Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—also said:

Section: On the Intercession Denied in the Quran

Examples include the words of Allah Most High:

“And fear a Day when no soul will avail another in any way, no intercession will be accepted from it, and no ransom will be taken from it.”

And His words:

“No ransom will be accepted from it, nor will intercession benefit it.”

And His words:

“Before a Day comes when there will be no bargaining, friendship, or intercession.”

And His words:

“So we have no intercessors,
nor any close friend.”

And His words:

“The wrongdoers will have neither a close friend nor an intercessor whose plea is heeded.”

And His words:

“On the Day its fulfilment comes, those who had forgotten it before will say, ‘The messengers of our Lord certainly came with the truth. Have we any intercessors who will intercede for us? Or could we be sent back, so that we might act differently from the way we used to act?’”

There are other passages like these. The Khawārij and the Muʿtazilah cited many of them as evidence against intercession for those who commit major sins. They denied that intercession could be made for anyone deserving punishment, or that anyone who entered the Fire could leave it. They did not, however, deny intercession for those entitled to reward, whereby their reward would be increased.

The position of the early generations of the Muslim community, its leading scholars, and all the adherents of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah is to affirm intercession for those who commit major sins and to hold that anyone with an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will be brought out of the Fire.

Furthermore, the widely transmitted hadiths from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning intercession describe those gathered for judgment seeking intercession so that judgment may be passed between them. Among them are believers and disbelievers, and this involves