reckoning, and the one whose good deeds and bad deeds are equal is the person who will receive a light reckoning and then enter Paradise. As for the intercession of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, it is reserved for the one who has ruined (1) his own soul and weighed down his back (2) with sin.

Al-Bayhaqī also transmitted this report from al-Ḥākim, from Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad al-Muzakkī, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-ʿAbdī, from Yaʿqūb ibn Kaʿb al-Ḥalabī, from al-Walīd ibn Muslim, from Zuhayr ibn Muḥammad, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from Jābir, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: “They do not intercede except for those with whom He is pleased, and they stand in awe of Him” (Qur’an, 21:28). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “My intercession is for the major sinners of my community.” Al-Ḥākim said, “This ḥadith is sound.” (3)

Al-Bayhaqī added: Its outward sense implies that intercession on behalf of the people of major sins is exclusive to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while the angels will intercede only for those who committed minor sins and for the raising of ranks. It is also possible that the verse is intended to show that the person for whom intercession is sought is acceptable to Allah because of his faith, even though he may have major sins and other offences short of polytheism. Thus the verse would be negating intercession for the unbelievers, for Allah has not granted permission for that, nor is He pleased with their creed. (4)

Another route:

Aḥmad said: Rawḥ narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj narrated to us; Abū al-Zubayr informed me that he heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah say, “Every prophet has been granted one supplication that was certainly answered, which he used for his nation. I, however, have stored my supplication as an intercession for my nation on the Day of Resurrection”—meaning the Prophet ﷺ. Muslim also narrated it from Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Khalaf, from Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah, with this chain. (5)

Another route:

Aḥmad said: Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; Zuhayr narrated to us; Abū al-Zubayr narrated to us, from Jābir, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When the people of Paradise and the people of the Fire have been separated, the people of Paradise entering Paradise and the people of the Fire entering the Fire, the messengers will stand and intercede. They will be told, ‘Go—proceed—and whoever among them you recognise, bring him out.’ They will bring them out, scorched, and cast them into a river—or on the banks of a river—called the River of Life. Their flesh will fall away on the edges of the river, and they will emerge white, like fledgling birds (6). Then they will intercede again, and it will be said, ‘Go—proceed—and whoever you find in whose heart is the weight of a qīrāṭ…’"