Website code number
fa2974
Archive code number
1197
Summary of question
For what purpose do the dwellers of paradise of consent need intercession from angels?
question
Which people is Allah pleased by? Does anyone that pleases Allah become a dweller of the Paradise (Jannat al-Ridwan)?
If it is so, does it not contradict verse 28 of chapter of the prophets (Anbiyah) which states;"and they do not intercede for him whom He approves". In other words for what reason do the dwellers of the paradise of consent (Jannat al-Ridwan) need the angel\'s intercession?
Concise answer
God is pleased by those who have faith and right deeds. But since faith and right deeds have severity and weakness and have different levels, therefore God's pleasure towards them also differs. Paradise also according to the levels of faith and the quality of the right deeds of the dwellers of paradise have different ranks. The paradise of consent is the highest rank of all. It's dwellers, who are the prophets and guardians of God, are nearest to Him. This group is needless of intercession from the angels and are infact, among the intercessors and witnesses of the Muslims on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, the term "min irtidhwa" (those of whom Allah is pleased by) does not refer to the dwellers of the paradise of consent, otherwise this holy verse would be unsuitable for their rank.
This verse aims at refuting the imagination of the unbelievers expecting intercession from the angels. Since angels are servants of Allah and cannot violate His laws, they will only intercede for people who firstly are qualified for the intercession .In other words, the people qualified for intercession are those that their faith is satisfactory and righteous, but their deeds are the cause of their delay and are therefore in need of intercession. Meanwhile, the unbeliever was not a believer and is not entitled to intercession.
This verse aims at refuting the imagination of the unbelievers expecting intercession from the angels. Since angels are servants of Allah and cannot violate His laws, they will only intercede for people who firstly are qualified for the intercession .In other words, the people qualified for intercession are those that their faith is satisfactory and righteous, but their deeds are the cause of their delay and are therefore in need of intercession. Meanwhile, the unbeliever was not a believer and is not entitled to intercession.
Detailed Answer
The Holy Quran says that Allah is pleased by people with the following qualities:
1. Faith and right deeds.
2. Total submission to the will of Allah, the prophet, and the guardians (Imam).
3. Free from unbelievers, polytheists, and hypocrites.
4. Fulfillment of promises made to Allah, the prophet, the guardians or people.
5. Honesty.
6. Fighting battles and martyrdom in the cause of Allah's religion.
7. Offering wealth and credit in the cause of Allah's religion.
8. Reliance upon Allah in carrying out daily matters.
9. Patience in worship, in avoiding sins and perseverance against misfortunes and problems.
10. Fearless from the enemies of Allah's religion[1].
Anyway, does everyone that Allah is pleased by become a dweller of the paradise of consent? God's pleasure from people differs depending on the struggle of faith, quantity and quality of their right deeds and also firmness in their steps or stumbles in this path. Those who have benefitted from the apex of their faith and never stumbled in their lives such as the prophets and the guardians of God, enjoy the uppermost levels of God's pleasure in this world and on top of that in the hereafter will enter the paradise of consent. This is to say that since the blessing of paradise in reality is the embodiment of human being's thoughts, conditions, deeds and human beings have different faith and right deeds, thus paradise will also have different ranks.
In the Holy Quran, these ranks have been named as follows: janatul liqaa[2] (paradise of reunion), janatul ridhwan[3] (paradise of consent), janatul naiim[4] (paradise of luxury), daru salaam[5] (place of peace), janatul adan[6] (paradise of eden), janatul firdaus[7] (heaven), janatul khuld[8] (everlasting paradise), janatul ma'ama[9] (paradise of return) and maq'ad swidq[10] (place of the sincere).[11] Some of the prophet's (s) sayings states that paradise has a hundred ranks and these ranks depends on the severity and weakness of people's faith and the way they performed their deeds. Therefore, people shall be ranked according to their faith and deeds. Among these people, those who are sectionally possessing satisfactory qualities to God and at times are righteous and at times are wicked, their entry to paradise is not certain[12] and infact are greatly in need of intercession for them to enter paradise. The term "min irtidhwa" in verse 28 of chapter of the prophets refers to this group and not the dwellers of the paradise of consent, for themselves are among the intercessors and witnesses for the Day of Judgment and are needless of intercession. We can thereby ask, so what was the occasion for descending this verse?
The unbelievers of Mecca used to worship and respect idols because they were imagining that the idols would intercede for them to God.[13] They used to say, "Verily we are worshipping the idols so that they can make our position close to God.[14]"But Allah has rejected their idea with the denial of possession of harm or benefit by the idols. Since idols can't do anything and lack the power to prevent harm or benefit itself or others, they can neither evaluate people's needs and solve their problem, nor can they intercede for the idolaters in the day of judgment.
