Taha (92 - 94)

Discussion on the Infallibility of Prophets

Know that those who challenge the infallibility of the Prophets (peace be upon them) rely on this verse from several angles:

First Point: Moses (peace be upon him) either commanded Aaron to follow him or did not.

1. If he commanded him, then either Aaron obeyed or disobeyed.
   • If Aaron obeyed, then Moses rebuking him would be a sin, as rebuking the innocent is a sin.
   • If Aaron disobeyed, then Aaron was abandoning an obligation, thus committing a sin.
2. If Moses did not command him to follow, then Moses rebuking him for not following would be a sin. Thus, in all scenarios, attributing a sin must fall upon either Moses or Aaron.

Second Point: Moses's statement, "Did you then disobey my command?" (أَفَعَصَيْتَ أَمْرِي), is a form of emphatic denial (inquiry expressing strong disapproval). This necessitates that Aaron had disobeyed him, and that this disobedience was blameworthy. Otherwise, Moses would be a liar, which is a sin. Therefore, Aaron must have committed the sin.

Third Point: His statement, "My command," followed by Aaron's plea, "O son of my mother, do not seize me by my beard or my head," implies that Aaron's action (whatever it was) was a sin. Aaron had done his part in advising, admonishing, and forbidding. If Moses investigated and realized Aaron had done what was required of him, then seizing his head and beard was a sin. Even if he did it before knowing the facts, it was still a sin.

Fourth Point: Aaron said, "Do not seize me by my beard or my head."

• If seizing his beard and head was permissible, then Aaron's prohibition was preventing Moses from doing what he was allowed to do, making Aaron's prohibition a sin.
• If seizing them was not permissible, then Moses was committing a sin.

These are subtle examples concerning this issue.

Responses to These Objections

We have already established in Surah Al-Baqarah, concerning the verse "But Satan made them slip from it" (Al-Baqarah: 36), clear proofs that sin cannot originate from the Prophets. The essence of these objections is relying on literal meanings that are open to interpretation, which is contrary to established principles. If this premise is established, know that we have several ways to answer these difficulties:

First Response: Even if we disagree on the permissibility of sin for Prophets, we agree on the permissibility of abandoning the better course of action (tark al-awla) for them. If this is the case, the action one performed and the other forbade (Moses and Aaron) might be that one course was preferable (awla) and the other was abandoning the preferable.

• Objection: This interpretation is not permissible because each was resolute in their action or inaction. Performing or abandoning a recommended act (mandub) is not done with such certainty.
• Answer: Restricting the absolute (mutlaq) by evidence is not impossible. We interpret that certainty in action or omission as meaning: "Do this or leave it, if you intend what is most beneficial." This condition might be omitted if their mutual agreement to observe it was known and established.

Second Response: Moses approached his people in anger. He seized his brother by the head and pulled him close, as a person might do to himself in anger. A thoughtful, angry person might bite his lips, twist his fingers, or clench his beard. Moses treated his brother Aaron as he would treat himself, as he was his brother and partner, doing to him what a man does to himself in thought and anger.

As for Aaron's plea, "Do not seize me by my beard or my head," it is possible that Aaron feared the Israelites, due to their poor opinion of Moses, might assume he was rebuking Aaron and not supporting him. Aaron then began explaining the story: "Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You have caused division among the Children of Israel.'"

Third Response: The Children of Israel held the lowest opinion of Moses (peace be upon him). When Aaron was absent from them for a time, they accused Moses of killing him. When God promised Moses thirty nights and completed it with ten, writing for him in the Tablets "of everything," Moses returned to find what he found among his people. He seized his brother by the head to pull him close to investigate the situation. Aaron feared that baseless notions might enter their minds first, so out of concern for Moses, he said: "Do not seize me by my beard or my head, lest the people attribute to you what is unfitting."

Fourth Response: The author of Al-Kashshaf said: Moses was a man of iron, naturally stern, harsh, and rigid in everything, intensely angry for the sake of God and His religion. When he saw his people worshipping a calf after witnessing the great signs, he could not restrain himself. In his immense shock, out of anger for God and zeal, he threw down the Tablets of the Torah and confronted his brother and vicegerent over his people with the severity of an open enemy.

• Critique: This answer is weak. It is asked: Even if he was intensely angry, was he still rational and accountable, or not?
  • If he remained rational and accountable, all the previous questions remain fully intact. At most, you have mentioned intense anger, which itself is a category of sin, thus adding another objection.
  • If you claim that in that anger he ceased to be rational or accountable, this is something no Muslim would ever accept.

