, both major and minor ones, and from mistakes and forgetfulness.”

Source: Al-Muzzafar, The Faith of Shia Islam, p. 21)

In countless ayaat of the Qur'aan, Allaah reiterates over and over again that the Messengers whom have been sent to mankind were nothing but men of revelation; they were not angels, not super beings but men just like you and me.

"Nor did We send before thee (as apostles) any but men, whom we did inspire..." [12:109]

"And before thee also the apostles We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration..." [16:43]

"Not an apostle did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him..." [21:25]
"And We never sent before you any of the Messengers, but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets..." [25:20]

"Say: "Glorified be my Lord! Am I anything but a man, sent as a Messenger''..." [17:93]

the prophet was the greatest mujtahid and so when he made decisions prior to a quranic verse being revealed - how can this be a sin?

Nowhere did I say it was a sin!

Tell me, using logic, which we all love; if a person is CORRECTED, does this not mean he committed a MISTAKE, since correction only occurs of that which is not correct (i.e. mistakes) ?

you have completely miunderstood the concept of prophethood by believing allah is censuring the prophet in the quran. prohibiting what is not prohibited for yourself is not a sin and if you regard it a sin in light of the verse - how can the pophet have committed a sin which did not yet exist?

Again, where did I say it was a sin?

Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) rebukes the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) for his mistake of prohibiting the halaal, in the form of a question. And He (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) mentions He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

the same would apply to the issue of the captives.

Again, bearing in mind the definition of “infallible; the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) made a mistake in his ijtihaad, and so was corrected by Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta'aala).

with regard to the hadith about pollinating the dates - why would the prophet give insructions on a worldly issue about which he was neither asked his opinion nor did he have any knowledge over the issue. the hadith is insulting the prophet by saying he gave advice which he was not even asked about which turned out false.

This is just pure following of shahawaat. I mean, you have not even attempted to refute the hadeeth based on its strength in authenticity. It doesnt matter if its saheeh or not, as long as it doesnt fit your "wishes" then it is automatically false ?

the quran talks about obeying the prophet and never gives any clause on only obeying with regard to revelation.

33:6 says the prophet has more authority over us than we have over ourselves. that means if i am praying my salat and the prophet orders me to break it - i must break it.

Yes, and your point is akhi? Is anyone saying NOT to obey the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ?

--------------------------

I believe the Prophet's of Allaah were infallible and do not make mistakes when it comes to conveying the message. They did not forget anything that Allaah revelaed to them, except for things that were abrogated.

"With regard to worldly matters…with regard to agriculture, medicine, carpentry, etc., he was like all other people. Allah did not tell us that he was sent to us as a businessman or a farmer or a carpenter or a doctor. His mistakes in these fields are quite natural and do not impact on his Message at all." [IslamQA]

Wallaahu ta'aala a'lam.

[Servant-of-Allah]

what about the Ayah that says
I swear by the star when it goes down.Your companion does not err, nor does he (Muhammad) go astray; Nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed.
Quran [53:1-4]

surely this proves that the Prophet (S) did not ever make a mistake

This post has been edited by Servant-of-Allah: Aug 22 2010, 09:35 AM

[Bar Haq]

AOAWRBHU:

Simple logic of belief applies here.

If anyone beleives that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is prone to mistakes, then you can't justify the authenticity of Al Quran as flawless.... PERIOD.

Therefore, the impeccability of Al Quran demands the infallibility of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).


Those who want to get into the debate of plam dates advise, they are just wasting time, as the word Deen means Decission. So if your decisions taken in daily life based on the advise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are turning out to be a loss, then you need to work and straighten your own Deen than NauzobilAllah, blaming Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for a wrong advice.

For those who believe that His (pbuh) prophethood was a result of Behavior modification at the age of 40, then they are gravely mistaken, and flatly rejecting the following verse:

[Yusufali 3:84] Say: "We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam)."

Did Allah (swt) wait for Jesus to turn 40?
Did Allah (swt) protect Moses in his infancy in the basket to reach Pharon's palace?

Why did Allah (swt) had to wait for our last beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to turn 40?


