Question: Please clarify the
following: Did Adam (sws) ask his forgiveness from Allah by using Prophet
Mohammed (sws) as an intermediary (wasilah)?
Answer: The most authentic source
regarding the question of what Adam (sws) said in his prayer is the Holy
Qur’an. The incident of the creation of Adam and Eve has been dealt
with in various places in the Holy Book. If we study the matter wherever
it occurs in the Holy Qur’an it becomes very clear how Adam expressed
his repentance and what he prayed at that time. The incident first occurs
in Surah Baqarah where it is briefly mentioned:
So Adam learnt some words from his Lord. (2:37)
The verse does not tell what words the
Almighty taught him to say in his prayer. In Surah A‘raf (7:22-3)
it has been made clear what the Almighty did teach him in this regard:
So by deceit he betrayed them. When they tasted
of the tree, their private parts became manifest to them and they began
to cover their private parts with the leaves of the Garden. And their Lord
called them: ‘Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was
your avowed enemy?’ They said: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls:
if you forgive us not and bestow not upon us your mercy, we shall certainly
be lost’. (7:22-3)
I think there remains no need of further
exploration on the issue. However, you have inquired about a certain point
of view, according to which it was the name of the Prophet Muhammad (sws)
which Adam (ws) presented as an interceder. None of the reliable books
of Ahadith contain this report. However, Tabari has given
the viewpoint without citing the source or mentioning the names of the
scholars who hold this view: 2:37. Therefore, the saying is not authentic
in any degree and does not hold water after the explanation given by the
Almighty Himself in the Holy Qur’an. What follows is the text of
the narrative:
Interpreters have differed on the implication
of the word ‘kalimat’. Ibn Abbas, Hasan, Sa‘id
Ibn Jubayr, Dahhak and Mujahid said that it was as He
said: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged our ownselves: if you forgive us not and
bestow not upon us your mercy, we shall certainly be lost’. And Mujahid
is also reported to have said [that it refers to]: ‘Oh our Lord! There
is no god except you, my Lord; I wronged myself so forgive me. Indeed you
are the most forgiving, the most merciful’. A group of scholars said: ‘He
saw it written on the throne of the Almighty: Muhammad the Messenger of
Allah” and he used his name for interceding and this is the meaning
of the word ‘Kalimat’.
(Tariq Hashmi)
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