Do the angels intercede, as the Quran says, it could be that if Allah wishes to special people, the angels can recommend or can intercede, as the Messenger of Allah interceded, individual scale, also national scale. And people were saved in the plague. You know, when you say, when you quote a verse of the Holy Quran, categorically declaring that angels can intercede and will intercede in some cases, why are you asking me whether they can or not? You have already quoted the Holy Quran. What is the difference between the Anbiya al-Muslims, shafa’at, shafa’at, or intercession?
This should be the question. The question should be this. Not that will they or can they. Because you have already quoted the Holy Quran, so the issue is decided. Of course they will. They can. What you want to ask is perhaps, is there any difference between their intercession and the intercession of the Prophet, or is one and the same thing? That’s what you want to know. Yes, sir. The fact is that intercession, the question of intercession, although it appears to be arbitrary, it is not so. Intercession must have a reason, which should upset the ordinary law of justice. Sometimes, when you decide the fate of your children, you decide it differently than when you decide the fate of other people’s children, when you are put in that position to give decision.
In the case of your own children, you have a greater right of possession and appropriation regarding your own children. So you don’t follow just the laws of ordinary justice. But when you give decision regarding other people’s children, then you are bound by the laws of justice because you don’t appropriate anything there. So in case of God-given judgment, the first, the former is applicable because he is the master of everything, he is the proprietor of everything, so he does not follow the strict laws of justice. Some other factors also come into play where forgiveness is concerned.
For instance, if somebody is not, as far as his actions are concerned, is not passable, is not acceptable, in fact it is possible that somebody who has bad deeds to his credit so much that he should be outright rejected and declared to be a hell-sworn by God, normally understanding the phenomena of good acts and bad acts and so on, sometimes the bad deeds of a person are so overwhelming that apparently this should be the verdict. But it is possible that that person has a deep love for God, of God, or deep fear of God, and that is so much pronounced in his personality, and that single factor is so liked by Allah that he wants to ignore his evil deeds and to forgive him for this only factor, for only this factor.
Now as far as human judges are concerned, they can’t interfere in this regard, ordinary human judges, but Allah permits his prophets because certain people against him love his prophets so much despite the fact that they are evildoers in so many things. They have not much to their credit as far as good deeds are concerned, but they are helpless in so many ways, they are prey to their habits, to the circumstances in which they are born, and so many other factors, social factors. So they want to do good deeds, they love to do good deeds, they are deeply hurt inside in their conscience when they are compelled to do bad deeds, yet they are enslaved by that habit, or by that compulsion of their so many cultural properties.
At the same time, they love the holy prophet so much that at a time of a call, they would readily offer their lives for the sake of that prophet. Allah knows this fact. So Allah may permit the holy prophet to intercede for the sake of such a person, or the holy prophet may love somebody for certain reasons of his own, yet according to the ordinary standards of justice, he may not pass. You know, he may be thrown to hell normally, but Allah knows the regard of the holy prophet for that person, so he may permit him to intercede on his behalf. And this is the general conduct of God which is found in every such situation, wherever there is a possible excuse for forgiveness, Allah adopts that excuse as against punishment.
If Allah had not done that, a very great majority of the people would go to hell, even from among the believers. People loathe human beings from outside, and it is in the nature of man to hide his crimes, his evil thoughts, his bad acts, so most of the people who live normally, ordinary pious lives, may not live a pious life in reality. And all this is known to God. If God were to punish for such crimes as are hidden from the sight of human beings, a very great majority of even the believers would go to hell. And apart from that, there are intentions, bad intentions which cannot be fulfilled. They are also crimes. If you bring them into account, then the scale of crime would be overburdened. This is how Ghalib points it out, he says, ना कर्दा गुणा हूँ की दिहस्रत की मिले दाद। जारद अगर इन करदा गुणा हूँ की सदा है। O my Lord, if there is punishment for those evils which we have done, at least those should also be appreciated which we dared to do but could not.
In fact, if man were given free hand, if he could do whatever he wanted to do, he could perform much greater evil than actually you find him performing. So bring that also into account and then you will see, without intercession, it will not be possible for many to be forgiven. So sometimes Allah uses one excuse and sometimes another to forgive. And this has been quoted very often by the Holy Prophet by way of some illustration, some incident which he declares what happened. He does not name anybody but he generally describes such an incident which was so told to him by God, where Allah finds excuses to forgive someone. In one case, for instance, which I quoted in Jumu’ah, because that man feared Allah so much, although he had never done any good in his life, Allah forgave him for that.
Sometimes just for the sake of love of Allah. At one incident, in one incident which the Holy Prophet also relates, the angels are mentioned as, this is a pertinent question so I will relate that incident, this is pertinent to the question so I will relate that incident. The Holy Prophet also tells us that during the changing of time, the angels also change duties. Some angels are appointed for certain times, some for other times. And they stand guard over people. So they keep reporting to God, whatever the manner, I mean this is the human language but it does not mean it happens exactly as we understand this language. But let’s consider that they report things to God from time to time.
The Holy Prophet also tells us that in one of such reports, the angels told God that at one place they saw a gathering, a small gathering of men who were praising God, who were mentioning Allah in a loving way. So Allah said that all their crimes should be forgiven. Whatever they had committed in the past, they should be forgiven. So then the angels said, O God, O Lord, there was one passer-by who did not intend to be a part of that gathering, who had no intention to praise you, but he sat for a while with them. What about him? He said, you should also include him in the list of those who should be forgiven. Because even those will be forgiven who sit in the company of those who love Allah.
This is the extent of excuses which are sought by God for forgiveness. Intercession is one of the ways. And according to what I understand from these two mentions of Prophet’s intercession and angels’ intercession, there is one possible difference. In the case of Prophets, it is possible that because the Prophets have such deep love and regard for their followers, out of their sake, Allah uses that as an excuse for forgiveness. Those whom the Prophet loves and those who love the Prophet, you know, that’s a double bondage. So those who are specially worthy of forgiveness in this niqabah, for them Allah will permit because he has knowledge and the Prophet has no knowledge directly of what sort of people they were.
So Allah may inform him of certain people who had very special love for him and also those for whom he cared, but he did not know that they were sinners. And Allah may permit him after informing him that now you are permitted to intercede on their behalf. About the angels it is possible that Allah makes the criterion his own love. Because angels are reputed for keeping records of human thoughts and things, so Allah may tell them to intercede on behalf of those who even remotely once or twice remembered Allah with all love, this and that, you know. So perhaps that intercession has that significance.
You know at hard times when there is nothing really left, you sometimes see the smallest and even much smaller things by way of excuses, you know. The support of a small thing lies in the same region, you know, that is special. That when every cogent reason is exhausted, then the smaller reasons and more insignificant and yet more insignificant reasons come into play. So when everything would be exhausted and there would be nothing left for Allah to forgive his mankind, his servants, then perhaps intercession would be brought into play. So alright, whoever you say I’ll forgive, that is also a possibility.