In another aspect these idolaters used to believe that the angels are the daughters of God and used to honor and respect them thinking that they would intercede for them in the Day of Judgment. This wrong idea of the idolaters has also been rejected by verse 28 of chapter of the prophets. Here God says, "The angels are not daughters of God, but are honorable servants of God who don't violate God's command and only act in accordance to His laws and God is aware of all their deeds in this world and the day of judgment."They shall not intercede for those of whom Allah is pleased by their faith and deeds, since angels fear Allah.[15] Therefore, they can neither act without permission nor can they act against God's pleasure and thus shall not intercede for the unbelievers. Intercession by the intercessors is of three kinds;
1. Promotion of the dwellers of paradise from one rank to another.
2. Emancipation from hellfire before entering it.
3. Emancipation from punishment and reduction of time to be spent in hellfire after entering it.
It is clear that the order of these results and their differences depends on the capability, faith and deeds of those subjected to intercession.[16] For that sake, emancipation via intercession is entitled to one who follows the below instructions:
1. No one has the right to intercede for anyone without God's permission, since in the doomsday Allah is the sole master and intercession is the prior manifestation of His mercy against His anger.
2. Intercessors are only those who:
a) Are needless of intercession and are enjoying from the highest level of faith and deeds,
b) Intercede knowingly and justly.
c) Are permitted justly to do so.
3. Those qualified for intercession must:
a) be in need of it.
b) be entitled to it and have the capability to be forgiven so that with intercession, they can be saved from punishment.
c) should not posses obstacles to intercession for example blasphemy, disharmony, polytheism, refuting intercession and underrating prayers.
Paying attention to the above rules, if we consider other verses about intercession, then we shall conclude that believers and angels not only can they not intercede for the polytheists and unbelievers but also cannot ask forgiveness for them.[17]
God says, "Do not seek forgiveness for the polytheists and unbelievers, and even if you do so seventy times, Allah will never forgive them". Because "Allah does not forgive a person who takes a partner besides Him, but forgives sins lesser than that".[18] Since the prophets and angels are infallible, they never violated God's laws and cannot intercede for the unbelievers.[19] Assuming that some other believers intercede for the unbelievers, their intercession shall not be accepted by Allah, since He is the final judge and these groups with their own options deprived themselves of the right to God's mercy and to be intercessor for. They don't have faith and right deeds in their books of account so that God can be pleased with them or permit intercession or assume the intercession from the believers will make them to be forgiven and shall be accepted.
Therefore, the imagination of the unbelievers expecting intercession from the idols is nothing more than dream and in the doomsday it shall not materialize. Thus pleasure and happiness are relative laws and have different levels and it is right to say that God, according to the belief and deeds of His servant is either happy or unhappy. In other words God can be happy for some of His servant's deeds and at the same time be unhappy for some of the same servant's deeds. Thus, it is not a paradox if God according to some of His servant's deeds be happy and at the same time that servant not be among the dwellers of the paradise of consent, but on top of that according to some of his deeds be also entitled to punishment.
Reference for more research;
1. Javadi Amuli, Abdillah. Sireye peyambaran dar quran.(tafsir maudhui). vol.6, pg. 99-113. the 2'nd edition 1379, Qom.
2. Habibyan, Ali; Beheshto jahannam, pg. 249-251, sozmone tablighati islami, 1'st edition 1376, Tehran.
3. Shirvany, Ali, maarife islami dar asaare Shaheed Mutahari (pu), pg. 227-253, nashre maaref 1'st edition, Qom.
4. Tabatabai, Muhammad Hussein; bar resihoe islami, pg. 255-267, hejrat, Qom.
5. Tabatabai, Muhammad Hussein; Al-Mizan vol.14 pg. 277, zil ayeye 28 Anbiyah, daftare intesharate islami, Qom.
6. Misbah Yazdy, Muhammad Taqee; amuzeshe aqaaed vol. chapter 58-60, sozmone tablighate islami, 13'th edition 1375, Qom.
7. Misbah Yazdy, Muhammad Taqee; maarife quran, vol. 1-3,pg. 66-68, inteshar dar rahe haq 2'nd edition 1368, Qom.
8. Makarim Shirazy, Nasir; angizeh peydoyeshe mazaaheb pg. 151-177, 2'nd edition, Qom.
1. Faith and right deeds.
2. Total submission to the will of Allah, the prophet, and the guardians (Imam).
3. Free from unbelievers, polytheists, and hypocrites.
4. Fulfillment of promises made to Allah, the prophet, the guardians or people.
5. Honesty.
6. Fighting battles and martyrdom in the cause of Allah's religion.
7. Offering wealth and credit in the cause of Allah's religion.
8. Reliance upon Allah in carrying out daily matters.
9. Patience in worship, in avoiding sins and perseverance against misfortunes and problems.
10. Fearless from the enemies of Allah's religion[1].
Anyway, does everyone that Allah is pleased by become a dweller of the paradise of consent? God's pleasure from people differs depending on the struggle of faith, quantity and quality of their right deeds and also firmness in their steps or stumbles in this path. Those who have benefitted from the apex of their faith and never stumbled in their lives such as the prophets and the guardians of God, enjoy the uppermost levels of God's pleasure in this world and on top of that in the hereafter will enter the paradise of consent. This is to say that since the blessing of paradise in reality is the embodiment of human being's thoughts, conditions, deeds and human beings have different faith and right deeds, thus paradise will also have different ranks.
