The Guiding Light — Page 345
S u rah al-Baqarah, Verse 255-258 345 clear that ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) can avail only those who accept the Messenger of the day. It cannot avail those who, by rejecting a Messenger of God, rebel against divine authority. As such people fail to form the connection that they are called upon to form, no question of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) arises. Again the Qur’ a n says: on the Day of Judgement (Shaf a ‘ah) ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ (intercession) shall not avail any person except him for whom God grants permission and with whose word (i. e. with whose expression of faith) He is pleased (20: 110). This verse throws light on three very important points: That if, on one hand, there are some whom ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) (intercession) will not avail, on the other hand, there are others whom it will certainly avail. But it will avail only those for whom God grants special permission. That such permission will be granted only in the case of those sinners whose faith at least is sound, i. e. their ا مي ﺎن ( I m a n) faith is true and well founded; only in اﻋﻤﺎل (A‘m a l) practice they sometimes show weakness.