The Perfection and Infallibility [Sinlessness] of The Holy Prophet
Alhamdu lillahi Rabb ul Alamin, wa Assalatu wa assalamu ala Sayyid al Anbiya wa al Mursalin, Ajmal al Ajmalin, wa akmal al Akmalin, Rahmat ulil alamin, Sayyedina wa Mawlana Muhammad al Mustafa sal allahu alayhi wa sallam wa ala Alihi wa Ahl al Baytihi wa Ashabahi ajma’in.
All Praise be to Allah who has made us Muslims and who has honoured His (azza wa jalla) Messenger (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) with the highest honours and created him to be the most perfect amongst all of angels, men and jinn and made him the Best of Creation and the Master of Creation and the Chief of Both the Worlds. He has honoured him with the highest honours and praised him with the highest praise and elevated him with the highest elevation and raised him to a rank in closeness known only to Himself. And He has created him with an exalted character and has sworn by his life and his city (upon him be blessings and peace). And He (azza wa jalla) has made his Nation the best of nations and his followers amongst the best of men. He has bestowed on him the spring of Kawthar and given him without measure and raised him up to Himself as his guest in one night so that he was closer than two bow lengths and He made him see what he saw and He revealed of His secrets to him what He revealed. And above all He has honoured him (upon him be blessings and peace) with the title of the Beloved and Chosen him above all others so that all others other than Himself are beggars at his door and rely on his generosity and goodwill and his intercession. Countless blessings as many as the grains of sand in all of the world’s beaches and as many as all of the breaths of creatures and salutations of Allah and His angels be upon him from the day he was created for all Eternity. Amin. And upon all his Blessed Companions, Progeny and Awliya till Judgement Day.
In this article this faqir will aim to answer the question , “ Is the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) a perfect human or is he (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) the best human?” and to show that Our Master sal allahu alayhi wa sallam was in fact both perfect AND the Best of Creation.
Concerning the Belief of the Ahle Sunnah about the Sinlessness and Perfection of the Prophets in General and Our Beloved Prophet in Particular (alayhimus salaam).
It is the Ahl as-Sunna wa-l-Jamaah aqeedah that,
“ .. Allah Taala makes his every Prophet (Nabi) and Messenger (Rasul) excellent and most high. And he makes them sinless [ma’sum] from the time of their birth [creation.] That is, they have such a protection from Allah that those great men CANNOT ever do a small or a large sin. These superiors remain pure from all sins…” [page 26, Aqaid-I- Ahle Sunnat, Samaan-e-Akhirat, by Shaykh Al Hadith Abdul Mustafa Azmi]
[The following information is translated from the book, “Jaa al Haq wa Zaahiqal Baatil” by Hazrat Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan Na’eemi (alayhi rahmat), Chapter ‘Qahr Kibriya Bar Munkireen Asmat-e-Anbiya’ [The Great Calamity Upon the Deniers of the Chastity of the Prophets] ,pages 425 – 446.]
“…In Madarij un Nabuwwa and Mawahibb al Laduniyya it is written that as soon as he was created Adam alaihi salaam read on the Arsh (Divine Throne) the phrase ‘There is no god but Allah, Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) is the Messenger of Allah.’ From this it is proven that Adam alaihisalaam was at the time of his creation an Arif Billah (Gnostic of Allah). And also that he was literate without a teacher to teach him, as he read the writing (on the Throne) as soon as he was created.
Isa alaihisalaam, as soon as he was born, said,
I am a bondsman of Allah. He gave me the Book and made me a Prophet (Surah Maryam: 30)
He alaihisalaam also said,
…and enjoined on me prayer and zakat so long as I live. And dutiful to my mother (Surah Maryam: 31-32)
From this verse we understand that Sayyedna Isa alaihi salaam at the time of his birth, knew about Allah’s Divinity, his own Prophethood, and the revealed Injil. And also about wisdom of actions [hikmat amali], culture and good character and counsel.
His Excellency Sayyid al Anbiya sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam as soon as he was born fell into prostration and prayed for the intercession of his Ummah (Madarij and Mawahibb). From this it is understood that he was born knowing Allah, his own stations [muratib] and his degrees vis-a-vis his Ummah (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam). In his childhood when other children asked him (alayhi salato salam) to play he gave them such a reply that may all of Aristotle and Plato’s wisdom be sacrificed for this one answer. That answer is the single purpose of Man’s existence: Ma khuliqna li Hadha (I was not created for that!) Allah later verified that in this way: ‘ I did not create Men and Jinn except that they worship Me.’ (Qur’an).
