Part 5 (d): Tafseer of Ayatul Kursi (Verse 5)- The Divine Protection

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Read the previous Part 5 (c): Tafseer of Ayatul Kursi (Verse 4)

مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ

“Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His Permission.”

Listen to Ayatul Kursi: [mp3: http://www.areweprepared.ca/audio/ayatulkursi.mp3]

Granting the Power of Intercession

No one has the power to intercede on behalf of someone else except by the permission of Allah.

1. a. Exclusive Intercession
   • The Greater Intercession: This is the station of praise and glory (al-maqaam al-mahmood) which Allaah has promised to him, when He said (interpretation of the meaning):

     “And in some parts of the night (also) offer the Salaat (prayer) with it (i.e. recite the Qur’aan in the prayer) as an additional prayer (Tahajjud optional prayer Nawaafil) for you (O Muhammad). It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqaam Mahmood (a station of praise and glory, i.e., the honour of intercession on the Day of Resurrection)” [al-Isra’ 17:79]

     It means that He (SAW) will be given the permission to intercede for all of mankind when Allah delays the reckoning. Allah will teach Prophet few words which He did not know before.

     Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The people will fall on their knees on the Day of Resurrection, each nation following its Prophet, saying, ‘O So and so, intercede!’ until intercession is granted to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). On that Day Allaah will resurrect him to a station of praise and glory.” (Bukhari)

   • Intercession for the people of Paradise to enter Paradise:  It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection and will ask for it to be opened. The gatekeeper will say, “Who are you?” I will say, “Muhammad.” He will say, “I was commanded not to open it for anyone before you.”’” (Narrated by Muslim)
   • The intercession of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for his uncle Abu Taalib:  It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) that mention was made of his uncle Abu Taalib in the presence of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said, “Perhaps my intercession will benefit him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be placed in a shallow part of the Fire which will come up to his ankles and cause his brains to boil.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari/Muslim)
   • His intercession so that some people of his ummah will enter Paradise without being brought to account: This kind of intercession was mentioned by some of the scholars, who quoted as evidence the lengthy hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah concerning intercession, in which it says: “Then it will be said, ‘O Muhammad, raise you head; ask, it will be given to you; intercede, your intercession will be accepted.’ So I will raise my head and say, ‘My ummah, O Lord; my ummah, O Lord; my ummah, O Lord.’ It will be said, ‘Admit those among your ummah who are  not to be brought to account through the right-hand gate of Paradise. They will share the other gates with the people of other nations.’” (Bukhari/Muslim).

1. b. General Intercession:
   • Intercession for some people who have entered Hell, that they might be brought forth from it: There is a great deal of evidence for this, for example: The believers will insist in asking Allah to grant them to he power of intercession for their brothers who are in the Fire. They will say, “Our Lord, they used to fast with us and pray and perform Hajj.’’ It will be said to them, “Bring out those whom you recognize, so the Fire will be forbidden to burn them.’ So they will bring out many people… And Allaah will say: ‘The angels have interceded, and the Prophets have interceded, and the believers have interceded…” (Muslim)

     How this can help us?

     • Get involved in the Muslim community so that people will know us.
     • When people know us, they will help us when we are in need of them in times of sickness/death, etc.
     • They might help us to enter Jannah on the Day of Judgment.
   • Intercession for people who deserve Hell, that they may not enter it: This may be indicated by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “There is no Muslim who dies and forty men who associate nothing with Allaah pray the funeral prayer for him, but Allaah will accept their intercession for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1577). For this intercession happens before the deceased enters Hell, and Allaah will accept their intercession concerning that. 

Conditions for intercession in the Hereafter

The evidence indicates that intercession in the Hereafter will only happen if the following conditions are met:

1. Allaah must approve of the one for whom intercession is made, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

   “and they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased [al-Anbiya’ 21:28]

   This implies that the one for whom intercession is made must be a believer in Tawheed, because Allaah is not pleased with the mushrikeen. In Saheeh al-Bukhaari it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: “It was said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, who will be the most blessed of people by your intercession of the Day of Resurrection?’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I thought, O Abu Hurayrah, that no one would ask me about this hadeeth before you, because I have seen how keen you are to learn hadeeth. The people who will be most blessed by my intercession on the Day of Resurrection are those who say Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah sincerely from the heart.’”

2. Allaah must give permission to the intercessor to intercede, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

   “Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission?”[al-Baqarah 2:255]

3. Allaah must approve of the intercessor, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

   “…whose intercession will avail nothing except after Allaah has given leave for whom He wills and is pleased with” [al-Najm 53:26]

   And the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has stated that those who curse much will not be intercessors on the Day of Resurrection, as Muslim narrated in his Saheeh that Abu’l-Darda’ (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘Those who curse much will not be witnesses or intercessors on the Day of Resurrection.’”

Read the next Part 5 (e): Tafseer of Ayatul Kursi (Verse 6)