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THE
INFALLIBILITY OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD, upon him be peace and blessings
God’s Messenger, upon
him be peace and blessings, is superior to all other Prophets in every aspect of
Prophethood. He had to be so since he was sent as a mercy to all the worlds,
with a religion inclusive of all the essential tenets of the previously revealed
religions and containing all the principles and dynamics required for the
solutions to all kinds of problems which mankind are likely to face until the
Last Day. The mission of all the previous Prophets was, however, confined to a
certain people and a limited period. In the words of Busiri:
He is the sun of
virtues and the others are, in comparison to him, the stars that diffuse
light for people at night.
When the sun rises, both
the moon and stars are no longer visible. Likewise, when the ‘Sun of
Prophethood’ - that is, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings
- rose to illuminate all the universe, there was no longer a need for the light
of stars.
Like his predecessors,
inferior to him in rank, the last Prophet of God, Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, was also infallible. We see both in the Qur’an and history
books that, although his enemies spoke every slander against him, no one has
ever dared to say anything to defame his honesty and infallibility.
They said he was ‘mad’
- he madly loved God and, again, madly desired and sought for the people to be
guided, but he was not mad. They said he was a ‘magician’ charming people -
he did charm them with his personality and the religion and the Book he brought
from God Almighty, but he was not a magician. They said he was a ‘soothsayer’
- he made hundreds of predictions most of which have already come true, with the
rest certain to come true, but he was not a soothsayer. In short, they spoke
every slander against him, but no one has ever been able to attack his
truthfulness, trustworthiness, honesty and infallibility.
Like the Qur’anic
expressions which, superficially, seem to cast doubt on the infallibility of
some of the Prophets we have so far concentrated on, there are also admonitions
in the Qur’an regarding some actions of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings. Before passing on to clarify them, it should be noted once more
that the Prophets, like great jurists, also exercised their reasoning to judge a
matter or case about which there was not explicit or implicit ruling in
Revelation, in the hope of solving it in the best way. Just as the wives of the
Prophet are not, because of their position, the same as other Muslim women with
respect to reward and Divine punishment (see, al-Ahzab, 36.30-32), the
Prophets, upon them all be peace, were also not treated by God the same as other
believers. So, when they chose, for example, to drink the water of zamzam
instead of kawthar, they were admonished. Because of this, such
admonitions, the examples of which related to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, will be discussed below, should never be regarded as the
result of sins. Further, rather than being admonitions, they should, in most
cases, be taken as Divine compliments. We should therefore reiterate once more
that the Prophets were free from committing sins.
God’s
Messenger’s treatment of the prisoners of war taken in the battle of Badr
A handful of believers
were subjected to the most brutal of tortures in Makka. They bore all of them
patiently and never thought of retaliation, as the Qur’an ordered God’s
Messenger to call unbelievers to the way of God with wisdom and fair preaching
and advised him to repel the evil with what was better, and overlook their
faults and evils with magnanimous forgiveness. When the Muslims emigrated to
Madina, having left most of their belongings in Makka in order to be able to
live according to their beliefs, the harassment of the Makkan polytheists did
not stop. Indeed, they also became the target of Jewish conspiracy in Madina.
Also, since the Helpers, the native believers of Madina, had to share, although
willingly, everything they had with their emigrant brothers, all the Muslims
suffered deprivations. In such straitened circumstances, God Almighty permitted
them to resist the enemy onslaught because they were wronged. This was just
before the Battle of Badr.
The Battle of Badr was
the first confrontation of the Muslims with the enemy forces. Although
outnumbered, the believers won a great victory. Until then, if, indeed, we do
not accept the opinions of some interpreters of the Qur’an that sura
Muhammad, which contains regulations as to how to treat prisoners of war,
was revealed before sura al-Anfal, no Divine commandment had been
revealed as to how the captives should be treated. They did not even know
whether they would kill the enemy on the battlefield or take them as prisoners.
Sa’d ibn Muadh, for example, was not pleased when he saw his brothers
(in-religion) taking enemy soldiers as prisoners of war; he was in favor of
killing them in the first confrontation.