In the Holy Quran, these ranks have been named as follows: janatul liqaa[2] (paradise of reunion), janatul ridhwan[3] (paradise of consent), janatul naiim[4] (paradise of luxury), daru salaam[5] (place of peace), janatul adan[6] (paradise of eden), janatul firdaus[7] (heaven), janatul khuld[8] (everlasting paradise), janatul ma'ama[9] (paradise of return) and maq'ad swidq[10] (place of the sincere).[11] Some of the prophet's (s) sayings states that paradise has a hundred ranks and these ranks depends on the severity and weakness of people's faith and the way they performed their deeds. Therefore, people shall be ranked according to their faith and deeds. Among these people, those who are sectionally possessing satisfactory qualities to God and at times are righteous and at times are wicked, their entry to paradise is not certain[12] and infact are greatly in need of intercession for them to enter paradise. The term "min irtidhwa" in verse 28 of chapter of the prophets refers to this group and not the dwellers of the paradise of consent, for themselves are among the intercessors and witnesses for the Day of Judgment and are needless of intercession. We can thereby ask, so what was the occasion for descending this verse?
The unbelievers of Mecca used to worship and respect idols because they were imagining that the idols would intercede for them to God.[13] They used to say, "Verily we are worshipping the idols so that they can make our position close to God.[14]"But Allah has rejected their idea with the denial of possession of harm or benefit by the idols. Since idols can't do anything and lack the power to prevent harm or benefit itself or others, they can neither evaluate people's needs and solve their problem, nor can they intercede for the idolaters in the day of judgment.
In another aspect these idolaters used to believe that the angels are the daughters of God and used to honor and respect them thinking that they would intercede for them in the Day of Judgment. This wrong idea of the idolaters has also been rejected by verse 28 of chapter of the prophets. Here God says, "The angels are not daughters of God, but are honorable servants of God who don't violate God's command and only act in accordance to His laws and God is aware of all their deeds in this world and the day of judgment."They shall not intercede for those of whom Allah is pleased by their faith and deeds, since angels fear Allah.[15] Therefore, they can neither act without permission nor can they act against God's pleasure and thus shall not intercede for the unbelievers. Intercession by the intercessors is of three kinds;
1. Promotion of the dwellers of paradise from one rank to another.
2. Emancipation from hellfire before entering it.
3. Emancipation from punishment and reduction of time to be spent in hellfire after entering it.
It is clear that the order of these results and their differences depends on the capability, faith and deeds of those subjected to intercession.[16] For that sake, emancipation via intercession is entitled to one who follows the below instructions:
1. No one has the right to intercede for anyone without God's permission, since in the doomsday Allah is the sole master and intercession is the prior manifestation of His mercy against His anger.
2. Intercessors are only those who:
a) Are needless of intercession and are enjoying from the highest level of faith and deeds,
b) Intercede knowingly and justly.
c) Are permitted justly to do so.
3. Those qualified for intercession must:
a) be in need of it.
b) be entitled to it and have the capability to be forgiven so that with intercession, they can be saved from punishment.
c) should not posses obstacles to intercession for example blasphemy, disharmony, polytheism, refuting intercession and underrating prayers.
Paying attention to the above rules, if we consider other verses about intercession, then we shall conclude that believers and angels not only can they not intercede for the polytheists and unbelievers but also cannot ask forgiveness for them.[17]
God says, "Do not seek forgiveness for the polytheists and unbelievers, and even if you do so seventy times, Allah will never forgive them". Because "Allah does not forgive a person who takes a partner besides Him, but forgives sins lesser than that".[18] Since the prophets and angels are infallible, they never violated God's laws and cannot intercede for the unbelievers.[19] Assuming that some other believers intercede for the unbelievers, their intercession shall not be accepted by Allah, since He is the final judge and these groups with their own options deprived themselves of the right to God's mercy and to be intercessor for. They don't have faith and right deeds in their books of account so that God can be pleased with them or permit intercession or assume the intercession from the believers will make them to be forgiven and shall be accepted.
