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From: darwish@eng.umd.edu (Mamdouh Maher)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: the nature of the Prophet
Message-ID: <1991Apr30.175242.17675@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 30 Apr 91 17:52:42 GMT
References: <1991Apr26.215310.5015@wpi.WPI.EDU>
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Assalamu `alaykum. Brother Zeeshan Hasan writes:
>	To begin, I would like to point out the following Hadith, from
>the Sahih Bukhari:
>	"I am only a man.  He who takes something from me must
>	 beware, for he may have taken a portion of the Fire."
>
>	This Hadith would appear to indicate that the Prophet was 
>capable of making mistakes in the matter of religious guidance.  If 
>that is the case, the Hadith themselves must be abandoned as a source
>of Islamic law, as their authority stems from the infallibility of the
>Prophet.  In that case, the vast majority of what is now known as 
>"Islamic Law", which has its foundations in the Hadith, must be revised.
>The Quran would be the only reliable source.

  I have never encountered this hadith, but I think I know the source. Two
people disagreed and went to the messenger (PBUH) to present their case,
the messenger ruled in favour of one of them then said: "I am only human,
if, because of the eloquence of one of you, I give something not deserved 
in a judgement, then this is a piece of hell-fire." I am quoting this from
memory, so the wording is not exact.
  
  The messenger (PBUH) was refering to the fact that he only knows what God
teaches him. When judging in a case, he will rule in favour of the person
supported by available evidence. As for infalliability, the messenger is 
only infalliable when it comes to the transmission of God's message.

  For those who insist on using the Qur'an exclusively, the Qur'an says:
  "Wa ma yantiqu `an ilhawqa" -- "And he does not speak out of desire"
  Also: "That which the messenger gave you, take it. That which he forbade,
  leave. That is better for you."
  
  The messenger has no special knowledge of mathematics, physics or history,
but he is the infalliable source in the science of Islam.

  It is unlikely that you will discover one hadith that will revolutionize
Islam, that scholars before you would have passed over. Hadith science
is a field to which numerous careers were dedicated. People used to (and
still do) record the text of the hadith, the line of the transmitters to
the messenger (PBUH), the context, time, occasion, related hadiths and
scholarly opinion about what it may indicate. It is not an casual process.

  With all due respect, what you have done is like misreading pythagora's
theorem and thinking as a result that all of mathematics should be rethought.

>	Besides the obvious legal implications, the ideas presented
>above seem to conflict with the common traditional view that the Prophet 
>was a perfect man whose divinely guided life was free from error and sin.

  Actually, the common tradition is that he was neither perfect nor free
from sin. His imperfection is documented in the Qur'an and by him himself.
As for freedom from sin, his sins are all forgiven, which does not mean that
he is free from sin, rather it means that he is NOT free from sin. Of course
he lived a more virtuous life, so his sins may seems more than trivial for us.

>This has usually been thought to be a necessary assumption, as without it
>we must face the possibility that errors were made in the prophets 
>transmission of the Quran to us. [But his conveying of the message could
>have been perfect nontheless].
  
  There is no need for us to engage is acrobatics of the mind. the situation
is simple: The messenger is only human. He makes mistakes. He is also
more pious and wiser than any of us. It is God's will that he does not
make a mistake when transmitting the message with which he is charged.
When he says that we should not only refrain from drinking alcohol, but
also from selling it, he is not making up a rule, he is conveying a message
like he conveys the Qur'an.
 
 I mean nothing personal by my disagreement, but as I brother, I warn you that
you have made a mistake that a knowledgeable Muslim should not make. Islam
is not a flimsy religion, it is solid as a mountain. It is the only religion
that is solid, and that requires no mind-twisting to accept.
  
  Assalamu `alaykum