Mu’tazila (Part 7)

Author: "Abu Aisha"

Mu’tazila (Part 7)

The commentator on the creed of Tahaawi writes: “This statement (the one mentioned above) is a rebuttal to the Khawarij and Mutazilites who believe that those who commit major sins will always remain in Hell.”

From the summary of these opinions, it appears that Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah believe that it is permissible for Allah to go back on His threat, unlike the Mu’tazilites who believe that Allah cannot go against His threat.

Mulla Ali Qari summarizes this issue in his book “Al-Qawl al-Sadeed fi Khalfi al-Wa’eed”: “In summary, the issue in question is that it is not obligatory for Allah to reward for obedience and punish for disobedience, unlike the Khawarij and Mu’tazilites, who believe that punishment for a major sinner who dies without repentance is obligatory on Allah, and that Allah’s pardon is forbidden. They argue that if Allah threatens a major sinner with punishment and does not punish him, it would constitute a breach of threat and a lie, both of which are impossible for Allah.”

Finally, I find it appropriate to remind the esteemed readers of the following points:

1. There are other aspects under this principle (Wad and Wa’ed) that need to be explained, and we will attempt to address them in subsequent sections. In this section, to avoid prolonging the discussion, we refrained from mentioning them. The four most important aspects of this principle are:

– The eligibility of the accountable.

– The idea of compensation.

– The initial condition of man on earth.

– The issue of intercession.

2. The issue of intercession is one of the major matters, and insha’Allah, we will dedicate a complete section to it and mention the opinions of the scholars regarding it.

Preface:

From there, “intercession” is one of the important issues and has a high position in Islam, which has always been the focus of scholars and researchers. By investigating in this field, we find that scholars have written many books in the field of tahrir to prove it, and this in itself shows its position.

In the previous discussion, the second principle was stated by the Mu’tazila (promise and promise). At the end of that section, we reminded that one of the issues related to the promise is “the issue of intercession”. In this section, an attempt is made to explain the issue of “intercession” among Sunnis and Jama’ah and among Mu’tazila by presenting the views of each one and also the reasons for it.

Definition of intercession

 Intercession in the word is taken from the article “شفع یشفع شفاعة” which means interceding and interceding (for someone to another).

 Shafa is the opposite of Witr, meaning (to join and combine), Ibn Fars writes: “Shin, Fa and Ain are correct principles that indicate the symmetry and unity of an object, and from this principle, Shafa is the opposite of Witr ” The Arabs say: “کان فرداً فشفعته: He was alone, I brought him together.

Intercession in the term

Scholars have mentioned various definitions for intercession in the term, and we will limit ourselves to a few examples here:

Intercession means asking for the forgiveness of sins from the person against whom the crime was committed.

Allamah Abul Saud has defined intercession in his interpretation as follows: “intercession is mediation with speech for a person to obtain a benefit from worldly or hereafter interests or to free him from harm.

According to the Mu’tazila, intercession is when a person asks another person to benefit another person or to ward off harm from him.

The word “intercession” and its derivatives are repeated almost 12 times in the Holy Qur’an, and these words include participle verb, infinitive and subject noun.

Types of intercession

Although scholars have stated many types of intercession; But in this article, we describe the most important types mentioned by learned scholars and researchers:

The author of the book “شرح العقیدة الطحاویة“, Allama Qazi Abi al-Ezz Damaschi, has described the types of intercession as follows: “There are several types of intercession, some of which are unanimous among the Ummah, and with others, groups such as the Mu’tazila and others Heretics have opposed:

The first type: The first intercession, which is called the great intercession, and this intercession among the prophets, peace be upon them, is special for him. The reason for this type of intercession is the hadiths that have been narrated in the Sahihs from a group of companions.

The second and third types: the intercession of the Prophet, peace be upon him, for groups whose good and bad deeds are equal; The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, intercedes for them to enter Paradise and also for those who have been ordered to enter Hellfire, and this intercession is done so that they do not enter.

The fourth type: the intercession of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, in raising the ranks of those who will enter heaven so that their ranks are higher than what the reward of their deeds required. Mu’tazila especially agreed with this type of intercession and opposed other cases despite the frequency of hadiths in that section.

The fifth type: intercession for people who enter heaven without account and books, and it is better to argue for this type from the hadith of Akasha bin Mohsen, may God be pleased with him, when the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, prayed for him so that God may make him one of the 70,000 people who they will enter heaven without accounting.

The sixth type: intercession for mitigation and reduction of the punishment of those who deserve punishment; Like the intercession of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, for his uncle Abu Talib so that his torment will be alleviated.

The seventh type: the intercession of the Prophet, peace be upon him, so that all believers are allowed to enter heaven.

The eighth type: the intercession of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, for his people who have committed a great sin; Those who have entered hell.

These people will come out of hell and hadiths have become frequent in this section; But the knowledge and understanding of it remained hidden from the Khawarij and Mu’tazila, and because of ignorance of the authenticity of hadiths, or those who knew it, they opposed it because of stubbornness and persistence in their heresy. This type of intercession is an intercession in which angels, prophets and believers also participate.

Mu’tazila’s view on intercession

In order to know the opinions and views of the Mu’tazila and what they believe about intercession, we must examine the statements of their scholars and elders:

Qazi Abdul Jabbar writes: “Among the Ummah, there is no dispute that the intercession of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, is fixed for the Ummah, the difference is in who this intercession is for.” He further writes: With us, intercession is for the believers who repent.”

In another place, he says: “It is clear from this that intercession actually exists, but intercession is established only for the believers, not for the transgressors who pray.”

Sheikh Nada Abu Ahmad writes about the Mu’tazila’s beliefs and beliefs: “Second part: There is a group that neglected intercession, denied it and went too far in denying it, this group is the Khawarij and Mu’tazila; Those who denied and denied intercession in general and for the Ahlul Kabir in particular. In this regard, they have trusted and relied on their false belief and corrupt religion, which the owner of a major sin is always in the fire of hell.

Mu’tazila say: “When a sinful Muslim dies with repentance, he will be in Paradise and will not be counted for his sins; because those sins have turned into virtues; But if a sinful Muslim dies without repentance, a scale will be set for him. But in heaven, his rank will be lower than the rank of someone who has not sinned; But if he chooses his side of sins, he will enter hell and he will not be rewarded for his good deeds.

They say: After someone enters heaven or hell, he will not come out again. When a sinful Muslim enters hell, he will never come out of it, neither with the intercession nor with the pardon and forgiveness of God Almighty.

Continues…

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