The battle ended and the
Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, chose, as he always did where there
was no specific Divine commandment, to consult with his Companions about how
they should treat the prisoners of war. Abu Bakr said:
O God’s
Messenger! They are your people. Even though they did you and the
believers great wrong, you will win their hearts and cause their guidance
if you forgive them and please them.
However, ‘Umar gave
this opinion:
O God’s
Messenger! The prisoners of war are the leading figures of Makka. If we
kill them, unbelief will no longer be able to recover to encounter us. So,
hand over to each of the Muslims his kin among them. Hand over to ‘Ali
his brother ‘Aqil to kill. Let Abu Bakr kill his son, ‘Abd al-Rahman,
and let me kill my relative so and so.
God’s Messenger, upon
him be peace and blessings, turned to Abu Bakr and said:
You are, O Abu Bakr,
like the Prophet Abraham, upon him be peace, who said: ‘He who follows
me is of me, and he who disobeys me - but You are indeed Oft-Forgiving,
Most Compassionate’ (Abraham, 14.36). You are also like Jesus,
who said: ‘If You punish them, they are Your servants. If You forgive
them, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise’ (al-Ma’ida, 5.118).
Then he turned to ‘Umar
and said:
O ‘Umar! You are
like Noah, who said: ‘O my Lord! Leave not even a single unbeliever on
earth!’ (Nuh, 71.26). You are also like Moses, who said: ‘Our
Lord, destroy their (Pharaoh’s and his chiefs’) riches and harden
their hearts so that they will not believe until they see the painful
chastisement’ (Yunus, 10. 88). Then, he acted according to the
view of Abu Bakr.19
Every Prophet was sent to
guide people to the way of God, and the mission of each was undoubtedly based on
mercy. However, mercy sometimes requires that, as in the case of Noah and Moses,
upon them both be peace, an arm should be amputated for the health of the body,
or even that the body should undergo a major operation. Islam, being the ‘middle
way’ of absolute balance - balance between materialism and spiritualism,
between rationalism and mysticism, between worldliness and excessive asceticism,
between this world and the next - and inclusive of the ways of all the previous
Prophets, makes a choice according to the situation. Prior to the Battle of Badr,
the Muslims were weak, and unbelief was, in material terms, strong, formidable
and organized. For this reason, conditions may have required that the Prophet
should not have had prisoners of war until he became completely triumphant in
the land (al-Anfal, 8.67). For they were fighting for the cause of God,
not some worldly purposes, like collecting ransom. However, God Almighty had
already decreed before that ransom and spoils of war would be lawful for
Muslims. The pure hearts of the Prophet, upon him be peace, and Abu Bakr must
have felt before that God would make spoils of war and taking ransom lawful for
the Muslims and, before waiting for the Revelation, chose to release the
prisoners of war in return for some ransom. However, had it not been for that
decree, a severe penalty would have reached them for the ransom that they took.
If, then, God made it lawful, they could enjoy what they took in war, lawful and
good (al-Anfal, 8:67-69).
The same is mentioned
more explicitly in another verse:
When you confront
the unbelievers (in battle), smite their necks, and when you have
thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly on them. Thereafter (is the
time for) either generosity (i.e. the release of prisoners without ransom)
or ransom (recommended). (Muhammad, 47.4)
The
Prophet’s granting exemption to hypocrites from the expedition of Tabuk
The expedition of Tabuk
took place in the ninth year of Hijra. It was in summertime, when the heat is
intense in Arabia, and against the Empire of Byzantium, which was one of the two
superpowers of the time. Because of this, against his usual practice, God’s
Messenger announced where and against whom the expedition would be. Some people,
therefore, came to God’s Messenger and requested, for some reasons, exemption
from the expedition. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, granted
exemption to those whose excuses he regarded as justifiable, without, naturally,
investigating whether they were telling the truth or not. This was what, of
course, he had to do, because a Muslim must judge according to the outward signs
and the affirmation of faith; he cannot pry into whether the person is being
truthful or not. For this reason, hypocrites, who are outwardly Muslims but
inwardly unbelievers, are treated as Muslims in a Muslim society; there were
several of them in Madina in the time of the Prophet himself.
