The following narration is mentioned: Imam Zain al-Abidin says: 'Why should I not weep? How can I not weep when my fate is inevitable? I weep for the departure of my soul, I weep for the darkness of my grave, I weep for the narrowness of my tomb, I weep for the questioning of Munkar and Nakir regarding me, I weep for my emergence from my grave naked and humiliated, carrying my burden on my back while the creatures are preoccupied with their own affairs.' This made me ponder how the infallible Imam expresses fear of the darkness of the grave in this narration, and I have come across other narrations indicating the fear of the Imams and Prophets, and their supplications to God for mercy and salvation. My question is whether these supplications were meant for themselves, implying that the Prophet or Imam did not recognize their infallibility and that God was pleased with them, or were these supplications intended for us to learn from and understand the correct way to worship God.
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1 Answer
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.
His Eminence Sayyid Jaafar Murtada al-Amili (may his soul be sanctified) has addressed this question in response to a similar inquiry, stating:
First: Seeking forgiveness does not indicate the occurrence of sin.
God Almighty says to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): '... When the victory of God and the conquest comes, and you see the people entering into the religion of God in multitudes, then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is ever Accepting of Repentance.' (Quran 110:1-3)
And He says: 'Know that there is no deity except Allah and seek forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women...' (Quran 47:19)
And He says: 'So be patient; indeed, the promise of Allah is truth. And seek forgiveness for your sin...' (Quran 40:55)
Second: The supplication and seeking forgiveness of the infallible.
It is important to note the following points:
A: When God legislated His laws, He did so for all of humanity, including the Prophet and the infallible successor, as well as ordinary humans, the knowledgeable and the ignorant, the elderly and the young, men and women, Arabs and non-Arabs, the righteous and the sinful.
Everyone is required to perform prayers, give alms, and undertake pilgrimage, and it is recommended for them to supplicate at specific times or generally. Many legislations have rewards associated with them, and violations incur punishments that apply to everyone without exception, even if they do not understand the meanings of the words or grasp their profound implications, just as if they did not know the Arabic language or were illiterate and had not benefited from the light of knowledge.
The reward prescribed for someone who recites a specific supplication is a certain number of good deeds. Anyone who performs this act under the right conditions deserves these good deeds.
These acts of worship also have specific effects that result from merely reciting them, even if the reciters do not understand the meanings of the words. For example, if someone recites the last chapter of Al-Kahf and intends to wake up for the morning prayer at a specific time, they will indeed wake up. Similarly, if someone writes a specific text, such as a particular chapter or supplication, it will cure them of a certain condition, then the healing will occur.
Moreover, the spiritual elevation for the believer resulting from prayer, as stated: 'Prayer is the ascension of the believer,' or the closeness mentioned: 'Prayer is the offering of every pious person,' will be realized through prayer even if the worshiper does not understand the meanings of its words or the intentions behind its movements. This connection to God in a specific and defined manner, in the form of prayer, visitation, or glorification, achieves these effects and leads to them, provided there is an intention of closeness and a manifestation of submission and worship to God according to the prescribed methods, fulfilling a pedagogical and instructive purpose that God desires to be realized.
For this reason, we find that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) says: 'Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and God's mercy and blessings.'
And he says in the call to prayer and its establishment: 'I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.' Others say this as well, to attain their rewards and the rewards of prayer and its effects by fulfilling everything prescribed in it, including: 'I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.'
Both men and women recite in a single supplication: 'And from the houris by Your mercy, grant us marriage...' This does not mean that the woman specifically intends the content of this phrase in detail, but rather she intends to fulfill what is prescribed and established.
If you ask: Is it reasonable that the prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the infallible is equivalent to the prayer of any ordinary person in terms of its reward and effects?
The answer is: The difference lies in the additional qualities that accompany that prescribed act, such as sincerity or the effort and toil involved. The reward is in proportion to the additional qualities (like fear) produced by other factors such as knowledge of God, the perfection of intellect, and control over desires and inclinations, or any other additional effort the servant has exerted, for God has promised appropriate rewards based on the principle that the best deeds are those done with the most fervor.
It becomes clear from the above that the performance of the infallible in prescribed acts of worship, including supplications, does not necessitate that they become the subject of all the implications contained within them; thus, their seeking forgiveness does not indicate the occurrence of sin on their part.
B: Some scholars interested in scientific matters say that the functions of the human body operate in ways that, if we were to attempt to replicate them with our human means, we would need to cover the entire earth with devices and factories. This is despite the fact that they are only discussing the functions of the body and its cells that have been discovered, while much remains undiscovered.
