The Muʿtazilah and the Five Intercessions

The shafāʿah is established by a great many proofs. There is an ijmāʿ on it as well, and it is necessary to have īmān in the shafāʿah because of the tawātur. It has been mentioned a great deal: specific shafāʿah.

The Muʿtazilah do not believe in all of the shafāʿah. As earlier chapters described, they held the opinion that Allah has to punish the sinner for the minor sins^* he has committed, and reward the good person for the amount of his good deeds. In fact, they even have a problem with two people who have absolutely the same amount of good deeds and the same amount of bad deeds, if any: two people exactly the same in terms of deeds. Can Allah give one of them more reward, simply out of His benevolence, if He wants to, or not? They say no: He has to treat both of them equally. The Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah said that it is up to Allah. He can give one more than the other if He wants to. He is not going to treat the other one unfairly; He will give him his due. But He can give more to the other one if He wants to.

So they have this issue: if there is intercession for somebody who is going to the hellfire, then he is not going to be punished, and that means Allah is not fulfilling what He is bound to fulfil.

The first is the great intercession, described above: the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying ana lahā, ana lahā, ummatī, ummatī. This one is accepted by all, and the Muʿtazilah do not disagree with it, because it is only about starting the process. It is not about taking anybody from hell to paradise, so they have no problem with this one.

The second is about entering people into paradise without any ḥisāb, without any accountability, without any reckoning. Some scholars say that this is specific to the Prophet (peace be upon him): that only he will be able to make that kind of intercession for people, which gives them straight entry into paradise without even any questioning. That is what Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and al-Nawawī say. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd is unsure about this. Ibn Ḥajar was also unsure about it. He said that there is no real dalīl, no real evidence, that this is specific to the Prophet (peace be upon him), so it could be for other prophets as well.

The third type of shafāʿah is for those who are destined for hell, meaning believers who are worthy of being punished. Intercession will be made for them, and they will not enter hell. Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and Ibn al-Subkī say that this is specific to the Prophet (peace be upon him), though al-Nawawī is unsure.

The fourth is for those who are already in the hellfire, to take them out. Everybody agrees that this is not only for the Prophet (peace be upon him); others will be able to perform this form of intercession as well.

The fifth is intercession to raise somebody's status in paradise: they already have a status, and it is to give them a higher one. The Muʿtazilah have no problem with this one either. Other types have also been mentioned, but these are the main five that are mentioned.

That is why he said: the Prophet's intercession that Allah deferred for them is true, as narrated in the traditions. And it is necessary to state that Allah will give the Prophet (peace be upon him) intercession. Basically, what that means is that out of His discretion, He can forgive whoever He wants. Allah can forgive whoever He wants out of His discretion, even if they have been sinners, as long as they have īmān.