47. " o' children of israel,call to mind my favour which i
bestowed on you,
and that i made you excel the nations (of that time)."
48. " and guard yourselves against a day when no one in the least
shall
avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted from any one,
nor shall any ransom be taken from any one, nor shall
they be helped (from outside)."
commentary :
the vain
imaginations of the jews
in these verses, again, the lord
addresses the children of israel
and reminds them of his bounties bestowed on them, thus:
" o' children of
israel, call to mind my favours which i bestowed on you, ..."
these bounties were numerous consisting of faith, divine
guidance and their rescue from the grips of pharaohs which led them
to regaining their splendour and independence.
then, among these bounties he has pointed out the bounty of
their being made to excel the nations of their time which in itself is a
combination of different bounties. he continues and says: "... and that i
made you excel the nations (of that time)."
some may think that the objective meaning of the phrase, " i
made you excel the nations ",
is that he has made them excel the nations
all over the world and for ever.
but, regarding other verses, the qur'an makes it clear that the
application of the address ` you ' is meant for those immediately present
at that time and in their own locality,because in another occurrence the
qur'an, addressing muslims, says: " you are the best of peoples, evolved for
mankind, ..." (sura 'ali-`imran, no. 3, verse 110).
another verse about the israelites says: " and we made a people,
considered weak (and of no account), inheritors of lands in both east and
west ...", (sura al-'a`raf, no. 7, verse 137). it is obvious that the
children of israel did not inherit the world entirely at that time. so, it
means that they inherited the east and the west of their own region.
therefore, their preference to other nations means preference to the
other nations in their environment at that time.
* * * *
the qur'an rejects the vain considerations
of the jews. they
thought that, on the day of judgement, their forefathers and ancestors,
who were prophets of allah, would make intercession for them; or
they imagined that on that day those prophets could give ransom for
their sins the same as some of their people employ bribery in this world.
the qur'an says:
" and guard yourselves against a day when no one in
the least shall
avail another ..."
"... nor shall intercession be accepted from any one..."
"... nor shall any ransom be taken from any one, ..."
"... nor shall they be helped (from outside)."
in brief, the ` judge ' on that day is he
who accepts, from the
servants, only pure good actions done with true belief, as the qur'an
says about it:
" the day whenon neither wealth nor sons will avail," " but
only he (will prosper) that brings to allah a sound heart ", (sura
shu`ara, no. 26, verses 88 & 89).
the verse under discussion, in fact, is a hint to this reality that, in
this world, saving a sinful person from punishment by applying all
possible means is an ordinary custom. sometimes someone undertakes
the payment of another person's compensation and pays it. if this way
fails, intercession may be resorted to and some respectable personalities
who have power and influence may be brought forward to intercede for
him. if intercession does not avail either, the person tries to save
himself by paying for the fine. and, if this, too, provides no results, he
asks his friends and fellow men to help him somehow, so that he can
escape from the grips of punishment.
there are different ways of fleeing from punishment in this world,
but the qur'an says that the chastisements in the hereafter are
completely different from those in this world and none of these
behaviours are acceptable there. the only way of rescue is to refuge
under the shade of faith and righteousness, and to ask help from
allah, the merciful.
supplication:
o' lord, the creator, the
cherisher! we humbly ask
you to guide us so that, at the end, you will be pleased with
us and we can be prosperous."
intercession in
the qur'an and traditions
the term /sªafa`at/ `
intercession ', with all its derivations, has
occurred about thirty times in the qur'an. this status shows the depth
of the importance of the matter.
undoubtedly, the punishments of the lord, whether in this world
or in the next, are not for revenging at all, but they are, in fact, to
warrant the obedience of the divine ordinances and, consequently, the
development and progress of men. therefore, everything that weakens
this security should be avoided in order that people would be less likely
to commit sin and vice.
on the other hand, the way of repentance and return to
righteousness and improvement should not be completely closed to the
sinners. they must have the opportunity and possibility of improving
themselves which results in piety and returning to the path of allah.
thus, intercession means that, on the day of judgement,
prophets, saints, and some special righteous ones will intercede with
allah's permission for those who have not cut their tie of faith with
allah and preserved their spiritual relationship with him and his
messengers.
in other words, intercession, in its proper meaning, exists for the
preserving of this equilibrium. it is a means for the sinners and the
wrong-doers to return from their present way to the path of obedience
and servitude.
