About The Book

In the Muslim community, the Prophets and Messengers are held in the highest regard as the pinnacle of God’s creation—the best of the best and sinless. Unfortunately, within the Muslim community, there are misunderstandings regarding the Prophets. Whether it be the famous movie about Islam entitled The Message or the self-titled television series which aired in 2012 about the life of ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb, many Muslims are not quite sure about how to approach the religiously-sensitive issue of depicting religious figures, particularly the Prophets.

Written by Imam Muhammad Ali Al-Sabuni, a leading scholar of Sunni orthodox Islam and author of Safwat al-Tafasir, one of the most widely accepted tafsirs of the Qur’an in the modern era.

The book also includes an introduction from renowned academic and spiritual guide, Shaykh Muhammad b. Yahya al-Ninowy. Both scholars provide consistent references to Qur’anic verses and precise exegeses to demonstrate the validity of their argument.

Introduction By Shaykh Muhammad b. Yahya al-Ninowy

Contents

Preface    vii

Introduction    1

1.     The Infallibility of the Prophets   17

The Definition of Infallibility    17

Allah’s Protection for His Prophet Muhammad a since Childhood    20

2.     Does Infallibility Apply before or after Prophethood?    23

Does Infallibility apply to Non-Prophets?    26

The Belief of the People of the Book about the Prophets    28

3.     Seemingly Unclear Matters about the Infallibility of Prophets

and their Invalidating Responses    33

4.     The Ostensible Disobedience of Prophet Adam e    35

5.     The Infallibility of Prophet Ibrahim e    41

What were the Three ‘Lies’ (equivocations) of Ibrahim e?    48

6.     The Infallibility of Prophet Yusuf e    51

Fabrication and Slander    51

The Incorrect Interpretation    53

The Correct Interpretation    53

Ten Proofs for the Infallibility of Yusuf e    56

7.     The Infallibility of Prophet Nuh e    63

8.     The Infallibility of Prophet Yunus e    65

The Incorrect Interpretation    65

The Correct Interpretation    65

9.     Was the Messenger of Allah a made to make Mistakes?    69

Ten Verses about the ‘Censure’ of the Messenger of Allah a and their Correct

Interpretations    69

The First Verse    70

The First Narration    71

The Second Narration    72

The Second Verse    75

The Third Verse    78

The Fourth Verse    80

The Fifth Verse    81

The Sixth Verse    83

The Seventh Verse    85

The Eighth Verse    87

The Ninth Verse    89

The Tenth Verse    91

Appendix: Two False Attributions to Prophet Dawud e    97

Index of Quranic Verses    101

Index of Hadith    119