Besides, God Almighty is
the One who veils the shortcomings of people. Accordingly, God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, never reproached people directly for their
shortcomings. When he discerned a defect in some individual, or a fault common
in the society, he used to climb the pulpit and warn the people generally
against the shortcoming or fault he saw, without disclosing those in whom he saw
it.
Among those who applied
to God’s Messenger for exemption from the expedition of Tabuk, were many
hypocrites who offered false excuses. Despite this, God’s Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings, accepted them. Concerning that, the following verse was
revealed:
God forgive you!
Why did you grant them exemption until those who told the truth were
manifest to you, and you knew the liars? (al-Tawba, 9.43)
Although some scholars
have held that God Almighty reproached His Messenger for granting exemption to
the hypocrites, the truth is the reverse.
Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
and many others, among whom are linguists, have correctly pointed out that the
expression, God forgive you! is an exclamation, as one might say in English, ‘God
bless you!’ So, the true meaning of the expression is ‘God give you grace!’
As explained earlier, it is not necessary for a sin to exist before forgiveness
is granted and, as, for example, in the verses, 4.99, 5.3 and 4.43, forgiveness
may be juxtaposed to ‘grace’ as they have closely allied meanings.20
In addition to the
explanations above, God’s Messenger was motivated by kindness as well as
policy - kindness because in the urgency of the moment, he did not wish anyone
who had a real excuse to be refused exemption; and policy, because, if anyone
did not come willingly or whole-heartedly, he would be a burden to the army and
cause disorder in the army, as explicitly stated in the following verse:
If they had gone
forth with you they would have added nothing but mischief to you and they
would have hurried through your ranks, seeking to cause sedition among
you. (al-Tawba, 9.47)
God’s Messenger
recognized the hypocrites, as we read in another verse: Surely you will know
them by the tone of their speech! (Muhammad, 47.30). In addition, God did
not will that they should set out for war:
If they had
intended to go forth they would certainly have made some preparation
therefor; but God was averse to their being sent forth; so He made them
lag behind, and they were told, ‘Sit you among those who sit (inactive).’
(al-Tawba, 9.46)
That being so, the
meaning of the verse in question is this:
‘God give you grace! If
you had not given them leave on their first application, the liars would have
been clearly distinguished from the truthful.’ In other words, it is not a
reprimand to the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings; rather it expresses a
Divine compliment and affection for him.
Sura ‘Abasa
or He Frowned
Prophethood is not an
ordinary job which everyone desirous of it can do, and people are not identical
to one another. Man has two aspects, one heavenly, the other earthly. He was
shaped from ‘dust’, created from a contemptible drop of ‘water’, but
distinguished with the ‘breath of God’. So, human beings range from ‘the
lowest of the low’ to ‘the highest of the high’. All the Prophets were of
the rank of the highest of the high. God chose them, created them pure, and
endowed them with all laudable virtues, and intellectual and spiritual faculties
of the highest degree. In order to catch a glimpse, only a glimpse, of the
greatness of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, we should
consider how, by God’s Will and Power, he made, in so short a time as
twenty-three years, out of coal-like people - savage, ignorant, pitiless,
dishonest and obstinate - diamond-like founders of the most magnificent
civilization in human history. In addition, according to the rule, ‘One who
causes something is like its doer’, the reward of each deed any believer does,
from the time of the Prophet to the Last Day, is added to the rewards of the
Prophet, causing him to grow in spirit incessantly. Despite this fact, some
classical books - some Qur’anic commentaries and the like - unfortunately
contain some assertions based on borrowings or unreliable anecdotes incompatible
with the truth of Prophethood. What is more tragic and heart-rending than this
is that in the Muslim world itself, some so-called researchers, under the
influence of either orientalists or worldly temptations, have been quite
tactless, even insolent, in dealing with Prophethood in general, and God’s
Messenger in particular, and his Sunna. Deceived into mistaking ‘the
reflection of the sun for the sun itself’, they regard themselves as free to
criticize the Prophet and his Sunna. One of the pretexts they use for their
misconduct is the initial verses of sura
‘Abasa:
He frowned and turned
away because there came to him the blind man. But how can you know: perhaps
he might purify himself? Or be forewarned, and warning might profit him? As
to him who regards himself as self-sufficient, to him you eagerly attend,
though it is not your concern if he does not purify himself. But as for him
who eagerly hastens to you, and is in fear [of God], you are heedless of
him. (‘Abasa, 80.1-10)
According to what some
interpreters of the Qur’an have written, God’s Messenger was once deeply and
earnestly engaged in conveying the Message to pagan Quraysh leaders, when he was
interrupted by a poor blind man, ‘Adbullah ibn Umm Maktum, one who was also
poor, so that no one took any notice of him. He desired to profit from the
teaching of God’s Messenger. The holy Prophet disliked the interruption and
showed impatience. Because of this, these verses were revealed to reproach the
Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.