we may emphasize that the doctrine of intercession is quite
natural, reasonable and logical. it is a natural, just, and merciful
classification of souls according to the natural affinity and the bonds of
love and sincere attachment which existed between the individual and
the faithful servants of allah, viz. the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) and the
holy ahlul-bait (a.s.) whose purity of spirit, flawlessness of conduct and
character, selfless services and matchless sacrifices for the cause of
truth, are universal factors and whose goodliness is unreservedly
acknowledged by the muslims and even by the non-muslims as well.
however, as it was mentioned before, there are numerous verses
in the qur'an concerning ` intercession '. to understand these verses
completely and correctly, all of them should be studied carefully and
considered as a whole to follow the unity of purpose they are meant for.
it is absolutely wrong that for proving our claim we take only one
verse from amongst the numerous verses on intercession and neglect
the others. the errs that have come into being upon the subject of
intercession, as well as upon some other rational subjects, are the effect
of such wrong and imperfect investigations. this method, in which we
take a single verse and refuse or neglect other verses that can be
elucidative and frames of reference for that particular verse, is far from
the right manner of researching.
then, firstly, besides all the other arguments of the various
expositions on the validity of intercession based upon the other verses
of the qur'an, as was mentioned formerly, and with further assurance
by the traditions of the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.), it is a natural and logical
conclusion, beyond all doubt, that on the day of judgement
intercession cannot be but an undeniable fact. that is, allah's regard
for his holy and faithful servants is accepted as a natural and logical
necessary factor.
secondly, it is certain that the holy qur'an in many places, some
of which are mentioned below, asserts the effectiveness of intercession
under some conditions, on the day of judgement, when those
authorized by the lord shall have the right to do it. the qur'an says:
" on that day
shall no intercession avail except for those for whom
permission has been granted by (allah) most gracious and whose word is
acceptable to him ", (sura taha, no. 20, verse 109).
" no intercession can avail in his presence, except for those for
whom
he has granted permission...", (sura saba, no. 34, verse 23).
" and those whom they invoke besides allah have no power of
intercession; ö only he who bears witness to the truth, and they know
(him)", (sura az-zukhruf, no. 43, verse 86).
for further elucidation on the
doctrine of intercession some of
the verses which can also be referred to are: 26: 100, 2: 123 & 255, 74:
48, 21: 28, and 19: 87.
in the authentic literature of muslims,both the sunnite and shi`ah
schools, through some islamic narrations, there are many implications
to the existence of ` intercession ' in the hearafter which are presented
as explanatory statements for the aforementioned verses on
intercession.
some of these books are: bihar-ul-anwar, majma`-ul-bayan,
tafsir-i-almizan, at-tibyan fi tafsir-il-qur'an, al-burhan fi
tafsir-il-qur'an, al-khisal by shaykh saduq, usul-i-kafi,
sunan-i-ibn-majih, musnad-i-ahmad, muwatta'-i-malik,
sunan-i-tarmazi, sunan-i-darmi, sahih-i-muslim, sahih-i-bukhari, ...
out of the many traditions and narrations cited in the above
mentioned books, a few of them have been chosen here:
1. the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) has said: " i will be the first one who
intercedes and the first one whose intercession will be accepted (by
allah)." 1
2. hadrat ali (a.s.) said: "...we will intercede and those who love
(and follow) us will do so, too. ..." 2
3. the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) also said: "...i have been bestowed on
(five privileges: the first is) ` intercession ' which i have kept for my
followers (ummah). intercession is (permitted) for the one who associates
no partner with allah ..." 3
4. again, the messenger of allah (p.b.u.h.) has said: "...the most
prosperous people by my intercession on the day of judgement will be those
who have sincerely said from their deep hearts (souls):there is no god
except
allah (i.e. sincerely believe in allah)." 4
5. the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) has also said: " my intercession is for
all (true) muslims." 5
6. firdous-ud-diylami, abuhurayrah, narrates from the holy
prophet (p.b.u.h.) who has said: " the intercessors (in the hereafter) are
five: the qur'an, relationships, trust, your messenger, and the people of
the house (ahlul-bait) of your prophet." 6
7. imam sadiq (a.s.) is narrated to have said: " there is none of (the
people of) ancient times and (those of) the later times but needs
muhammad's intercession (p.b.u.h.) on the day of judgement. " 7
8. in usul-i-kafi, it is also cited that imam sadiq (a.s.) has said in
a tradition: "
he who wishes to enjoy of intercession by the intercessors with
allah, should try to gain his pleasure." 8
we hope that allah, the merciful, may bestow the success of
obedience and servitude on his path upon all of us and may he save us
from any err and sin in our deeds. may he deprive us not of the
intercession of the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) and ahlul-bait (a.s.) on the
day of reckoning. amin, o' lord of the worlds !