These are the answers from those who do not permit minor sins (sagha'ir). As for those who permit them, there is no doubt that the question collapses. And God knows best.

Regarding the Command to Follow

As for His statement, "What prevented you when you saw them go astray, from following me?" (أَلَّا تَتَّبِعَن), there are two interpretations:

1. That an (أَلَّا) is an emphatic particle (la of connection), meaning: "What prevented you from following me?"
2. That it means: "What prompted you not to follow me?"—where "prevented" (mana'aka) stands in for "prompted" (da'aka).

There are two views on what "following" (ittiba') means:

1. What prevented you from following me by obeying those who obeyed you and joining me, leaving your position among them. This is the view of Ibn Abbas, narrated by 'Ata.
2. That you should follow my instruction when I told you: "Be my successor among my people and set things right, and do not follow the way of the corrupters" (Al-A'raf: 142). Instead, you abandoned fighting and disciplining them. This is the view of Muqatil.

Then He said, "Did you then disobey my command?" (أَفَعَصَيْتَ أَمْرِي), the meaning of which is clear. This indicates that abandoning what is commanded is disobedience, and the disobedient deserves punishment, based on His saying: "And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then indeed, for him is the Fire of Hell, to abide therein forever" (Al-Jinn: 23), and His saying: "And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him into a Fire to abide therein forever" (An-Nisa: 14). The combination of these two verses indicates that the command is obligatory (li-l-wujub).

Aaron (peace be upon him) answered, saying: "O son of my mother" (ابْنَ أُمَّ). It is said he addressed him this way to repel him and make him stop. It is also said because he was his maternal brother. "Do not seize me by my beard or my head."

Know that there is no textual evidence in the Qur'an that Moses actually seized him. A prohibition of something does not indicate that the one prohibited actually did the forbidden act, like His saying: "And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites" (Al-Ahzab: 48), and "If you should associate [anything] with Allah, then surely your deeds will be nullified" (Az-Zumar: 65). What is indicated is that he took hold of his brother's head to pull him close, and this act does not necessarily imply contempt; it could be done for other purposes, as we explained. Some people say he took his forelocks with his right hand and his beard with his left.

Then Aaron said: "Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You have caused division among the Children of Israel,' and you did not observe my saying."

One might object: Moses's statement, "What prevented you from following me? Did you then disobey my command?" implies he commanded him to do something. How is it appropriate for Aaron to answer by saying, "I did not obey your saying out of fear that you would say, 'And you did not observe my saying'?" Is such speech permissible for a rational person?

Answer: Perhaps Moses commanded him to come to him on the condition that it would not lead to corruption among the people. When Moses said, "What prevented you from following me?" Aaron replied, "You only commanded me to follow you if corruption did not occur. If I came to you while corruption had occurred, you would not have observed your own saying [about maintaining order]."

Imam Abu Al-Qasim Al-Ansari said: Guidance is more beneficial than mere indication. The magicians were strangers to faith; they saw only one sign, believed, endured severe worldly punishment, and did not recant their faith. As for his people, they saw the staff turn into a serpent, swallowing all that the magicians gathered, then returning to a staff; they saw the magicians confess that it was not magic but a divine matter; they saw the nine signs over a long period; then they saw the sea split into twelve paths, and God saved them from drowning while destroying their enemies despite their great numbers. Yet, after witnessing these signs, when they emerged from the sea and saw people worshipping cows, they said, "Make for us a god just as they have gods." When they heard a sound from a calf, they devoted themselves to worshipping it. This indicates that the objective is not achieved by mere indications, but by guidance.

Hamzah and Al-Kisai recited "Yabna Ummi" (يَا ابْنَ أُمِّ) with a kasra on the mim (mīm) and an idafa (possessive construction), where the kasra indicates the ya' (of "my mother"). The rest recited it with a fatha. The meaning is "O son of my mother." And God knows best.

7 < { He said, "Then what is your matter, O Samiri?" * He said, "I perceived what they did not perceive, so I took a handful of dust from the footprint of the Messenger and threw it, and thus my soul suggested to me." * He said, "Then go, for indeed, for you in this life it is to say, 'No touching' [i.e., stay away]. And indeed, for you is an appointment that will not be missed. And look at your deity to which you remained devoted; we will surely burn it and then scatter it into the sea as dust." * Indeed, your god is Allah, other than whom there is no deity. He has encompassed all things in knowledge." } > 7 !