neither through intercession nor by any other means. In their view, there are only those who enter Paradise and never enter the Fire, and those who enter the Fire and never enter Paradise. They hold that no individual can receive both reward and punishment.

The Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, and all the leading scholars, including the four imams and others, affirm what is established by the authentic, mass-transmitted hadith from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Allah will bring some people out of the Fire after punishing them for as long as He wills. He will bring them out through the intercession of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and bring others out through the intercession of others, while bringing some out without intercession.

Those who deny intercession cite the words of the Most High:

“And fear a Day when no soul will avail another in any way, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will a ransom be taken from it.”

And His words:

“Nor will a ransom be accepted from it, nor will intercession benefit it.”

And His words:

“Before there comes a Day in which there will be no trade, no friendship, and no intercession.”

And His words:

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

And His words:

“So the intercession of intercessors will not benefit them.”

The response of Ahl al-Sunnah is that these passages convey two meanings.

The first is that intercession does not benefit the polytheists, as the Most High says when describing them:

“‘What brought you into Saqar?’
They will say, ‘We were not among those who prayed,
nor did we feed the poor.
We used to indulge in vain discourse with those who indulged in it,
and we used to deny the Day of Recompense,
until certainty came to us.’
So the intercession of intercessors will not benefit them.”

The benefit of the intercessors’ intercession is denied to these people because they were disbelievers.

The second is that these passages deny the intercession affirmed by the polytheists and those who resemble them among the adherents of religious innovation, from both the People of the Book and the Muslims. They suppose that created beings have such standing with Allah that they can intercede with Him without His permission, just as people intercede with one another, so that intercession is accepted by