This story is, however,
highly questionable due to the following:
· The narration of
the event and the figures who took part in it are not the same in all of
the reliable books of Tradition as in some commentaries on the Qur’an.
In some versions of the narration, besides Ibn Umm Maktum, seven other
people are mentioned.
· There are
several verses in the Qur’an which explain how the previous Prophets
behaved towards poor people, so it is inconceivable for a Prophet who
always advised his followers to be in the company of the poor, that he
could frown at, and turn away from, a poor, blind man, especially when he
came to listen to him.
· God’s
Messenger always rejected the calls of the leaders of Quraysh to drive
away the poor Muslims from him if he desires them to believe in him.
· The Qur’an
attaches great importance to the way a believer behaves in the presence of
God’s Messenger. For example, it orders them ‘not to depart without
asking for his leave when they are with him on a matter’; prohibits them
from entering the Prophet’s house without permission; warns Muslims that
their deeds and labor would come to nothing if they raise their voices
above the voice of the Prophet and threatens those who ill-treat him with
eternal punishment in Hell. That being the truth, it should have been Ibn
Umm Maktum, not God’s Messenger, who was reprimanded for interrupting
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings.
· Ibn Umm Maktum,
may God be pleased with him, was the son of Khadijah’s uncle, and one of
those who accepted Islam in its early days. He had a remarkable position
in Islam. God’s Messenger deputed to him the government of Madina twice
while he was on military campaign. So, he cannot have been, despite his
blindness, so reckless as to interrupt God’s Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings, while inviting the leaders of the Quraysh to the
truth. He was blind, but he was not deaf.
· The reprimand
contained in the relevant verses is too severe to be for the Prophet, upon
him be peace and blessings. The verbs ‘to frown’ and ‘to turn away
from’, are never used in the Qur’an for a Prophet; in fact, they are
not even used for ordinary believers. They are used in the verse in
question in third singular form and in the absence of the Prophet, which
means disrespect and debasement. Also, the expressions following are of
the type used for the leaders of unbelievers. Therefore, it is
inconceivable that the target of this reprimand was the Prophet.
· The books of Qur’anic
interpretation which mention this incident add to it that whenever God’s
Messenger saw Ibn Umm Maktum after that event would say to him: ‘Greetings
to you, O one because of whom my Lord admonished me!’ This addition is
also not to be found in any of the reliable books of Tradition.
· God’s
Messenger was very kind-hearted and tried his hardest for the guidance of
the people. And, in the words of the Qur’an, It grieves him that the
believers should perish, and he is ardently anxious over them, and most
kind and merciful to them (al-Tawbah, 9.128).
After all these
explanations, we choose to refer the truth of the matter to God, who is the
All-Knowing.
