Statement of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah about the infallibility/preservation of Prophets
Praise and thanks to Allah, and may Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and protect his nations from that which he fears of it; thereafter:
1) According to the considerable correct sayings amongst the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah, there is an agreement on the preservation of the Prophets, peace be upon them, before and after Prophethood, from committing blasphemy, major sins, or small sins that have meanness or abjection in them. However, the small sins that do not have meanness in them are possible on the Prophets as stated by the majority (jumhoor) of the scholars, because they protect them from priding oneself, and they do not degrade the status of Prophethood.
The wisdom behind Prophets committing small sins that do not have meanness in them:
2) It was stated in the book of [The Explanation of al-Fiqh al-‘Akbar], what means: “they are not preserved from falling in the small sins because Allah, the Exalted, granted them the status of intercession; so if they were preserved from all small sins, their status of intersession would be weakened because the one who has not faced calamities would not empathize as much with those who face calamities, and that is the wisdom of the vanishing of the preservation of the Prophets from committing the small sins”.
Clarifying that the small sins that do not have meanness in them are true sins.
3) QaDi ^IaD stated in his book [Ash-Shifa]: “According to both sayings, there is no disagreement that they are protected from repeating the small sins or committing them frequently as that yields to major sins. Or in committing a small sin that would take away decency, or decorum, or would degrade the status of Prophethood or indicate meanness, as these are among what Prophets are protected from by consensus”.
4) Therefore, when the small sins that do not have meanness in them could lead to major sins if they were repeated or were numerous, we know that they are true sins. As for the metaphorical sins such as leaving out what is priority, it does not lead to major sins even if it was repeated or numerous. Also, we know that the Prophets are protected from repeating the small sins or committing them frequently because they are protected from falling in major sins by the consensus of the considerable scholars.
The small sins are permissible on Prophets after Prophethood intentionally according to the majority (Jumhoor) of the scholars, and unintentionally by the agreement of the considerable scholars.
5) At-Taftazaniyy stated in his book [The Explanation of al-^aQa’id an-Nasafiyyah]: “As for the small sins, they are permissible intentionally according to the majority (Jumhoor) of the scholars, in contradiction to what Al-Jubba’iyy and his followers claimed. And they are permissible unintentionally by consensus, except for those sins that indicate meanness such as stealing a morsel of food or picking a fruit off a tree without permission; however, the investigating scholars clarified that there is a condition for this permissibility which is that the Prophets are immediately guided and would terminate the act/sin. And all of this after revelation” (“after revelation” is after Prophethood).
6) Al-Kafawiyy said in his book [Al-Kuliyyaat]: “The group named RawafiD, claimed that the Prophets are absolutely protected from committing any sins, major or small, intentionally or unintentionally, before and after Prophethood, and this is blasphemy because it contradicts the verses of the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet” The son of Nujayim said what indicated the same meaning in his book [Al-‘Ashbaah wan-NaDha’ir]. The intended meaning is that they (ar-RawarfiD) belied al-Qur’an because they absolutely denied the word sin “ma^Siya” upon the Prophets.
Clarifying that the majority (Jumhoor) of the scholars stated the occurrence of the small sins not only its religious permissibility.
7) Az-Zarkashiyy said in his book [AlbaHr al-MuHeeT fi ‘USool al-Fiqh]: “QaDi ^IaD copied/conveyed the permissibility of the small sins and their occurrence, from a group from as-salaf (people of the first 300 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad), and from a group of scholars and narrators, and he said in the book [Al-‘Ikmaal]: it is the saying of the majority of the scholars” And his saying, “the permissibility of the small sins and their occurrence” is a clear indication that the permissibility and the actual committing of the small sins is real and true.
8 ) An-Nawawiyy said in this book [SharH Muslim] copying/conveying from al-QaDi ^IaD: “and <the scholars> disagreed about the committing of other small sins from them <Prophets>, the majority of the scholars, the narrators, and representatives of salaf and khalaf indicated the permissibility and the occurrence of the small sins from the Prophets, and their argument/reference is what is mentioned in the verses of the Qur’an and narrated sayings of the Prophet” The verses and sayings of the Prophet stated the occurrence and not only the permissibility.
Clarifying that al-MutaSawliHa make false claims
9) Daoud al-QurSiyy said in his book [SharHihi ^ala Nooniyyati KhaDr Beik]: “The majority of Shi^a and RawafiD claimed that it is not permissible that the Prophets would commit a sin, not a major one or a small one, not intentionally or unintentionally, not before Prophethood or after it, and this is as you can see, it is perceived as glorifying them, and therefore, it became popular amongst the ignorant of MutaSawliHa that, according to them, this is the meaning of Glorifying”.
