Moreover, he may supplicate for a disbeliever, asking Allah to guide him or grant him provision, and Allah then guides him or provides for him. Thus, he supplicated for the mother of Abū Hurayra, and Allah guided her. He also supplicated for Daws, saying:

“O Allah, guide Daws and bring them to me.”

Allah then guided them. Likewise, Abū Dāwūd reported that he prayed for rain for some polytheists when they asked him to do so. This was an act of kindness towards them, by which he sought to win their hearts, just as he sought to win their hearts by other means.

Muslims agree that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—has the greatest standing with Allah of all creation. No created being has greater standing with Allah than he does, nor is any intercession greater than his. Yet the supplications and intercession of the prophets are not equivalent to believing in them and obeying them. Believing in them and obeying them ensures bliss in the Hereafter and deliverance from punishment, without qualification and for everyone who does so. Whoever dies believing in Allah and His Messenger and obeying Allah and His Messenger will certainly be among those destined for bliss. Whoever dies disbelieving in what the Messenger brought will certainly be among the inhabitants of the Fire.

As for intercession and supplication, the benefit people derive from them depends on conditions being met, and there are impediments to that benefit. Interceding for disbelievers to be saved from the Fire and seeking forgiveness for them do not benefit them if they die in disbelief—even if the intercessor has the greatest standing of all intercessors. No intercessor is greater than Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—followed by Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend. Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, supplicated for his father and sought forgiveness for him, as Allah, Most High, relates that he said:

“Our Lord, forgive me, my parents, and the believers on the Day when the reckoning is established.”

He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had wished to seek forgiveness for Abū Tālib, following Abraham’s example. Some Muslims also wished to seek forgiveness for some of their relatives. Allah, Most High, then revealed:

“It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they are close relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are inhabitants of the blazing Fire.”