The Infallibility of Prophets

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SalamKhan

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“it is surely a noble Koran in a hidden Book none but the purified shall touch, a sending down from the Lord of all Being.” -Qur’an 56:77-80

But, what of verses which mention certain Prophets as being penitents?

“Bear patiently what they say, and remember Our servant David, the man of might; he was a penitent.” -Qur’an 38:17

“And We gave unto David Solomon; how excellent a servant he was! He was a penitent.” -Qur’an 38:30

This does not necessarily mean that the Prophets had committed a sin, so as to deserve punishment, but rather they had failed in doing perfectly what is required by the love of, and nearness to, God.

Secondly, we must keep in mind that the Prophets have comprehended the entirety of divine guidance, and their actions are inspired from this fact, even if their actions seem questionable from our limited point of view i.e. the Prophet Abraham (A) deciding to offer up his son. If someone with little to no medical knowledge were to witness a defibrillator being used for resuscitation, what would he think?

Finally, consider this verse:

“Would they but go straight on the way, We would give them to drink of water copious -Qur’an 72:16

The meaning of water, in this verse, refers to knowledge. Just as water purifies & satiates the body, it is knowledge which purifies & satiates the soul. If the Prophets have comprehended the entirety of divine guidance, consider the knowledge they have been given by God. If a dead animal were to fall into a bathtub full of water, then that water would become contaminated, but would this same dead animal contaminate a river or an ocean?

Therefore, we shouldn’t think that isolated imperfect actions diminish the perfect character of the Prophets. As Prophet Muhammad (S) said:

“Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended…”

Hope this helps clear up the Islamic view of Prophets and their character.
 

In the case of Prophet Solomon (A), famous Jewish commentator Rashi said that it was not Solomon (A) who turned the Temple into a place of idol worship, rather his wives. The only reason the Tanakh uses Solomon’s name is because he did not prevent his wives from doing so.
 
They study the Hebrew Bible more than I do, and probably more than you do.

Stop making assumptions about me.

Someone didn’t read my opening post properly. Look, you already said you disagree, so what’s the purpose of you replying the way you did? Are you looking to bicker, or what?
 
Yes, I called it the Tanakh in a previous post on this thread. I just thought I’d call it the Hebrew Bible, because, you know, don’t wanna be accused of copying the Jews…
 
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