The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“A man said that the prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, are protected from major sins but not minor sins. Another man declared him an unbeliever for saying this. Is the person who said this mistaken or correct? Has any of them maintained that the prophets are protected from sin without qualification? What is the correct position on this?”

He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. By agreement of the scholars of the religion, he is not an unbeliever. There is likewise no disagreement that this does not fall under those cases of insulting the prophets in which scholars dispute whether the speaker should be called upon to repent. Al-Qādī ‘Iyād and others like him explicitly stated this, despite their stringent positions on prophetic protection from sin and the punishment of those who insult the prophets. Nevertheless, they agree that such a statement does not fall under the rulings concerning insult and punishment, let alone render its speaker an unbeliever or a flagrant sinner.

Indeed, the view that the prophets are protected from major sins but not minor sins is held by the majority of Islamic scholars across all groups. It is even the position of most speculative theologians: “Abū al-Hasan al-Āmidī” mentioned that this is the view of most Ash‘arīs. It is also the position of most scholars of Quranic exegesis and hadith, and most jurists. Indeed, only reports consistent with this view have been transmitted from the early generations, the leading scholars, the Companions, the Successors, and their followers; no reports have been transmitted from them consistent with the view . . . (1)