Conclusion:

Therefore, one has to believe that He(pbuh) was Prophet from day one, and He (pbuh) only declared it when He (pbuh) turned 40.


Mainstream Scholars are still debating NauzobilAllah, whether He (pbuh) was literate or not? Mainstream scholars also endorse rubbish Ahadith, such as a women used to throw trash on Him (pbuh) --- NauzobilAllah, and when one day, when the lady didn't throw it, the Prophet (pbuh) went to her house, and she converted to Islam?

I ask those who accept such man written Hadiths, that Is throwing trash allowed on streets in Islam which advocates cleanliness and healthy environment? Don't you think Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would have advised anyone to not to throw trash on streets? No wonder, majority of muslim world, still throw trash on the streets.. because they have accepted such man written Ahadiths and in doing so reject the verses revealed by Allah (swt), which says.

Al Quran 33:33, "And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless."

I will be bit blunt here in quoting another example...

It's widely said that humans are like animals but the only difference is that Humans can talk.

Now those who sustain that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was just like us, and in their argument, they love to post this verse:

"Say: "Glorified be my Lord! Am I anything but a man, sent as a Messenger''..." [17:93]



Now please compare it when you say that we are also like animals, but we speak?

Now this attribute of "Speak" is soooooooooooo unique that it distinguishes you from animals? Similarly, declaring oneself as Messenger is The main attribute which distinguishes Him (pbuh) from all other Men.

Those who think that being a Messenger is not a special attribute, than they can try their best to modify their behavior to reach that state -- perhaps only to learn that
Chosen ones are Chosen ones from day one.

This post has been edited by Bar Haq: Oct 31 2010, 07:18 AM

[x3000gtx]

Bismillahirahmaniraheem

Asalaamalikum brothers and sisters,


Prophet Muhammad SAW was extremely wise because Allah SWT chose to give him hidaya and he was the greatest of all prophets

Obviously the true believers have a great deal of respect for him but that does not mean that it is appropiate to attribute traits to him, such as the trait/characteristic of infallibility

Here is my proof:
in the glorious Qur'an, Surah Abasa verses 1-17

Summary: A blind man used to come to Prohphet Muhammad and ask questions. One day, the Prohet SAW saw him and he "frowned" and "turned his back." Allah almighty was very angry with our Prohet's act and revealed this verse to our beloved Prophet SAW

This is proof from the Qur'an that our Prohet SAW indeed committed sin and erred and Allah SWT revealed this worse to explan why.
Our Prophet SAW, as great as he was, was still a HUMAN. He was NOT infallible: he was created from the Earth just like every other human. It's not that he was incapable of error, he CHOSE not to commit sin because Allah SWT had given him hidaya and he knew of his duty as a messenger.

And to your example about humans being different than animals because they "can't speak", that is not true- animals can INDEED speak. Just because you can not understand them does not mean they cannot speak. For example, let's say I am Japanese and I am trying to.communicate with someone who speaks Urdu, just because i cannot understand him doesnot mean he cannot "speak." Similarily, animals have various methods to speak to one another such as dolphins monkeys, elephants, etc.

Allah SWT has created life in many miraculous fashions. Ants not only communicate, they even have social structure-very similar to apes. They can indeed "speak."

Language is not confined to the human species.

[rizwan]

^its amazing how people can so shamelessly insult the best of creation. the prophet was sent to perfect our akhlaq, and is one who is to be followed.

it is not logical to suggest he was the one who frowned. and being created from earth doesnt mean you will be sinful.

http://ius.org.uk/audio/ramadhan-majalis-0...nakshawani.html

"Who frowned at the blind man?"

perhaps you will learn something.

[x3000gtx]

Asalaamalikum,

Before I continue I want to remind everyone to not make this a heated arguement. I am a Muslim because of Allah SWT's hidaya and inshallah we will all always pray for his hidaya. If I am wrong please present me proof so I may correct myself.


Back to the topic, brother please present PROOF over your claim. I know you sent me a link to a fellow muslim explaining it, but I want WRITTEN proof. I know, because the context of the verse, it
IS Muhammad SAW. Read that chapter and then you will know the context of that verse. If you believe I am wrong, then please present proof and inshallah I will correct myself.

