a high position to one in a low position and standing in need of such help. The word has been used in exactly the same sense in the Holy Qur’ān. The idea of mediation, which depicts a wrathful Being, on the one hand, determined to execute the sentence of punishment, and, on the other, a suppliant on behalf of a sinner, is not the Quranic sense of intercession or shafā‘at. For here the real intercessor or Shāfī is God Himself, not the wrathful God Who is bound to punish the sinners for what they have or even for what they have not done,40 but the most Merciful of all merciful ones, Who is moved for humanity’s sake to such an extent that He takes out from the fire even those who have never done any good. The intercession (shafā‘at) of God is, therefore, the merciful Divine help which enables the sinners to escape from the evil consequences of what they have done, when all other means have failed.

Intercession of the angels

The intercession of angels is thus spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān: “Those who bear the Throne of power and those around it celebrate the praise of their Lord and believe in Him and ask protection for those who believe: Our Lord, Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge, so protect those who turn (to Thee) and follow Thy way, and save them from the chastisement of hell: Our Lord, make them enter the Gardens of perpetuity which Thou hast promised them and such of their fathers and their wives and their offspring as are good. Surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise. And guard them from evil, and whom Thou guardest from evil this day, Thou hast indeed mercy on him, and that is the mighty achievement”(40:7-9). “The heavens may almost be rent asunder above them, while the angels celebrate the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on earth. Now surely Allāh is the Forgiving, the Merciful” (42:5).

In the first of these passages, the angels are spoken of as asking for Divine protection and Divine mercy for the believers specially, though their fathers, wives and offspring are afterwards included; and in the second passage, the angels are spoken of as asking forgiveness for believers as well as unbelievers. The intercession of the angels is, therefore, common to both believers and unbelievers.