Why the Prophets must be ma’sum (Infallible)
The Merciful and Wise God inspired the prophets, so that through their leadership and guidance human society might recognise the right way as opposed to the precipitous way, and might be able to stride up to the highest peaks of true pride, perfection, and laudable virtues, and stay on that way.
With the same intention, the Merciful and Wise God also made His prophets and messengers immune from every kind of sin and error, and, in one word, made “faultless” (ma’sum), so that they might be able to lead mankind towards real development in all directions, and towards obedience and submission to the commands of God without any error or mistake.
It is obvious that the very same reason, which prompted the need for prophethood and the sending of prophets also, requires that the prophets be immaculate and immune from all kinds of sin, impurity error and fault. Since the aim and purpose of sending prophets is to lead society towards guidance and instruction. This aim is to be secured through the faultlessness of the prophets and messengers, for it is clear that to do things which are repulsive or indecent, to sin, and also to be a source of error and fault is a reason for people to be averse to and diverted from these things, and thus the aim, which was the guidance and instruction of society, would be lost.
Of course, we know that no wise person does things against their aim, and that he takes regard for what is effectual in attaining and reaching their aim. For example, someone who wants a number of distinguished individuals to take part in a celebration in his honour knows that no-one without an invitation can honourably attend. He will never send an invitation to someone who is averse to him, rather he will try to send his invitations in such a way that they will all be accepted, and, if he doesn’t do this, his work will not have been prudent and wise, and it will be regarded as having been unseemly and unbecoming.
The Merciful and Wise God also takes account of what basically interferes with the guidance and education of society, and does not want people to depend on and follow the will of capricious and impure men, and so to end up far from, and be deprived of their true development. Therefore He has sent immaculate prophets so that the guidance and instruction of society might be in the best possible way.
And now we shall read in more details why the prophets must be without fault.
In the previous lessons we have read that the purpose of sending prophets was educate humanity, and we know that in teaching the teacher’s behaviour is a more effective instrument than his speaking and verbal instruction.
The habits and deeds of the teacher can bring about a radical transformation in man, because, on the basis of the principle of imitation, one of the indisputable principle in the working of the mind, man gradually adopts the manner and conduct of his teacher, and becomes of the same colour so that it is as if he is the clear, limpid surface of a pool which reflects the image of the sky above him.
Speech alone cannot play the part of instruction, rather it serves instruction, and this is the idea of the prophetic mission, that prophets must possess praiseworthy habits and qualities and be untainted with sin and error so that they can effectively attract the people of this world towards the sacred aim.
It is clear that one who has soiled his hands with sin, even though in secret and without anyone being aware so that he himself remains pure in the eyes of his fellow men, will never have that unwavering strength of mind to bring about a radical transformation in the area of the human spirit.
One who taints his lips with wine can never dissuade others from drinking it, and raise the voice of truth and mobilise his iron will in combatting this act.
The intense discomfort and disquietude of the prophets, and especially the noble prophet of Islam, about the sins and indecencies of people is itself the best witness to the fact that they were disgusted with every evil and were not soiled by it.
The great secret in the progress of the prophets was their coordination of words and deeds, and it is this coordination which enabled them to transform the fundamentals of human thought and lead societies towards perfection.
The greater the degree of faith and confidence that people have in a speaker, the more their agreement with him increases, and vice versa.
For this reason, the prophets, who divulged the Divine commands and restrained people from sin and immorality, must, according to this assertion, be endowed with the greatest, most admirable qualities, and be free from every kind of sin and indecency, even error and mistake, so that people’s confidence and faith in them may be greater and they may accept their guidance and what they say, and so that people may strive more assiduously in carrying out the plans and putting into practice the reformative instructions of the prophets, and understand from the depths of their hearts their leadership. Thus the aim of the prophetic mission, that is to say that the leading of human race to development on all sides, will be accomplished; the aim of the prophetic mission will not be obtained under any other circumstances, and that would be very far from the wisdom of God.
This purity and worthiness of the prophets was so extraordinary that people became devoted to them to such a degree that their followers felt great love towards them and gave up their lives in following and obeying them, without heed for the consequences.
However, how one man be completely free from sin and error is a matter to which we shall turn our attention.
How can a man be ma’sum, (infallible)?
The holy prophets were deeply devoted to the Merciful Lord and God, and why should they not have been? They, who with their seeing and hearing and profound insight knew God better than anyone, who understood His Greatness, Splendour and Majesty to be above all things, who deem Him alone worthy of love, devotion and obedience, who had nothing except His pleasure in view who gave their hearts to none but Him, who did everything with devotion to Him, and who knew who were they worshipping.
It was for this very reason that the prophets welcomed difficulties and formidable situations, and also paid attention to God with smiling, open faces even when they were in the most critical circumstances. And so, when, in their beloved, true way, they met with difficulties, they became overflowing with joy.
History has recorded the endeavour of these heavenly, torch-bearing men of guidance, as also the condemnable behaviour of people towards them. Could steadfastness in these difficulties have had another motivation apart from love of God and performance of His command? Surely not.
How can it be imagined that those who are completely engrossed in their beloved way, and who utter nothing except according to His wish, and in whose heart, soul, spirit and thoughts not one corner is empty of remembrance, of Him, can disobey His commands? Or can give themselves up to sin? Rather, they followed the path of obedience to Him and were devoted to Him.
