Will the Prophet intercede for us on the Day of Judgement?

The intercession agreed upon

Ibn Taymiyyah, in Taqrib Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah, states the matter plainly: the Muslims are agreed that the Prophet ﷺ intercedes for creation on the Day of Judgement, after the people ask him for it and after Allah permits him. Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah are further agreed — on what the Companions agreed upon and what the widely-transmitted sunnahs establish — that he intercedes for the people of major sins among his ummah, and that he also intercedes for creation generally.

Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak, in his commentary on al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, explains that the intercession the Prophet ﷺ "stored up" for his ummah is real, and it is one of several intercessions he possesses. The hadith he cites is the foundation:

"For every prophet there is a supplication that is answered; every prophet hastened his supplication, but I have hidden mine as intercession for my ummah on the Day of Judgement. It will reach — if Allah wills — whoever of my ummah dies without associating anything with Allah."— Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim 199, from Abu Hurayrah

This is the intercession for the people of major sins, and it is the point on which Ahl al-Sunnah differ from the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah.

The four intercessions

Al-Barrak sets out the Prophet's ﷺ intercessions in order, and the first two are exclusive to him.

The first is his intercession for the people of the standing place, that Allah judge between them. This is the Maqam Mahmud (the praised station) that Allah singled him out for in Surah al-Isra', and it is the intercession no one of the ulu al-'azm (the prophets of firm resolve) undertakes before him — they all decline until it reaches him, and he says, "I am for it."

The second is his intercession for the people of Paradise to enter it. After they cross the bridge they are halted at a bridge between Paradise and the Fire, and when they are purified and cleansed they are given permission to enter — and they do not enter except by his intercession.

The third is his intercession for those of the monotheist sinners who have entered the Fire, that they be brought out. The hadith describes him prostrating before his Lord, supplicating and seeking intercession, and being told: "Raise your head, speak and you will be heard, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted." He does this four times, and each time a limit is set for him and he brings them out of the Fire. The narrations are mutawatir (mass-transmitted) that by these intercessions there come out of the Fire those who said la ilaha illa Allah and had in their hearts the weight of a mustard seed, a grain of barley, or an atom of faith.

The fourth is his intercession for his uncle Abu Talib, that his punishment be lightened. When al-'Abbas رضي الله عنه asked whether he had benefited Abu Talib at all, he ﷺ replied that he is in a shallow part of the Fire, and were it not for him he would be in the lowest depth.

Why the third one matters most

The intercession for bringing the monotheist sinners out of the Fire is the one the scholars single out, because it is the point of dispute. The Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah denied it, since it contradicts their doctrine that the people of major sins remain in the Fire forever. They took the texts of warning and abandoned the texts of promise — which al-Barrak describes as one of the greatest causes of the people of innovation departing from the way of the Sunnah.

Ibn Taymiyyah, as reported by Nasir al-'Aql, notes that no one among the people of innovation denied the first intercession, because it contradicts nothing in their principles. It is the third that they rejected.

The Permanent Committee (fatwa 989) records that the intercession for the sinners of the people of monotheism who enter the Fire is established by mutawatir narrations, that the Companions and Ahl al-Sunnah as a whole agreed upon it, and that they declared the one who denies it an innovator.

Its two conditions

Al-Barrak explains that the intercession for which conditions are mentioned is specifically the intercession for bringing the people of monotheism out of the Fire, and it depends on two conditions:

• Allah's permission for the intercessor: no one intercedes before Him except by His leave.
• Allah's being pleased with the one interceded for: meaning that he is from the people of monotheism.

Allah says:

"And how many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession will not avail at all except after Allah has permitted it to whom He wills and approves."— Qur'an 53:26

And:

"Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?"— Qur'an 2:255

And:

"And they do not intercede except for him whom He approves, and for fear of Him they are apprehensive."— Qur'an 21:28

The intercession for Abu Talib does not contradict these conditions, because it is not an intercession for his removal from the Fire but for the lightening of his punishment.

Who else intercedes

The intercession for the people of monotheism is not exclusive to the Prophet ﷺ, though his share of it is the greatest and most abundant — more are brought out by his intercession than by anyone else's. The angels intercede, the prophets intercede, and the believers intercede, each according to the limit set for him. The Permanent Committee (fatwa 10317) confirms that the righteous intercede on the Day of Judgement when Allah permits them and the one interceded for is a Muslim; as for the disbelievers, the intercession of intercessors does not benefit them.

Al-Barrak notes that some scholars added a fifth intercession exclusive to him — the lightening of punishment for some disbelievers, as with Abu Talib — and a sixth, his intercession for seventy thousand who enter Paradise without reckoning.

What intercession does not mean

The Prophet's ﷺ intercession is not a licence to neglect action. IslamWeb (fatwa 5150) warns that whoever abandons work relying on the idea that he will die a believer and be brought out of the Fire, however long it takes, is ignorant and deceived. The Prophet ﷺ himself said, "All of my ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse," and when asked who refuses, he said, "Whoever obeys me enters Paradise, and whoever disobeys me has refused." He also forbade the Companions from abandoning action and relying on what was decreed for them, saying, "Work, for each is facilitated to what he was created for."

The scholars also note that persistence in sin and heedlessness of Allah's punishment are among the causes of a bad end — and whoever dies in shirk has no intercession that avails him, for Allah says He does not forgive that anything be associated with Him.

Key takeaways

• The Prophet's ﷺ intercession on the Day of Judgement is established by the consensus of the Muslims and is not disputed by any Muslim.
• He has four intercessions: the greatest for judgement to be passed, for the people of Paradise to enter, for the monotheist sinners to be brought out of the Fire, and for the lightening of Abu Talib's punishment.
• The first two are exclusive to him; the third is shared with the angels, prophets and believers, though his share is the greatest.
• The intercession for the sinners of monotheism depends on two conditions: Allah's permission for the intercessor and His being pleased with the one interceded for.
• Intercession is not a reason to abandon action — the Prophet ﷺ commanded work and warned against relying on intercession while persisting in sin.

Further reading

• Ibn Taymiyyah, Taqrib Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah — on the consensus regarding intercession
• Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak, Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah — on the four intercessions and their conditions
• Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, as cited in Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali wa Atharuhu fi Tawdih 'Aqidat al-Salaf — on the intercessions and the intercession of one's deeds

And Allah knows best.