Again for reference, it is Surah Abasa in the glorious Qur'an verses 1-17(although you should read the entire chapter to understand the context)


Also read this: islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1689&category=176

And if you do a 5 second search on the Tafsir of Surah Abasa on google, there will be a myriad of tafsirs saying it was the Prophet SAW because HE was part of the context: Allah SWT was speaking to him. How can you deny that? Did you even READ the surah?

And our Prophet Muhammad SAW was obviously the greatest prophet of Allah SWT. But don't say he was the BEST creation, he was created JUST like us. He required food,water,family,etc, EVERYTHING. There is a fine line between greatly respecting him and doing INJUSTICE to him. Don't attribute traits to him which simply aren't true. He was NOT infallible. Let me show you. Surah An-Nisa verse 28 ( I'm paraphrasing the last part) " ... and man is created weak" Every single human is created weak and NEEDS Allah SWT for everything because we are created WEAK. This applies to ALL of the prophets because they were OBVIOUSLY human. What differentiated.them was the knowledge and hidaya that only Allah SWT can give.

This post has been edited by x3000gtx: Feb 19 2011, 10:55 AM

[rizwan]

every sunni attributes it to the prophet. why? i don't know, i find it peculiar why any follower of the prophet, who we refer to as the mercy to MANKIND, would accept such a distasteful behaviour. it is not consistent, a mercy to MANKIND would not do such a thing as frown because someone is blind.

we may do such a thing, but we arent held as examples for others are we? we arent prophets.

thanks for your suggestion, but yes I have read the chapter.

And if you do a 5 second search on the Tafsir of Surah Abasa on google, there will be a myriad of tafsirs saying it was the Prophet SAW because HE was part of the context: Allah SWT was speaking to him. How can you deny that? Did you even READ the surah?

your argument that every sunni tafseer refers to the frowner as being the prophet is useless. being a majority is not an argument. otherwise we could say the majority of poeple believe jesus is the son of god, so why dont u become a christian?

And our Prophet Muhammad SAW was obviously the greatest prophet of Allah SWT. But don't say he was the BEST creation, he was created JUST like us.

Kindly point out to me what creation is greater than the prophet in the eyes of allah. Bear in mind, mankind is the greatest of allah's creation - and the prophet is the greatest man of mankind - therefore he is the greatest of allah's creation. find me a person who was better than the prophet, then ask yourself why are you following Muhammad and not the other man that you found better than him.

He required food,water,family,etc, EVERYTHING.

Totally irrelevent. requiring such things does not exclude him from being the greatest creation.

There is a fine line between greatly respecting him and doing INJUSTICE to him. Don't attribute traits to him which simply aren't true. He was NOT infallible.
Let me show you. Surah An-Nisa verse 28 ( I'm paraphrasing the last part) " ... and man is created weak" Every single human is created weak and NEEDS Allah SWT for everything because we are created WEAK. This applies to ALL of the prophets because they were OBVIOUSLY human. What differentiated.them was the knowledge and hidaya that only Allah SWT can give.

yes mankind is weak. such that something small and not even visible to the naked eye (a virus) can bring it to death. despite such weakness, in allah's opinion mankind is still the greatest of his creation, and the prophet remains the greatest creation of allah. if this does not make sense to you, take it up with Allah.

so its up to you if you choose to believe allah's greatest creation will show such disrespect, and we as humans are meant to follow him as an example.

anyway, lets look at the translation.

[Shakir 80:1] He frowned and turned (his) back,
[Shakir 80:2] Because there came to him the blind man.
[Shakir 80:3] And what would make you know that he would purify himself,

Notice the switch in the pronoun - 'He' frowned. If we assume that 'you' is the prophet, then this shows we're talking about two different people. If the opening verse was 'you frowned' then perhaps you'd have an argument.

so it is by no means clear that it is the prophet that frowned, and when taken in conjunction with the verses that tell us the prophet has sublime morality it is clear that to accept it was the prophet who frowned is to accept contradiction in the quran.