10) Al-MutaSawliHa are those who pretend of righteousness and piety while they are amongst the evil who are in reality unjustly judging the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah who say that Prophets may commit small sins that do not have meanness in them, as blasphemers. And that is so because the MutaSawliHa make false and invalid claims, and the sayings of the scholars refute what they calumniate about the religious matters.
In conclusion:
11) The books of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah scholars are filled with information about the different sayings of the considerable scholars in the topic of the preservation of the Prophets from committing the small sins that do not have meanness in them, and that they are in agreement on their preservation, peace be upon them from committing blasphemy, major sins, or small sins that have meanness in them before and after Prophethood. And every book about the preservations of the Prophets proves what we presented in this article.
12) This was mentioned by countless scholars of all Sunni Schools including: al-Mujtahid aT-Tabary, As-SamarQandiyy, al-Kulabidhiyy, al-‘Asfaraaniyy, ath-Tha^labiyy, al-Mahdawiyy, ibn-BaTTaal, al-BaiyhaQiyy, al-Mutawaliy Sheikh ash-Shafi^iyyah, ^Abdil-Malik al-Juwaiyniyy, abul-Yusur Muhammad al-Bazdawiyy, abu-Hamid al-Ghazaliyy, ibn al-Jawziyy, ibn-Rushd Sr., abu-^Abdullah al-Maazriyy, al-QaDi ^IyaD, Jamalud-Deen al-Ghaznawiyy al-Hanfiyy, abul-Hasan al-‘Abiyariyy, ibnul-QaTTaan, Saiyfud-Deen al-‘Amdiyy, ‘Ahmad ibnu-^Omar al-‘AnSariyy al-QurTubiyy, ‘Abu-Zakariyya an-Nawawiyy, Safiyuddeen al-‘armawiyy al-Hindiyy, ‘Abul-Hasan al-Yafraniyy, ibnul-‘Ameer, ^ADudid-Deen al-‘Ieejiyy, Taajud-Deen as-Subkiyy, Sa^dudeen at-Taftaazaniyy, Badrud-Deen az-Zarkashiyy, ibnu-^Arafah at-Tunisiyy al-Maghraniyy, MuSliHud-Deen MuSTafa bnu-MuHammad al-Kastaliyy, Zakariyya al-‘AnSariyy, MuHiyd-Deen Shaiekh Zaadah al-Hanafiyy, ‘Ibn Nujaiym, al-Mulla ^Aliyy al-Qariy, and the Judge Shihabud-Deen al-Khafaajiyy, al-Husaien bnu MuHammad al-Maghribiyy, Khairud-Deen ar-Ramliyy, ^Abdullah bnu-^Alawiyy al-Haddad al-HaDramiyy, ^Abdul-Ghaniyy an-Nabulsiyy, ibnu-^Abideen ad-DimashQiyy, and the interpreter ‘Abun-NaDr al-Kalbiyy, the interpreter ‘Abul-MuDhaffar as-Sam^aniyy, and the interpreter ‘Abu-MuHammad al-Baghawiyy, the interpreter ibn-^ATiyya al-‘Andulusiyy, the interpreter Fakhrud-Deen ar-Raaziyy, the interpreter Jamalud-Deen al-MawSiliyy, the famous interpreter ‘Abu-^Abdullah al-QurTubiyy, the interpreter ‘Abu-Sa^eed al-BaiyDaawiyy, the interpreter NiDhaamud-Deen an-Naiysaabooriyy, the interpreter ibn-^Allan aS-SideeQiyy, ‘Isma^eel HaQiyy al-Buroosooiyy al-Hanafiyy, Sheikh Dawoud al-QarSiyy al-Hanafiyy, Sheikh MuHammad Bakheet al-MuTee^iy, Sheikh ibn-^Ashour, Sheikh ^Abdullah al-Harariyy, and many others.
13) For those interested in knowing the explicit statement of any of the aforementioned scholars, please contact the admin team TrueCreed or the Sunna page on Facebook to make your request, and by the Will of Allah, the Exalted, and the request will be fulfilled promptly.
We conclude the article by praising and thanking Allah, and asking Allah to raise the rank of Prophet MuHammad and all of his brothers, our Masters, our Prophets, may Allah grant us blessings by their high status.