A Nabí, (who must be a wise and a free man, that is, one who is not a slave of another, and one also who is free from imperfection either of body or mind), receives Wahí but has not necessarily to deliver to men the orders of God. A Rasúl who must possess the same qualifications as a Nabí, is one who is commanded to deliver God's message to men, though he does not necessarily abrogate what preceding Rasúls have delivered. Neither is it necessary that he should bring a book or even a new law. Some Rasúls do so, but the distinguishing mark of the Rasúl is that he delivers to men commands direct from God, and is specially commissioned so to do. Thus every Rasúl is a Nabí, whilst every Nabí is not a Rasúl.
The question of the sinlessness of the prophets is one to which considerable attention has been paid by Muslim theologians. The orthodox belief is that they are free from sin. Some think that their freedom from sin is because the grace of God being ever in them in the richest fulness they are kept in the right path. The Ash'aríans believe that the power of sinning is not created in them.[[144]] The Mutazilites deny this, but admit the existence of some quality which keeps them from evil. These theories do not agree with actual facts. Prophets like other men commit faults, but here comes in the Muslim distinction of sins into gunáh-i-kabíra "great sins," and gunáh-i-saghíra "little sins." The gunáh-i-kabíra are, murder, adultery, disobedience to God and to parents, robbing of orphans, to accuse of adultery, to avoid fighting against infidels, drunkenness, to give or to take usury, to neglect the Friday prayers and the Ramazán fast, tyranny, backbiting, untrustworthiness, forgetting the Qurán after reading it, to avoid giving true or to give false witness, lying without sufficient reason,[[145]] to swear falsely or to swear by any other than God, flattery of tyrants, false judgments, giving short weight or measure,
magic, gambling, approval of the ceremonies of infidels, boasting of one's piety, calling on the names of deceased persons and beating the breast at such times,[[146]] dancing, music, neglect when opportunity offers of warning other persons with regard to the "commands and prohibitions" of God, disrespect to a Háfiz, to shave the beard, to omit saying the "darúd" (i.e. on whom and on whose family be the peace and mercy of God) whenever the name of Muhammad is mentioned.[[147]] These are all "great sins" and can only be forgiven after due repentance: the "little sins" are forgiven if some good actions are done. "Observe prayer at early morning, at the close of day, and at the approach of night; for the good deeds drive away the evil deeds." (Súra xi. 116).
Men may commit sin wittingly or unwittingly. It is the universal belief that a prophet never commits the greater sins in either way; but there is a difference of opinion with regard to the lesser sins. Some hold that they can do them unwittingly, though even then it is not in any thing connected with their office. Others again limit even this frailty to the period before "wahí" (inspiration) comes upon them. The general opinion, however, is that they are free from all sin, whether great or small. The frailties which they show are merely reckoned as faults and slight imperfections not amounting to sin.
This, to the Muslim mind at once disposes of a difficulty the Qurán itself raises on this point. With the exception of Jesus Christ, the Anbiya-ulul-'Azm are spoken of as doing what every one except an orthodox Muslim would call sin. Adam's transgression[[148]] is referred to in Súra ii. 29-37 and
in Súra vii. 10-24. I quote only one verse: "They said, 'O our Lord! with ourselves have we dealt unjustly; if Thou forgive us not and have not pity on us, we shall surely be of those that perish.'" The sin of Noah is not specified in the Qurán, yet it is plainly hinted at. "To Thee verily, O my Lord, do I repair lest I ask that of Thee wherein I have no knowledge: unless Thou forgive me and be merciful to me I shall be one of the lost." (Súra xi. 49). There is also a similar request in Súra lxxi. 29. Abraham is represented as saying to his people: "They whom ye worship, ye and your fathers of early days, are my foes; but not so the Lord of the worlds, who hath created me, and guideth me, who giveth me food and drink; and when I am sick, he healeth me, and who will cause me to die and again quicken me, and who, I hope, will forgive me my sins in the day of reckoning." (Súra xxvi. 75-82). Moses is described as having done "a work of Satan" in killing a man, and as saying: "'O my Lord, I have sinned to my own hurt; forgive me.' So God forgave him; for He is the forgiving, the merciful. He said: 'Lord, because thou hast showed me this grace, I will never again be the helper of the wicked.'" (Súra xxviii. 15, 16).
The following passages refer to Muhammad. "Be thou steadfast and patient; for true is the promise of God; and seek pardon for thy fault."[[149]] (Súra xl. 57). "Ask pardon for thy sin, and for believers, both men and women." (Súra xlvii. 21). The scandal caused by the Prophet's conduct with the wife of Zeid, and with the Egyptian slave Mary, necessitated a pretended revelation of God's will in reference to these events. The circumstances will be found fully detailed in Súra xxxiii. 36-38 and in Súra lxvi. 1-5.
One of the most important verses is: "Verily, we have won for thee an undoubted victory, in token that God forgiveth thy earlier and later fault." (Súra xlviii. 1-2).
It is not quite clear what victory is here referred to. According to the Tafsír-i-Husainí, some commentators say that it is the taking of Mecca, the past tense being prophetically used for the future. The following explanations are given of the expression "earlier and later fault." (1) God has forgiven thy sin committed before and after the descent of wahí, (2) before and after the taking of Mecca, or (3) before the descent of this Súra. (4) The commentator Salmí says: "The earlier sin refers to the sin of Adam committed when Muhammad was in the loins of his great ancestor and thus connected with him; the later sin refers to the followers of the Prophet, and in that way is connected with him, just as the sin of Adam was the predecessor and the cause of their sin." (5) Imám Abu'l-Lais says: "The words refer to the sin of Adam, and to those of the followers of the Prophet. Both are connected with Muhammad, because the former is forgiven by the blessing, and the latter by the intercession of Muhammad."[[150]]
From these extracts from the Qurán it appears that sin is imputed to prophets, though Muslims evade the charge by the casuistry I have already referred to. Be that as it may, it is a striking fact that the one sinless member of the Anbiya-ulul-'Azm, the one sinless prophet of Islám, is none other than Jesus Christ. There is no passage in the Qurán which hints at sin, even in the modified form in which Muslims attribute it to other prophets, being committed by him: no passage which speaks of His seeking for pardon.