The Infallibility of the Prophets

In the Muslim community, the Prophets and Messengers are held in the highest regard as the pinnacle of God’s creation—the best of the best and sinless. Unfortunately, within the Muslim community, there are misunderstandings regarding the Prophets. Whether it be the famous movie about Islam entitled The Message or the self-titled television series which aired in 2012 about the life of ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb, many Muslims are not quite sure about how to approach the religiously-sensitive issue of depicting religious figures, particularly the Prophets. Written by Imam Muhammad Ali Al-Sabuni, a leading scholar of Sunni orthodox Islam and author of Safwat al-Tafasir, one of the most widely accepted tafsirs of the Qur’an in the modern era. The book also includes an introduction from renowned academic and spiritual guide, Shaykh Muhammad b. Yahya al-Ninowy. Both scholars provide consistent references to Qur’anic verses and precise exegeses to demonstrate the validity of their argument.

Contents

Preface    vii Introduction    1 1.     The Infallibility of the Prophets   17 The Definition of Infallibility    17 Allah’s Protection for His Prophet Muhammad a since Childhood    20 2.     Does Infallibility Apply before or after Prophethood?    23 Does Infallibility apply to Non-Prophets?    26 The Belief of the People of the Book about the Prophets    28 3.     Seemingly Unclear Matters about the Infallibility of Prophets and their Invalidating Responses    33 4.     The Ostensible Disobedience of Prophet Adam e    35 5.     The Infallibility of Prophet Ibrahim e    41 What were the Three ‘Lies’ (equivocations) of Ibrahim e?    48 6.     The Infallibility of Prophet Yusuf e    51 Fabrication and Slander    51 The Incorrect Interpretation    53 The Correct Interpretation    53 Ten Proofs for the Infallibility of Yusuf e    56 7.     The Infallibility of Prophet Nuh e    63 8.     The Infallibility of Prophet Yunus e    65 The Incorrect Interpretation    65 The Correct Interpretation    65 9.     Was the Messenger of Allah a made to make Mistakes?    69 Ten Verses about the ‘Censure’ of the Messenger of Allah a and their Correct Interpretations    69 The First Verse    70 The First Narration    71 The Second Narration    72 The Second Verse    75 The Third Verse    78 The Fourth Verse    80 The Fifth Verse    81 The Sixth Verse    83 The Seventh Verse    85 The Eighth Verse    87 The Ninth Verse    89 The Tenth Verse    91 Appendix: Two False Attributions to Prophet Dawud e    97 Index of Quranic Verses    101 Index of Hadith    119