Dear questioner,

Thank you for your question.

Answering your question, Dr. Jasser Auda, Professor and Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies at the International Peace College South Africa, states:

 

Regarding the issue of the Prophets' being "sinless" (or infallible), there is an agreement among scholars that Prophets are protected from sins.

The protection of all prophets from sins is an Islamic belief which is a precondition to trusting the prophets' message and following their example.

However, there is a debate among scholars on whether Prophets (peace be upon them all) are subject to error in judgments in "human" matters. The word `Ismah (literally: protection) is mentioned in the Quran in the context of the Prophet being protected from people's whims and Satan's delusions while he conveys the message of God. However, the Quran did correct Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on a few occasions in matters of human judgment (Quran 8:67; 9:43; and 80:1-3).

Nevertheless, some scholars rejected the possibility of erring in any Prophetic decision whatsoever. (Al-Amidi, Al-Ihkam fi Usul Al-Ahkam, (Beirut: Dar Al-Kitab Al-Arabi, 1983), 4:99) This matter is discussed in the legal sources under the title "Ijtihad al-Rusul" (the free reasoning or independent decision making of the Prophets). The following is a rather formal way of presenting it:

The concept of the human nature of the prophets is confirmed in numerous ways in the Quran (for example: Quran 3:79, 6:91, 9:128, 14:11, 18:110, and 64:6). Thus, the majority of scholars confirmed that prophets (peace be upon them all) do reason independently about matters that are subject to human error (as long as these matters are not sins and as long they do not violate their conveying of the divine message). However, Literalists, and a number of jurists from a variety of Schools of Thought, held that the view that prophets made decisions on their own is unfounded. (Refer to: Al-Shawkani, Irshad Al-Fuhool, (Beirut: Dar Al-Fikr, 1992), 1:426.)

In the following, I critically present their main arguments.

Rulings based on deliberation are uncertain whereas the Prophet had means of certainty through the revelation. The analogy here is that a Muslim who is able to seek the direction of prayer (towards Mecca) with certainty is forbidden from blind guessing.( Ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkam fi Usul Al-Ahkam, (Cairo: Dar al-Hadith, 1983), 5:124; Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Khaliq, Hujjiat al-Sunnah, (Cairo: Dar Al-Wafa, 1981), 160)

This argument is unjustifiable since Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), for example, described the revelation (Wahi) as incidents that did not take place as immediate responses to his requests, but rather as occasional contacts initiated by The Angel. (Reported by Al-Bukhari) However, numerous narrations show the Prophet spontaneously responding to people's questions and requests, obviously based on the knowledge he already had. (Al-Ghazali, Al-Mustasfa fi Usul Al-Fiqh, (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyah, 1992), 1:346)

• The Quran states that the Prophet speaks out of inspiration that is revealed to him. {He does not speak from some whim; it is merely inspiration that is revealed to him}, (Quran 53:3-4) {Say: It is not up to me to change it of my own accord}, (Quran 10:15) and {If he had mouthed some false statements about Us, We would have seized him by the right hand.} (Quran 69:44) Therefore, whatever he utters is a revelation and he is not supposed to convey anything according to his own mind.

This interpretation of the verses, as popular as it is, is contrary to the fact that the Prophet used to talk about his worldly affairs that are certainly not part of the revelation (the Hadith of the palm-trees, cited above, is an example). Moreover, the context of the verses is clearly about conveying the Script of the Quran itself rather than everything that the Prophet utters. Deliberation in that sense would be an interpretation on the Prophet's part, rather than an alteration of the text.

• It is narrated that the Prophet would sometimes defer the answer of certain questions until he "asks The Angel". Therefore, he never deliberated answers on his own. (Abdul-Khaliq, Hujjiat Al-Sunnah, 208)

Despite the correctness of the premise, the conclusion is not necessarily true. In the few situations when the Prophet decided to wait for the revelation, he would judge – after some contemplation – that the circumstances are new and that he cannot answer on his own. In that sense, his decision to wait for the revelation is actually another form of his deliberation.

Therefore, the arguments presented above against the idea of Prophetic deliberation do not hold.

In addition to that, the Hadith of the pollinating of the palm trees shows one such human error (there are several narrations for this Hadith. (Refer to: Abdul-Jalil Isa, Ijtihad al-Rasul, (Kuwait: Dar al-Bayan, 1948), 132) Muslim's narration states:

Talha narrates: I was walking with the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he passed by some people at the tops of their palm trees. He asked: 'What are they doing?' They answered: 'Pollinating the male into the female.' He replied: 'I do not think that this will be of benefit.' When they were told about what the Prophet said, they stopped what they were doing. Later, when the trees shed down their fruits prematurely, the Prophet was told about that. He said: 'If it is good for them they should do it. I was just speculating. So, pardon me. But if I tell you something about God, then take it because I would never tell untruths about God.'

Thus, the Islamic definition of "infallibility" does not necessarily include protection from forgetting or misjudgment in matters that are not part of conveying the message. (Ibn Taymiyah, Al-Musawwadah fi Usul Al-Fiqh, (Cairo: Al-Madani, without date), 1:171) And that was the case of that accident that happened with Prophet Moses (peace be upon him).

With regard to the story of Prophet Moses' (peace be upon him) killing a man, he did not plot to kill that man. The story goes:

And [one day] he entered the city at a time when [most of] its people were [resting in their houses,] unaware of what was going on [in the streets]; and there he encountered two men fighting with one another - one of his own people, and the other of his enemies. And the one who belonged to his own people cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies - whereupon Moses struck him down with his fist, and [thus] brought about his end. (Quran 28:15)  So, Moses killed this man by accident.

We hope this answers your question.

Keep in touch.