The offer
made by the tribe of Thaqif
In order to accept Islam,
the people of Thaqif wanted God’s Messenger to give them some concessions
including exemption from some religious duties, as if the Messenger were
authorized to do so. It is inconceivable not only for God’s Messenger but even
for an ordinary Muslim to think of allowing such concessions to anybody, even if
he be the president of the most powerful state of the world. The verses revealed
concerning this incident say:
They sought to
entice you from what we reveal unto you, to substitute against us
something different. Then, they would certainly have made you a trusted
friend! Indeed, had We not given you strength and firmness, you might
nearly have inclined to them a little. Then, We should have made you taste
double (punishment) in this life, and double in death; and moreover you
would have found none for you to help you against Us. (al-Isra’,
17.73-5)
It should, first of all,
be noted that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, is the direct
addressee and receiver of the Divine Revelation. For this reason, God Almighty
directly addresses him in the Commandments - orders and prohibitions - where
collective, as well as individual, responsibilities are stressed. This does not
mean that God’s Messenger sometimes - God forbid! - neglected their
performance. Being the embodiment, representative and preacher of Islam, as well
as the best example, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
personified, practiced them most strictly and experienced the ‘whole history
of Islam’ in miniature measure. In other words, God used him and his time and
his Companions as a pattern according to which all future expansion of Islam
would be shaped. He functioned as a seed from which all future Islamic
civilizations, Islamic movements and sciences, the universal tree of Islam,
would grow. For this reason, such verses as the one above and the like should
never be taken to suggest that God’s Messenger was reproached for something he
did that was wrong. That blessed person, who is the Beloved of God, for whose
sake God created all the worlds, is absolutely free from every kind of defect,
fault and shortcoming.
As explained in the
previous sections, God’s Messenger was extremely eager for the guidance of all
people. In order to be able to have some understanding of his love and affection
for, not only humanity, but for all existence, it will be enough to reflect on
what a contemporary Muslim saint said concerning his connection with existence:
‘Each leaf that falls off its branch in autumn gives me as much pain as my arm
being amputated.’ And, another says concerning his eagerness for the guidance
and well-being of his nation: ‘I have known nothing of worldly pleasures in my
life of over eighty years. All my life has passed on battlefields, and at
various other places of suffering. There has been no torment which I have not
tasted and no oppression which I have not suffered. I care for neither Paradise
nor fear Hell. If I witness that the faith of my nation - that is, all the
Muslim peoples - has been secured, I will have no objection to being burnt in
the flames of Hell, for my heart will change into a rose garden while my body is
being burnt.’ God said to His Messenger, consoling him in the face of
persistent unbelief:
You will nearly
grieve yourself to death, following after them, if they believe not in
this Message. (al-Kahf, 18.6)
Having seen God’s
Messenger’s eagerness to guide people, the leaders of the Thaqif tribe made
him the stupid offer mentioned earlier, adding that, if others objected, he
might excuse it by lying that his Lord had ordered him to do so. From a purely
human point of view, it may seem a good policy to make a small ‘concession’
in order to fulfil a great mission, but the Messenger was not the author of
Islam. His duty was simply to communicate it. The religion is God’s.
The
Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab
During the pre-Islamic
period of jahiliyya, as is the case now, cultural, economic and spiritual
slavery was widespread. Islam came to destroy the institution of slavery and
sought to solve this social, as well as psychological, problem in stages. Since
slavery has a deep psychological aspect, its abolition in one go may have had
far-reaching effects worse than slavery itself. For example, when Lincoln
abolished ‘legal’ slavery in the United States, most of the slaves had to
return to their owners because they had already lost initiative and the ability
to make a free choice in managing their affairs as free people. So, Islam
established, as its first step, strict principles in treatment of slaves, as
seen in the following hadiths:
Whoever kills his
slave, he shall be killed. Whoever imprisons his slave and starves him, he
will be imprisoned and starved himself, and whoever castrates his slave
will himself be castrated.21
You should know
that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab and no non-Arab is superior to any
Arab, no white is superior to a black and no black is superior to a white.