Someone asked the noble Prophet of Islam (S.A.) why he applied himself to worship to such an extent with suffering and hardship since he was purified and had no sins. His answer was that why should he not be a grateful and thankful slave of God. (Nur ath-Thaqalayn, Vol. 3, p. 367)
Amir al-mu’minin, ‘Ali (A.S.) made reference to the great qualities of the Prophet of Islam when he said that God had so deeply affected Muhammad (S.A.) with the messengership and leadership that he was a witness for creation, the bearer of good news, and a warning, in his childhood he was better than everyone, in his maturity more preferred, and his nature was, of all the pure ones, the purest. His bounty and his generosity were more freely showed down than that of any other benefactor. (Tarikh Tabari Vol. 5, p. 2269-71)
“He is the leader of the pious, and the eyes of those who are led.” (Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 115) Thus, we see that the perfect knowledge of the prophets and the deep
and true love which they had for God resulted in their faultlessness and absolute purity, so that, in addition to precluding sin from their will and thinking, they withheld themselves from sin.
Perceptiveness is not the same in everyone. Someone who is ignorant and illiterate will never think like a doctor does about microbes and the contamination of the vessels by them. A doctor who has spent years investigating microbes, has watched their multiplication under a microscope, and has witnessed the fate of those who were infected by them can never neglect microbes and their dangers.
Thus, we see that the ignorant person proceeds to drink water contaminated with microbes and has no worry, whereas the doctor would never be prepared to drink such water and would never even entertain the idea.
The only motive for refraining from drinking is the knowledge and information, which this doctor has concerning the bad effects of microbes. So, for example, the illiterate, ignorant person would also keep himself from eating something filthy, for, in this case, he is aware of its impurity and harmful effects of it. But a one year-old child into whose reach that filthy thing fell would probably put it into his mouth.
Another point is that there are some people who attach little importance to incremental harm, although they fear sudden, unexpected dangers and avoid them. For example, someone may be rather lazy about extracting a decayed tooth and may procrastinate about resorting to a dentist, till such time as his other teeth become affected, and a great deal more discomfort comes his way. The toll for this is that he may be affected by very serious ailments. However, the very same person, as soon as the pain of appendicitis appears and there is a possibility of real danger, will entrust himself to the hands of a surgeon with all haste.
If knowledgeable doctor becomes addicted to alcohol, it can only be because he is not fully informed of the damage of alcohol to the spirit and the soul, and because its accumulative harm becomes obscured through his appetite and his desire to gratify himself.
Ordinary people take a superficial view of evil, and do not take sufficient note of its physical and spiritual, bodily and psychic effects. However, the prophets, who, with the help of a higher power, have supremacy in their vision and knowledge over the rest of mankind, who have a profound and perfect insight into all the effects of evil, and who, by a secret witnessing, see even those effects of evil which will materialize in the next world, will never come under the influence of their own bodily desires and soil their hands with the contamination of sin; even the thought of it will never enter their hearts.
The prophets saw the effects of sin in the intermediary and next worlds, and gave an account of them to people, and many traditions have been recorded from the great Prophet of Islam on this subject, of which the followings are a few:
“Amir al-mu’minin, ‘Ali (A.S.) said, “I and Fatimah (A.S.) went to the Prophet; We saw that he was weeping excessively. I said, ‘For the sake of my father and mother, why are you weeping?’ He said, ‘The night they took me on mi’raj, I saw a group of women from my people in severe torment. One woman I saw hung up by her hair, and the brain in her head was boiling from the intensity of the heat. Another was strung up by her tongue, and they were pouring caustic water into her throat…..Another was eating the flesh of her body and fire was burning under her feet. Another one had her hands and feet bound, and the snakes and scorpions of Hell were crawling over her. Another one, the flesh of her body was being cut up with flaming scissors…..Another one had grown the face of a dog and fire was entering her from underneath and coming out of her mouth, and the angels of punishment were striking her with fiery clubs on her head and her body.’ Fatimah (A.S.), the daughter of the Prophet (S.A.), said, ‘These women, what had they done that Allah was punishing them in this way?’
“The great Prophet (S.A.) said, ‘The one who was hung up by her hair had not, in this world, concealed her hair from strangers, and the one who was strung up by her tongue had tormented her husband…. and the one who was eating flesh of her own body had beautified herself for strangers, and the one whose hands and feet were bound and over whom snakes and scorpions crawled had given no importance to wudu and the purity of her clothes, nor to ghusl, (taking shower) after sexual impurity and ghusl after menstruation, and had counted her prayers as nothing…. but the one whose flesh was cut by scissors was a woman who had given herself to the will of unfamiliar and strange men…. and the one who had grown the face of a dog and whom fire entered from underneath and came out of her mouth had been a singer.’ Then the great Prophet of Islam said, ‘Woe to that woman who made her husband angry and how good it is for the case of that woman whose husband is happy because of her.’ (Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwaar, Vol. 18, p. 351)
The noble Prophet of Islam also said : ‘I came across a group who had been strung up on fiery hooks. I asked Jibra’il who they were and he said ‘They are people whom Allah had made un-needful of what is halal and haram, but they had run after what is haram.’ and I also came across a group, the flesh of whose bodies was being sown with a thread of fire. I asked who they were, and Jibra’il said ‘They are individuals who had illegal relationships with unmarried girls.’ (ibid, p.333)
And he also said that someone who profited through usury, Allah fills his stomach with the fire of Hell to the extent of the usury by which he profited. (Thawab al-A ‘mal wa ‘Aqab al-A ‘mal, p. 336) And similarly for those who drink alcohol and do other sins: and he explained in detail, so that it might prevent people from sin, what had happen to the Prophet and the prophets and how they themselves had seen the effects of sin in the intermediate and next worlds.
In short, remembrance of judgement and the witnessing of the effects of sin in the next world was the best way to keep the prophets from sin and indecency.
Allah has said in The Qur’an :
“And commemorate Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, possessors of Power and Vision, Verily We chose them for a special (purpose) – pro- claiming the message of the hereafter. They were in Our Sight, truly of the company of the Elect and the Good.” (S.38, V.45-47)