Therefore, the imagination of the unbelievers expecting intercession from the idols is nothing more than dream and in the doomsday it shall not materialize. Thus pleasure and happiness are relative laws and have different levels and it is right to say that God, according to the belief and deeds of His servant is either happy or unhappy. In other words God can be happy for some of His servant's deeds and at the same time be unhappy for some of the same servant's deeds. Thus, it is not a paradox if God according to some of His servant's deeds be happy and at the same time that servant not be among the dwellers of the paradise of consent, but on top of that according to some of his deeds be also entitled to punishment.
Reference for more research;
1. Javadi Amuli, Abdillah. Sireye peyambaran dar quran.(tafsir maudhui). vol.6, pg. 99-113. the 2'nd edition 1379, Qom.
2. Habibyan, Ali; Beheshto jahannam, pg. 249-251, sozmone tablighati islami, 1'st edition 1376, Tehran.
3. Shirvany, Ali, maarife islami dar asaare Shaheed Mutahari (pu), pg. 227-253, nashre maaref 1'st edition, Qom.
4. Tabatabai, Muhammad Hussein; bar resihoe islami, pg. 255-267, hejrat, Qom.
5. Tabatabai, Muhammad Hussein; Al-Mizan vol.14 pg. 277, zil ayeye 28 Anbiyah, daftare intesharate islami, Qom.
6. Misbah Yazdy, Muhammad Taqee; amuzeshe aqaaed vol. chapter 58-60, sozmone tablighate islami, 13'th edition 1375, Qom.
7. Misbah Yazdy, Muhammad Taqee; maarife quran, vol. 1-3,pg. 66-68, inteshar dar rahe haq 2'nd edition 1368, Qom.
8. Makarim Shirazy, Nasir; angizeh peydoyeshe mazaaheb pg. 151-177, 2'nd edition, Qom.
NOTE:
1.The Clear Evidence, 8; The Banishment, 8;Ta Ha, 130; The Pleading One, 22; Repentance, 100; The Food, 119; The Family Of Imran, 16 and 169-174; The Victory, 18 and 29; The Women, 64; The Believer, 7.
2. The Daybreak, 30.
3. The Family Of Imran, 15.
4. The Food, 65.
6. Repentance, 72.
7. The Cave, 107.
8. The Criterion, 15.
9. The Adoration, 19.
10. The Moon, 55.
11. Refer To: Habibyan, Ahmad beheshto jahannam pg. 25-249.
12. Refer To: Bahr, vol. 8, pg. 117 and 197.
13. Repentance, 102 and 106.
14. The Companies, 3.
15. Yunus, 18.
16. The Prophets, 26-28.
17.Refer To: Shirvany, Ali: maarife islami dar asare Shaheed Mutahary (pu) pg. 227-254; Makarim Shirazy, Naser; angizeh peidoyeshe mazaaheb pg. 151-178; Abdillahi Javadi Amuli; sireye peyambaran dar quran,vol. 6 pg. 99-113; Muhammad Taqee Misbah Yazdy; amuzeshe aqaeed, chapter 59 and 60.
18.Repentance, 73, 85 and 96;Hud, 36, 37 and 76;The Hypocrites, 6; The Believer, 73; The Pilgrimage, 31.
19. The Women, 48 and 116.
20. The Prohibition, 6; The Bee, 50.
1.The Clear Evidence, 8; The Banishment, 8;Ta Ha, 130; The Pleading One, 22; Repentance, 100; The Food, 119; The Family Of Imran, 16 and 169-174; The Victory, 18 and 29; The Women, 64; The Believer, 7.
2. The Daybreak, 30.
3. The Family Of Imran, 15.
4. The Food, 65.
6. Repentance, 72.
7. The Cave, 107.
8. The Criterion, 15.
9. The Adoration, 19.
10. The Moon, 55.
11. Refer To: Habibyan, Ahmad beheshto jahannam pg. 25-249.
12. Refer To: Bahr, vol. 8, pg. 117 and 197.
13. Repentance, 102 and 106.
14. The Companies, 3.
15. Yunus, 18.
16. The Prophets, 26-28.
17.Refer To: Shirvany, Ali: maarife islami dar asare Shaheed Mutahary (pu) pg. 227-254; Makarim Shirazy, Naser; angizeh peidoyeshe mazaaheb pg. 151-178; Abdillahi Javadi Amuli; sireye peyambaran dar quran,vol. 6 pg. 99-113; Muhammad Taqee Misbah Yazdy; amuzeshe aqaeed, chapter 59 and 60.
18.Repentance, 73, 85 and 96;Hud, 36, 37 and 76;The Hypocrites, 6; The Believer, 73; The Pilgrimage, 31.
19. The Women, 48 and 116.
20. The Prohibition, 6; The Bee, 50.