This is the decisive conclusion regarding this issue over which people have differed. Yet there are sins from which the Prophet ﷺ is undoubtedly protected: namely, lying and betrayal. For if it were held possible for him to commit such things, that would undermine his Messengership; therefore, they cannot occur from him. Likewise, he is protected from whatever compromises the foundations of worship and moral character, such as associating partners with Allah and vile immoralities such as adultery and the like. As for sins between him and his Lord, these may occur, but they are minor sins that are expiated, and Allah has forgiven him his past and future sins.

I say this because some scholars have said that every sin which the Prophet ﷺ attributed to himself was actually intended to mean the sins of his community, not his own sins, since he does not sin. Thus, every sin he attributed to himself was meant to refer to the sins of his community. There is no doubt, however, that this view is weak, for Allah says:

“Seek forgiveness for your sin and for the believers.” [Muhammad 47:19]

The conjunction entails a distinction between the two. There is no disparagement in saying that the Messenger ﷺ may commit minor sins; however, he is not left to persist in them, and he is forgiven. How often a person among us is better after committing a sin than he was before it. Very often, a person may err and fall into sin, then find within his heart a sense of brokenness before Allah and a penitential return to Him, and repentance to Him, such that his sin remains ever before his eyes: he regrets it and seeks forgiveness for it. Yet a person may see himself as obedient and among the people of obedience, and consequently develop self-admiration, conceit, and a lack of penitential return to Allah that corrupt his religious state. Allah is Wise; He may test a person with sin in order to rectify his condition, just as He tests a person with hunger