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قQuranicpediaEncyclopedia of the Glorious Qur’an

Intercession (Shafa'ah) الشَّفَاعَة

In review — pending scholar verification

Allah's permission for designated servants to intercede on behalf of others on the Day of Judgement — the supreme being the Greater Intercession by the Prophet ﷺ to begin the reckoning.

Overview

Shafāʿah (Arabic: الشَّفَاعَة) is Allah's permission for designated servants to intercede on behalf of others on the Day of Judgement. Two principles ground the doctrine: (1) intercession occurs only by Allah's prior permission (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255: "Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?"); (2) it can benefit only those of whom Allah is pleased (Surah An-Najm 53:26).

Categories of intercession

Classical Sunni scholarship (Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim) distinguishes several intercessions, all by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:

  1. The Greater Intercession (ash-Shafāʿah al-ʿUẓmā) — the unique intercession granted only to Muhammad ﷺ to begin the reckoning when humanity stands at the Mawqif. This is the Maqām Maḥmūd ("Praiseworthy Station") promised in Surah Al-Israʾ 17:79.
  2. Intercession to enter Paradise — for the first group of believers to enter without reckoning.
  3. Intercession to elevate believers' ranks in Paradise.
  4. Intercession for monotheists who entered Hell — to bring them out.
  5. Intercession for those whose good and bad deeds are equal — to enter Paradise.

The first is unique to Muhammad ﷺ. The others are shared (with Allah's permission) among prophets, angels, scholars, martyrs, and ordinary believers.

Quranic references

  • Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255 — "Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?"
  • Surah An-Najm 53:26 — "And how many an angel there is in the heavens whose intercession will not avail at all except after Allah has permitted to whom He wills and approves."
  • Surah Al-Anbiya 21:28 — "And they cannot intercede except on behalf of one whom He approves."
  • Surah Maryam 19:87 — "They will not have the power of intercession except those who took a covenant from the Most Merciful."
  • Surah An-Nazi'at 79:38 — implicit in the day's portrait.
  • Surah Al-Israʾ 17:79 — "It is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station."

Hadith

Abu Hurayra reported the Prophet ﷺ said, in the long Hadith of Intercession: "On the Day of Resurrection, mankind will surge in waves… they will go to Adam, then Nuh, then Ibrahim, then Musa, then Isa, then to me. I will say: I am the one for it. Allah will allow me to praise Him in a way I do not now know, and I will fall in prostration. It will be said: Raise your head; ask, and you will be given; intercede, and your intercession will be accepted." — Sahih al-Bukhari 4476, 7510; Sahih Muslim 193
Abu Hurayra reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "For every prophet there is one supplication answered. I have reserved my supplication as intercession for my nation on the Day of Resurrection — and it will reach, if Allah wills, every one of my nation who dies without associating anything with Allah." — Sahih al-Bukhari 6304; Sahih Muslim 199

See also

References

  1. The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Al-Baqarah 2:255; Al-Israʾ 17:79; Maryam 19:87; Al-Anbiya 21:28; An-Najm 53:26; An-Nazi'at 79:38.
  2. Sahih al-Bukhari 4476, 6304, 7510; Sahih Muslim 193, 199.
  3. Ibn Taymiyyah, Qāʿidah Jalīlah fī at-Tawassul wa-l-Wasīlah.
  4. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Tarīq al-Hijratayn, sections on intercession.
  5. al-Bayhaqi, al-Baʿth wa-an-Nushūr, sections on the intercessions.
  6. Umar Sulayman al-Ashqar, al-Qiyāmah al-Kubrā, sections on Shafāʿah.