In Tafsir Ahmadiyya, in the tafsir [commentary] of the verse , “ La yanaalu ‘ahdidhaalimeena” it is written:
Inna hum ma’sumoona annil kufri qabla’l wahi wa ba’duhu bi ajmaa’in
The Prophets before revelation and after revelation are innocent from kufr.
About Sayyid al Anbiya Muhammad al Mustafa sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam the Ummah is agreed on consensus [ijma’] that he never ever committed any sin whatsoever. That is, before the outward manifestation of revelation of Prophethood [zahoor-e-Nabuwwat] and after it, he never committed any sin great or small intentionally.
First section: Proof of the Chastity (Innocence) of the Prophets
From the Qur’an:
Hazrat Shuaib alayhi salaam said to his Nation (qawm):
Maa ureedoo an ukhaa lifakum ilaa maa anhaakum (Qur’an)
“I cannot even have the intention that the thing from which I forbid you to do, I should do myself.”
Thus we understand that the Prophets never even intend [irada] to do sins and shirk. This is the reality of innocence ‘asma]
Allah Almighty says,
Ina’ Allahastafaa Adama wa Nuhanwa Aala Ibrahima wa Aala Imrana alal alameen
From this it is understood that the Prophets are superior to all the inhabitants of the Worlds and in this are included the innocent angels .In praise of the Angels is the verse “ Laa Ya’soonallaha ma amarahum “ They are never disobedient. If Prophets were capable of sin, then the Angels would be superior to them.
In Mishkah al Masabih, Baab al Waswusa (Chapter on Evil Suggestions (of the Devil)), it says [in a hadith] that “every person has a shaytan with him who is called Qareen. But my Qareen has become a Muslim therefore he now only gives me good suggestions.” (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam).
In the same Chapter (of Mishkah) it says (in a hadith) that every child at the time of his birth is attacked by the Devil but he (the Devil) was not even able to touch Isa alaihi salaam.
It is thus understood that the Prophets are protected even from Satanic suggestions.
From Mishkah, Kitab al Ghusl, it is understood that the Noble Prophets do not experience wet dreams (ihtalaam) because these are due to satanic influences; in fact not even their pure wives have such dreams.
In Mishkah Sharif, Baab Alaamat –e-Nabuwwat, it is written that the Blessed Messenger’s blessed chest was opened and from it a speck of flesh was removed and it was said that that this speck was a satanic piece. It is thus understood that His Excellency sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam’s Holy Self (nafs) is pure from any satanic influence. And then it (the heart) was washed with water from Zam Zam.
[End of quotes from Jaa al Haq wa Zaahiqal Baatil.]
Hazrat Imam e Rabbani Mujaddid alf al Thani (quds Sirruhu) in the book Ithbat an Nubuwwa writes in the Preface that,
“ He has made Muhammad alayhi salaam the highest, the most merciful of Prophets, and his Umma the most equitable people. He has made his religion the most perfect of all. He has announced through ayats in His Book that his conduct has no excess OR DEFECT, that his grade is very high and that he is the Prophet for all creatures.” (emphasis mine)
In the book Fusus al Hikam, Shaykh al Akbar Ibn al Arabi (quds Sirruhu) writes in the Chapter ‘From the Wisdom of the Singularity in the Word of Muhammad (alayhi salato salaam)’ that,
“ (The essence of) his wisdom is singularity (or ‘incomparability’), because he was the individual who was the most perfect of the human species.” (The Wisdom of the Prophets [Fusus al Hikam] , Muhyi-d-din Ibn ‘Arabi, Translated by Titus Burckhardt and Anglela Culme-Seymour, p. 116).
Imam al Busayri, alayhi rahmat, in his Qasida al Burda, writes, verse 41,:
Fah walladhi tamma ma’nahu wa suratahu
Thumastafaahu habibam bari unnisami
Hence he is the One who has been gifted with intrinsic and extrinsic perfection
And the God of all created things then chose him for His own friendship (translated by A R Anjum, p. 56)
The above should be sufficient proof for all honest, discerning readers that Our Master sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was and is, perfect and sinless and the Best of Creation.
I end with a couplet of the great Ashiq-e-Rasul (Lover of the Prophet alayhi salato salam), Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi quds Sirruhu,
Voh kamaal-e-husn-e-Huzoor hai ke gumaan-e-nuqs jahan nahin
Yehi phool khaar se door hai, yehi shama hai ke dhuan nahin
That amazing beauty of the Holy Prophet in which there is no possibility even of imperfection
This is the only rose without any thorns, this alone is the candle with no smoke!
May Allah bless His Beloved Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam with the Choicest blessings for eternity and forgive us all for his holy sake. Amin.