type of infallibility is restricted to Prophets and Imams (PBUT).
Deeds infallibility:is purity from committing sins or making mistakes only intentionally. Every person is capable of achieving this type of infallibility through self-restraint and righteousness. Abi-l-fazl Al-Abbas and his sister Zainab, Fatima Al-Ma’souma, Ali Al-Akbar and others (PBUT) are crystal clear examples for people who could attain deeds infallibility.
Anwar:Will you explain the process through which one attains infallibility?
Hasan:Briefly, infallibility is a high form of piety that one can obtain via absolute awareness about the consequences of committing sins and their ugliness as well as pure love for the Creator and worshipping Him. This is how one can turn away from committing sins or making mistakes.
Anwar:This was very brief, yet very beautiful and useful. However, could you please present us with evidence to the necessity of infallibility?
Hasan:As you know, proofs to infallibility are either
purely reasonable or a combination of reasonable evidence and evidence from Islamic law or Shari’a. These proofs or evidence can be put as the following:
· No infallibility leads to refutation of the purpose. In other words, the idea and the purpose behind sending the Prophets to people is to guide them to the right path, to prevent them from going astray, to educate them and to steer them to proper perfection. If we assume prophets forget or make mistakes, how can we possibly expect them to lead humanity towards what the Glorious Allah desires?
· Infallibility is the best and the most preferable means to achieve the purpose. Thus, it must be given preference and priority over other means in this regard.
· Lack of infallibility would cause people to turn away from the words of a prophet as this attribute gives them peace and tranquility.
· If a prophet were not infallible, he would face denial due to falling into abominable acts. This would not only lead to people turning away from him but probably offending him as well.
· No infallibility means possibility of committing sins which accordingly leads to prohibiting people from following him. This is because infallibility and committing sins are contradictory to each other.
Anwar:Now, I understand why many Verses from the Noble Quran urge people to follow the Prophets (PBUT) and to completely obey them.
Hasan:Yes, exactly. At the same time, we have still a lot more to say on infallibility.
Anwar:I have a question in mind, please.
Hasan:Let’s take a break first.
Symposium 34
Is Infallibility Against Free Choice?
Anwar:Dear sir, is infallibility contradictory freedom of choice?
Hasan:No, it is not. This freedom cannot be taken away even with the infallible Prophets.
Anwar:So, we can say that they are able to commit sins
Hasan:Yes, for sure. However, what prevents them from doing so is related to what we have discussed earlier; it is that level of piety and awareness about the consequences of committing sins as well as their love and devotion for the Most Exalted Allah.
Anwar:Can you give us examples?
Hasan:I will give you a couple of examples. Fathers do not even think of killing their children although they have this ability to do so. This is because simply they love their children. Moreover, reasonable people do not drink poison for the knowledge they have about the consequences although they are able to poison themselves.
Anwar:Sometimes, it is inferred from some texts or scripts that infallibility is a Divine gift. In this case, the infallible prophets are not really distinguished people. How can we respond to that?
Hasan:This is how we respond:
· Sheikh Al-Mofid – God bless his soul – says:“Infallibility (‘Isma) is a grace from Allah to a person that He knows he will grasp at this ‘Isma”.
· As-Sayyed Al-Mortaza([7]) – God bless his soul – says:“Infallibility is a act of gracefulness from the Glorious Allah, then it is the slave’s choice not to carry out ugly deeds”.
[7]As-Sayyed Al-Mortaza (966 – 1044) was the greatest shiite scholar of his time. He was student of sheikh Al-Mofid.
In short, the Almighty Allah knows about people’s intentions and their future and so He knows that when this gift is bestowed to them, they will use it for the sake of obeying the Most Gracious Allah freely and without any restraints.
Anwar:Are heredity and education or good breeding influential factors in this matter?
Hasan:Of course, they are. Although they are external factors that cannot be chosen by an individual, yet they attribute to this matter in a sense that these factors help that person to achieve infallibility through self-restraint and righteousness. Thus, without self-restraint and righteousness, heredity and education are useless factors; they are, in fact, requisite factors but not compulsory.
Anwar:What do you mean by ‘requisite factors but not compulsory’?
Hasan:I mean they can lead to either perfection or deficiency but these two factors do not force an individual who has them towards perfection or deficiency.
Anwar:All right. Now when a person is infallible, is he going to fall into committing sins?
Hasan:No. This is well illustrated in the Noble Quran:
(And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; each of them We guided; and Noah did We guide aforetime; and of his seed We guided David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the good.)6;84.
(Those are they whom Allah guideth, so follow their guidance. Say O Mohammad, unto mankind: I ask of you no fee for it. Lo! It is naught but a Reminder to His creatures.)6;90.
(And he whom Allah guideth, for him there can be no misleader. Is not Allah Mighty, Able to Requite the wrong?)39;37.
Therefore, we can say that when the Prophets are guided by a Divine power, the cannot be mislead.
Anwar:It is said that a prophet is only infallible when it concerns delivering a message. What do you say?
Hasan:We have earlier discussed the fact that Prophets
are infallible to do nothing in error when it comes to implementing the Shari’a and normal affairs.
Anwar:what is the proof?
Hasan:It is self-evident. If we assume that he forgets and make mistakes, he cannot lead or guide a community; he cannot command people to be good and to do good. This is simply because a person who can possibly do something in error cannot be an example or model; this is simply because people will doubt him when they see this inconsistency between his words and his deeds. So, he needs to be infallible not only in delivering his message but also in his everyday life affairs so that his followers can believe him and trust him with their own everyday life affairs as well.
Aside from that, there are Verses from the Noble Quran refer to this fact that a prophet is a ‘witness’ for or against the people. So, how can he possibly be a witness when he is exposed to forgetting and making mistakes?
Anwar:Can you mention these Holy Verses?
Hasan:Yes. The Glorious Allah says:
(Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the