Intercession on Judgment Day (part 2 of 2)

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Description: The second lesson further discusses the concept of Islamic ‘intercession.’

Published on 26 Oct 2015 - Last modified on 25 Jun 2019

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Objectives

·To understand the three conditions of intercession.

·To understand whose intercession will not be accepted on the Day of Judgement.

·To understand the wisdom of intercession.

Arabic Terms

·Tawheed – The Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah with respect to His Lordship, His Names and Attributes and in His right to be worshipped.

·Hadith- (plural – ahadith) is a piece of information or a story. In Islam it is a narrative record of the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

·Mushrik – (plural – mushrikoon) one who ascribes divinity to person(s) or thing(s) besides Allah.

·Shirk – a word that implies ascribing partners to Allah, or ascribing divine attributes to other than Allah, or believing that the source of power, harm and blessings comes from another besides Allah.

Conditions of Intercession

Intercession_on_Judgment_Day_(part_2_of_2)._001.jpg One of the most important matters to understand is that Allah and Allah alone ‘owns’ intercession. No human being ‘owns’ intercession.

Intercession in the Hereafter will only happen if the following conditions are met:

1. Allah must approve of the person for whom intercession is made.

“…and they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased” (Quran 21:28)

One for whom intercession is made must be a believer in Tawheed because Allah is not pleased with the mushrikoon (polytheists). .

It was said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, who will be the most blessed of people by your intercession of the Day of Resurrection?’ The Messenger of Allah said:

“O Abu Hurayrah, I thought that no one would ask me about this hadith before you because I have seen how keen you are to learn hadith. The people who will be most blessed by my intercession on the Day of Resurrection are those who say La ilaha illa Allah sincerely from the heart.’”

2. Allah must give permission to intercede.

“Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission?” (Quran 2:255)

3. Allah must approve of the intercessor.

“…whose intercession will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He wills and is pleased with” (Quran 53:26)

Rejected Intercession

The Rejected Intercession is one that does not meet the conditions required for permission from Allah or His being pleased (with the intercessor or the one for whom intercession is made), such as the intercession which the people of shirk believe that their gods will be able to do for them. Many of them only worship their gods because they believe that they will intercede for them with Allah, and that they are middle men between them and Allah. Allah says:

“Surely, the religion is for Allah only. And those who take protectors besides Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah.’ Indeed, Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever” (Quran 39:9)

Allah tells us that this kind of intercession is ineffective and of no benefit:

“So no intercession of intercessors will be of any use to them” (Quran 74:48)

“And fear a Day (of Judgement) when a person shall not benefit another, nor will intercession be accepted from him nor will compensation be taken from him nor will they be helped.” (Quran 2:48)

“O you who believe! Spend of that with which We have provided for you, before a Day comes when there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession. And it is the disbelievers who are the wrongdoers.” (Quran 2:254)

Hence, Allah did not accept the intercession of His Khaleel[1] Ibrahim for his father Azar who was a pagan. The Prophet said:

“Ibrahim will meet his father on the Day of Resurrection, and Azar’s face will be dark and covered with dust. Ibrahim will say to him, ‘Did I not tell you not to disobey me?’ His father will say, ‘Today I will not disobey you.'’ Ibrahim will say, ‘O Lord! You promised me not to disgrace me on the Day of Resurrection; and what will be more disgraceful to me than cursing and dishonoring my father?’ Then Allah will say, ‘I have forbidden Paradise to the disbelievers.’ Then he will be addressed, ‘O Ibrahim, what is beneath your feet?’ He will look and there he will see a dhabh (an animal,) blood-stained, which will be caught by the legs and thrown into the Fire.”[2]

Wisdom of Intercession

The point of intercession is to honor the person interceding. It is Allah’s way of making the person stand out in front of His creation. That is the reason why Prophet Muhammad and the prophets will be allowed to intercede as detailed above.

Furthermore, intercession should not make a person complacent about sins. A person must never think that he can rely on intercession and sin all he wants! For, he is not guaranteed that Allah will allow someone to intercede for him. Furthermore, his sins might lead him into outright disbelief in which case no one’s intercession will benefit him. Lastly, he might receive punishment before he is interceded for and released.

Footnotes:

[1] The word Khaleel indicates the purest, highest form of love. In this context, Khaleel would mean, ‘one whom Allah has chosen for His love.’

[2] Saheeh Al-Bukhari

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