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Is 'perfection' or 'infallibility' inherent of humans?

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Zainab_M
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« on: April 29, 2012, 04:39:22 am »

Very nice piece, MashAlalh.  Makes a lot of sense.  May Allah accept your efforts to spread the truth and awaken sleeping minds.

I having the same discussion with a brother at facebook yesterday and took some points from here. 

He mentioned to the affect that "infallible" or "perfection" doesn't have a literal meaning and it doesn't mean to be free of mistakes, and then went on with the usual yap yap .. little of which made sense.  And of course he picked Verse 33:33 claiming that it meant "infallibility."

When we say "perfect" or "infallible" it goes according to the dictionary meaning and I'm sure everyone knows what the dictionary definition of these 2 terms are. Infallible or perfect imply to complete lack of mistakes which is not inherent of humans as referred in Verse 4:28 that man was created weak. Some humans are able to strengthen their characters on the basis of their individual efforts, some aren't. But no Verse of the Quran confirms that humans can reach the point of absolute infallibility or perfection through family or friend connections as my sunni and shiia brethren claim today. The attribute of perfection or infallibility according to its true definition belongs to Allah only. If the sunni / shiia view of "perfection" and "infallibility" are not literal, then why do they use these terms at all and spread confusion ??

Also as clearly asserted in the Quran, humans and jinn are given the ability to follow their rule of conduct, whether they choose to be believing or disebelieving, arrogant or humble, kind or harsh etc. etc. That shows  infallibility is not inherent of humans and jinn.

That explains why various Prophets made different little mistakes in their lives simply because they were humans and when Allah corrected them, they realized their mistakes and never repeated them.

The reason Allah chose them as Prophets was not because they were "infallible" or "perfect" as assumed by Muslims. They were chosen by Allah because Allah knew that their quality as humans were higher than the rest and thus Allah found them trustworthy of carrying His Message without mixing it up with any falsehoods. At the same time, as humans and considering the difficult mission they had to undertake at the behest of Allah, there were times when they did overlook certain matters and made slight mistakes. This has been confirmed in the Quran about Adam, Noah, Moses, Jonah (or Yunus) and Prophet Muhammed (may Allah bless all of them) and maybe a few more. And there's nothing upsetting or insulting about these mistakes. Allah has greatly praised all Prophets in the Quran, but HE has never said they were all "perfect." That's because perfectiion or infallibility are NO prerequisites for being righteous. Allah's rules are simple and practical, NOT impractical. So I don't know why the Muslims today are introducing their own ideas which do not conform with the Quran nor with the characteristics of human nature as confirmed in the Quran .. unless the Muslims want to believe that all prophets, their families and friends were super-human which again is wrong and totally clashes with Quranic values.

I absolutely agree with you about Verses 33:33-34.  I would also not take these verses as declaration nor a guarantee of anyone's infallibility. These verses need to be read carefully without any twists and turns. The verses simply assert Allah's desire to ethically & morally cleanse the Prophet's Household because of their piety. For this reason Allah considered them to be special in His Sight. The special nature of these people was not based on their "perfection" or "infallibility" but their sincere dedication to His cause. AND SINCERE DEDICATION FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH MAKES A PERSON RIGHTEOUS, BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS DOES NOT HAVE ANY CONNOTATIONS WITH TOTAL INFALLIBILITY. Thus in V.33:33 Allah instructs the Prophet's Household how to achieve righteousness so others will be encouraged too. Allah did not consider the Prophet's family as special simply because they were the Prophet's family. Allah considered them special because of their individual efforts and sincerity. Righteousness in the Sight of Allah comes from a person's heart, NOT family lineage nor from the company of "good" companions. That's the reason why Allah cautions in the above verses to the members of the Household to be careful of their conduct and follow the rules of Allah and not to falter.

Pharaoh's wife came from a family of disbelievers but she was herself a believer. The son of Noah, though his father was a Prophet, was a disbeliever and so Allah drowned in during the deluge. Though Lot was a righteous Prophet, yet his wife was disobedient so she was punished along with other disobedient ones.  Prophet Abraham was a devout believer but his father was not.  The Muslims today should try to reflect on all these facts.

As for the Sunnis, they are following a completely lost cause! It goes without saying that dozens of those so-called "sahabas" were as far from perfection as the north pole is from the south. People like Abu Huraira and Anas bin Malik were no different from street loafers. Read some of their ahadith. They sound so vulgar & dirty, we cannot read them to our children, we cannot read them before women nor before congregations.

Of course, the ones whom the Shiias follow as their mentors were very different. They were very great people of high repute. No doubt about that. May Allah shower His blessings on them. But Allah has given us no warrant to declare them "infallible." The correct way to define them would be that they were very righteous people, more righteous than the common folks, they had strong characters and they adhered to the principles of the Quran to the best of their efforts. And this does not have any connotations to 'infallibility' because it's not supposed to. No matter how righteous a person is, as a human being he or she is capable of erring especially in difficult situations. That is natural. Thus, in those verses of the Noble Quran where Allah corrects the beloved final Messenger, it only fills my heart with greater love for Allah and for the final Messenger. It makes me feel that the Muhammed (saaw) was after all, a human being like us .. he was one of us .. and that makes it more practical for us to copy his wonderful personality.

The Noble Quran is so practical and simple. I've always observed when I focus on it directly without all these earthly & human distractions, I find it so easy to understand it and I can perceive its Beauty so clearly. But when humans jump in with their own faulty ideas, that's when all confusions arise. To put it briefly, I would say that attributing perfection or infallibility to any human being is itself an imperfect and a fallible approach. I'm sure if we ask Prophet Moses, or Prophet Muhammed or Imam Ali or Abu Bakr or Imam Hossein etc., "Are you perfect ?" They would say "No (Nauzbillah), who said that ?"

"Those who avoid enormities of sin and abominations, save the unwilled offences - (for them) lo! thy Lord is of vast mercy. He is Best Aware of you (from the time) when He created you from the earth, and when ye were hidden in the bellies of your mothers. THEREFOR ASCRIBE NOT PURITY UNTO YOURSELVES. HE IS BEST AWARE OF him who wards off (evil)." (53:32) Surah An-Najm.

Thank you again, br. TS
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