The Intercessory Role of the Prophet and the Holy Family through the Concept of the hawd al-kawthar: A Critical study of Mahmoud Ayoub’s Thoughts

Abstract

Mahmoud M. Ayoub has developed an Islamic model of redemption in his works particularly in the Redemptive Suffering in Islam. Assuming that redemption is fulfillment through suffering, Ayoub has proposed an alternative Islamic model of redemption within the context of intercession (shafā’ah) in Twelver Shī’īsm. In his opinion, intercession is the direct reward of the sufferings and martyrdom of the Holy Family (ahl al-bayt) so they can rescue their devotees from the hell and the God’s punishment by this intercessory prerogative. The pool of al-kawthar, In the Mahmoud Ayoub’s model of redemption in Shī’īsm, is a symbol of the rewards and favors of the Holy Family and the final vindication of their suffering. This article criticizes Mahmoud Ayoub’s thoughts about the exclusive connection between the intercession and suffering in Shī’īsm and argues that the intercessory privilege of the Prophet and the Holy Family is because of their high status before God which was stabilized even without their sufferings, however those sufferings and privations have strengthened their high ranking position. It means that God will never reject any requests of the Prophet and the Holy Family including their intercession not just because of their endurance of sufferings and martyrdom, but because of God’s love and respect towards them which has several reasons. Thus, the intercessory prerogative of the Prophet and the Holy Family in the Day of Judgment is an expression of the God’s feelings towards the Prophet and the Holy Family and the demonstration of their high status to the entire creatures. Besides that, intercession’s second purpose, which Mahmoud Ayoub also agrees, is God’s favor in order to benefit those who have led a good life but the amount of their evil deeds is more than the level of their good deeds and deserve to be punished. Finally, this article offers that, based on the second purpose of intercession, the merciful and compassionate God in the Twelver Shī’īsm however is not a passible God, but may have some similarities to what Christianity depicts of a sympathetic, passible God who suffers from the suffering of the people, especially in the works of Jürgen Moltmann.