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
messenger may be a witness against you. And We appointed the Qiblah which ye formerly observed only that We might know him who followeth the messenger, from him whom turneth on his heels. In truth it was a hard test save for those whom Allah guided. But it was not Allah’s purpose that your faith should be in vain, for Allah is full of pity, Merciful toward mankind.)2;143.
(But how will it be with them when We bring of every people a witness, and We bring thee, O Muhammad, a witness against these?)4;41.
(There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.)4;159.
(And bethink you of the day when We raise up of every nation a witness, then there is no leave for disbelievers, nor are they allowed to make amends.)16;84.
(And the earth shineth with the light of her Lord, and the Book is set up, and the Prophets and the witnesses are brought, and it is judged between them with truth, and they are not wronged.)39;89.
(I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, saying: Worship Alalh, my lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.)5;117.
Anwar:Very good.
Hasan:God bless you.
Symposium 35
Infallibility of the Prophets (PBUT) in
Individual and Social Affairs
Anwar:Dear Brother, you did not explain how a prophet can be infallible even in personal affairs and social affairs.
Hasan:As far as the Prophets are role models for the societies, he has to certainly be doing things flawlessly. So, if he forgets and makes mistakes, those people who follow him will definitely repeat those mistakes. Consequently, the prophets are only models and examples for the people in their individual and social life
and not in delivering the Divine messages.
Anwar:How is that? I did not get you!
Hasan:The Glorious Allah ordered us to model after the Prophets in both individual and social life, but he did not order us to model after them in regard to delivering the Divine messages, because it is something that the Prophets do only. In other words, the rubric of a prophet (Sunna) is what he says, what he does and what it is reported from him.
Prophet Mohammed says:“Say prayer the way you saw me doing”. This is a proof to rely on actions and not words. What the Prophet do has to be used by us as evidence as it is also mentioned in the Noble Quran:
(Lo! We reveal unto thee the Scripture with the truth, that thou mayst judge between mankind by that which Allah showeth thee. And be not thou a pledder for the treacherous.)4;105.
To do is what matters and if errors occur at all while implementing, injustice and chaos will prevail.
For instance, if the Prophet (PBUH) takes a person in to take his arms, doesn’t that mean that this person was
accepted and liked by the Prophet (PBUH) and that we have to respect this person?
Anwar:Of course, this is obvious.
Hasan:This judgment of us on this person comes from what the Prophet (PBUH) did and not what he said. This is a proof to the fact that actions or deeds determine what we ought to do.
Anwar:This is very correct and reasonable. Let’s move on to the second attribute, namely ‘honesty and integrity’. What can you tell us about it?
Hasan:Guiding and leading people require a guide and a leader who can give them peace and tranquility, so he has to be infallible from and far above everything that would make people detest him and run away from him. I will mention a few of them:
· Being far above the lowliness and villainy of the parents will help in attracting people to him and letting people trust in him.
· Being healthy is also important, i.e. not having any physical disabilities or diseases such as leprosy.