God Almighty continuously bestows existence, energy, and vitality upon all the organs and cells of this body moment by moment. These bestowals and the nature of the tasks they produce, along with all this diversity and these perplexing details, point to the greatness of their Creator in His knowledge, wisdom, management, richness, and power.
If the Prophet and the infallible successor recognize these blessings, which without God, we would need devices to accomplish, and they also know deeply that they are the greatest recipients of these blessings, recognizing their magnitude and diversity in various aspects of their existence, their importance, and their potentials, and they utilize all of them in obedience to God, feeling and experiencing their effects in their bodies, souls, and how every atom in the universe is subservient to them and to all humanity as stated in the Holy Quran, they understand many of the secrets of God's dominion.
Given this, the Prophet and the infallible feel more than anyone else the value, greatness, and vastness of the blessings that God bestows upon them.
Thus, it is not surprising that they see themselves—no matter what they do—as deficient for failing to fulfill the duty of gratitude to that great Benefactor. They see themselves as sinful in this regard, and they weep and continue to strive. When it is said to them: 'O Messenger of God, what makes you weep, when God has forgiven your past and future sins?' We find him saying: 'Should I not be a grateful servant?'
To clarify this with an example, we say:
If someone wishes to present a gift to a king or a ruler, they may find nothing suitable to match the majesty of the king, and thus they feel deficient in what they have presented. They may even feel guilty for offering something unworthy, just as the case of the sparrow that gifted Solomon a locust it had in its beak, for gifts are measured by the worth of the giver.
It is clear that the state of the infallible with God differs from our state; they know God as He should be known, and therefore their worship of Him is not out of fear of His fire or desire for His paradise, but because they see Him as worthy of worship. They worship Him with the worship of the knowledgeable and the aware. They also know that their position should be one of complete and pure servitude, as they are aware of the reality of their own weakness, their actual capabilities, and their absolute need for Him in everything, at every moment. They see themselves as deficient in this regard and must feel the fear of losing God's grace and the breach of the infallibility that grants them strength and stability, leading to despair, withholding supplication, and so forth, as mentioned in the supplication of Kumayl narrated from Ali (peace be upon him).
C: In a third approximation, we say: The fabric of supplications and remembrances, when intended to be a supplication or remembrance prescribed for all humans across all categories and different classes, must be such that it accommodates general and diverse applications, unified by a system of general meaning.
This broadens the scope of those applications and increases their diversity, depending on the knowledge of the divine status, the understanding of God's blessings and favors, the secrets of His creation, and so forth, on one hand, and the knowledge of oneself, one's position, and one's conditions on the other.
Considering both aspects, the infallible—whether a Prophet or an Imam—find themselves in a position of deficiency, and thus feel an increased sense of humility, fear, and reverence towards Him.
The murderer, thief, and liar, when seeking forgiveness from God and repenting, do so for the sins they feel compelled to rid themselves of, seeing them as the cause of their prayers being hindered, calamities befalling them, and the breach of the infallibility that protects them. However, someone who has committed minor sins, such as looking at a non-mahram, or taking a grain from an ant, or neglecting a believer as is appropriate to their status, also seeks forgiveness from such minor sins, seeing them as the cause of their prayers being hindered and calamities befalling them.
There is another type of person who has committed neither major nor minor sins but accuses themselves of falling short in humility and submission to God, feeling insufficient in their focus on God in their supplications and entreaties. They find themselves in a position of sinning against their Lord, being disobedient to their Master, and being negligent towards their Lord. These are significant sins in their view, necessitating repentance and seeking forgiveness from them, as they may lead to the breach of the infallibility they rely on, the arrival of calamities, the hindrance of supplication, and the cutting off of hope, and so forth.
However, when they reach high levels of knowledge about God, as is the case with Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) or the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds, they find nothing in their worship, supplication, or entreaty that is fitting for the divine majesty.
It has been narrated that Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: 'Do you not know that there are servants of God who are silenced by His fear without stuttering or being mute? They are the eloquent, articulate, and knowledgeable ones about God and His days. But when they remember God's greatness, their tongues become broken, their hearts are cut off, their minds are bewildered, and their understanding is lost, in honor and reverence for God. When they recover from that, they rush to God with righteous deeds, considering themselves among the wrongdoers and sinners, and they are innocent of being negligent and remiss.'
Indeed, they do not satisfy God with little, nor do they consider much to be excessive for God. They do not present their deeds to Him, and when you see them, they are overwhelmed, terrified, fearful, and anxious.
They consider even the focus on the basic necessities of food and drink and limiting themselves to such acts of worship as a serious deficiency that requires them to transcend to what is higher and more noble, more in line with the majesty and greatness of God, and with His blessings, grace, and kindness.
This deficiency, in their view, leads to deprivation of the great blessings they seek, as they do not reach the levels of worship that qualify the