Chapter: The Obligation to Believe in Intercession

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn said: Know—may Allah have mercy on you—that those who deny intercession maintain that whoever enters the Fire will never emerge from it. This is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah. They deny intercession, as well as other matters that we shall mention, if Allah Most High wills, even though these are founded upon the Book of Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—the traditions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—the practices of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and those who followed them in righteousness, and the position of the Muslim jurists.

The Mu'tazilah oppose all of this. They pay no heed to the traditions of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—or to the practices of his Companions—may Allah be pleased with them. Instead, they counter them with the ambiguous passages of the Quran and with what reason, as they conceive it, has shown them. This is not the way of the Muslims; rather, it is the way of one who has strayed from the path of truth and with whom Satan has toyed.

Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—has warned us against people of this description. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—warned us against them, as did the leaders of the Muslims, both in earlier and later times. As for that by which Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—warned us against them and which He revealed to His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and that by which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—warned us against them, Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—said to His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him:

“It is He who has sent down to you the Book. In it are clear and decisive verses—they are the foundation of the Book—and others that are ambiguous” [Āl Imrān: 7],

down to His words:

“Yet none takes heed except people of understanding.”