it may be said to him:
They agree that the prophets are never left to persist [in] (1) any error whatsoever in matters of religion, nor in any wicked conduct (2) or lying. In short, they agree that the prophets are free of everything that would impugn their prophethood or their conveyance of the message from Allah.
The great majority of those who hold that the prophets may commit minor sins maintain that they are divinely protected from persisting in them. Accordingly, nothing arises from them that would ultimately harm them.
It is related in the report: “David was better after his repentance than he had been before the sin.” Allah loves those who constantly repent and those who purify themselves [Surah al-Baqarah: 222]. Indeed, a servant may commit a sin and thereby enter Paradise.
As for forgetfulness and inadvertence during prayer, these do occur among them. Their occurrence serves the wisdom of enabling Muslims to follow their example, as related in Mālik’s Muwattaʾ:
“I am only made to forget—or I forget—so that I may establish a sunnah.” (3)
The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—also said:
“I am only a human being. I forget just as you forget, so when I forget, remind me.”
Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded it in their Sahīhs. (4) “And when he prayed
(1) “In” is absent only from (N).
(2) (A) and (B) read: *fisq* (“wickedness”).
(3) The hadith appears in Mālik’s *Muwattaʾ*, 1:100 (Book of Forgetfulness, chapter on what is to be done in cases of forgetfulness). Its wording there is: “Mālik related to me that it had reached him that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘I sometimes forget, or am caused to forget, so that I may establish a sunnah.’” The editor remarks: “Ibn Abd al-Barr said: ‘I know of no transmission of this hadith from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—through any other route, whether in connected or disconnected form. It is one of four hadiths in the *Muwattaʾ* that are not found elsewhere, either with a connected chain or as a *mursal* report. Its meaning accords with established principles.’”
(4) The hadith of Abd Allah ibn Masūd—may Allah be pleased with him—appears in al-Bukhārī, 1:85 (Book of Prayer, chapter on facing the qibla wherever one may be). It begins: “…from Alqama, who said: Abd Allah said, ‘The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—prayed.’ Ibrāhīm said: ‘I do not know whether he added to or reduced the prayer.’ When he concluded the prayer, he was asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, has something new occurred concerning the prayer?’ He replied, ‘What is that?’ They said, ‘You prayed such-and-such.’ He then folded his legs, faced the qibla, performed two prostrations, and gave the salutation. When he turned to face us, he said: ‘Had anything new occurred concerning the prayer, I would have informed you of it. Rather, I am only a human being like you…’” The hadith is also in Muslim, 1:402–3 (Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer, chapter on forgetfulness in prayer and the prostrations for it); *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 1:368 (Book of Prayer, chapter on praying five rakʿahs); *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 1:380 (Book of Establishing Prayer, chapter on forgetfulness in prayer); and *al-Musnad* (al-Maʿārif ed.), 5:212; 6:52–53, 102.