The Reality of Forgetfulness (Sahw) and Its Attribution to the Allah’s Massinger ﷺ: A Research Study

سہو کی حقیقت اور رسول اللہ ﷺ سے اس کی نسبت:ایک تحقیقی مطالعہ

Abstract

Allah Almighty established a means of communication between Himself and His servants. The medium of communication between Allah and His servants is called a Prophet. The Prophets have been made superior to all the people of the world. Although they are human beings, they are completely different from ordinary humans — divine revelation is sent down upon them, and miracles are manifested through them. Outwardly, they may appear like any other human being, but they are entirely distinct. This is why the polytheists of Makkah were confused and used to say: “What is wrong with this messenger that he eats food like us and walks in the markets in search of sustenance?”

The Prophet ﷺ was purified by Allah from all sins and was made infallible (ma‘soom). There is a consensus among the entire Ummah that before and after Prophethood, the Prophet ﷺ was completely free from all forms of disbelief and polytheism, as well as from all major and minor sins. Not only did he never commit any sin in this world, but he never even did anything that would be against the dignity of Prophethood.

However, since the Prophet ﷺ was also a human being, it is possible for him to make ijtihadi (judgment-based) errors, or to experience forgetfulness (nisyan) or unintentional mistakes (sahw).

In the following paper, this issue has been explored: Can the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — who is the leader of all the Prophets and is infallible — make a mistake out of forgetfulness (sahw)? If it is possible, then does such forgetfulness contradict the concept of prophetic infallibility (ismah) or not?