Superiority is only by righteousness and fear of God.22
As its second step, Islam
enabled slaves to realize their human consciousness and identity. It educated
them in Islamic values, and implanted in them love of freedom. When, at last,
the slaves were emancipated, they found themselves fully equipped with the
potential to be useful members of the community as farmers, artisans, teachers,
scholars, and commanders, governors and ministers and even prime ministers.
There was another
practice in the pre-Islamic era, as still exists in the civil laws of many
countries, which is adoption as a way of having children. Adopted children
enjoyed the same legal status as natural children. It followed that a man could
not legally marry, for example, the widow or former wife an adopted son. This
was to be abolished because neither adoption nor any other way of declaring
someone a son can create a relationship comparable to the relationship of
children and natural parents.
As was the case with
slavery, this practice was to be abolished. The Messenger himself was to bear a
heavy burden as the one who would personally go against the accepted norms and
stamp out a well-established custom.
Zayd was a black man who
had been kidnapped from his family in his childhood by slave-traders and taken
to the bazaar of Makka. Khadija, the first wife of God’s Messenger, had bought
him, and after her marriage to the Prophet, gave him as a present. God’s
Messenger emancipated him and called him ‘my son’. Meanwhile, Zayd’s
parents had found out where he was and come to Makka to fetch him, but Zayd had
preferred to stay with God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings.
In order to show the
equality between black and white people and demonstrate that superiority only
lies in righteousness and God-fearing, not in decent and worldly positions, God’s
Messenger married Zayd to Zaynab, the daughter of Jahsh. Zaynab was from the
Hashimite tribe. She was a very devoted and intellectual Muslim woman and noble
in character. God’s Messenger knew her very well from her childhood. Although
her family had wanted her to marry God’s Messenger, they had given consent to
her marriage with Zayd because God’s Messenger desired it to be so.
Zayd, however, admitted
himself to be spiritually inferior to his wife. He realized through his insight
that Zaynab was a woman whose sublimity of character made her fit to be the wife
of a far greater man than himself. He appealed to God’s Messenger many times
to allow him to divorce her, but each time, as the Qur’an explicitly states,
God’s Messenger warned him, saying: Retain your wife (in wedlock).
Nevertheless, Zayd concluded that he was not his wife’s equal and eventually
divorced her. In the end, God’s Messenger was ordered by God to marry her
himself against the established traditions of the time. This marriage had been
ordained in heaven and, therefore, God’s Messenger had to concede to it:
When Zayd had
dissolved (his marriage) with her, We gave her in marriage to you, so that
there may be no difficulty and sin for believers in marriage with the
wives of their adopted sons if they divorce them. And God’s command must
be fulfilled. (al-Ahzab, 33:37)
Although, in essence,
this marriage was very difficult for God’s Messenger to enter into, God had
willed that through this marriage a false custom would be abolished and a new
law and custom established through the ideal example of God’s Messenger, upon
him be peace and blessings. Despite this, the enemies of Islam and hypocrites
slandered God’s Messenger and unfortunately some of these slanderous ideas
have found their way into some Qur’anic commentaries. It should again be
emphasized that any perverse allegation or slander has never had and will never
have the least effect on his pure personality and world-admired chastity. As is
unanimously agreed, he happily restricted himself to living with Khadija, a
widow fifteen years older than himself, with nothing to suggest any misconduct
during the twenty-five most youthful years when people burn with lust and carnal
desires. This clearly shows that his marriages after the age of fifty, when
desire has subsided, were not to satisfy his passions, but to fulfill some very
important purposes.
In sum, like every other
Prophet, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, is absolutely free
from any blemish, and no accusation can defame his infallibility.
18. Bukhari, “Anbiya’,”
21.19; Ibn Hanbal, 2.96, 332.
19. Qurtubi, “Tafsir,”
8.31; Ibn Hanbal, 1.383.
20. Qurtubi, 8.98-9; Fakhr al-Razi, Mafatih
al-Ghayb, 16.73-4.
21. Abu Dawud, “Diyat,”
70; Tirmidhi, “Diyat,” 17.
22. Ibn Hanbal, 411.
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