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[Tayyaba]

Salaam alaikum..

i would like to know what are differences btwn Imam and Prophet, i know Imams are infallibles and do not commit mistakes but prophets are as well infallible so why had they commited mistake? e.g Adam. :? :? :?

[qarrar]

Good question, I am no scholar but know the answer to the question. Well to begin with see it as levels of infallibility. With the infallibility of our fourteen masooms it is to an extent that they are all pure not even an atom of bad deed or even the thought of it. In terms of transgressions against God we have something termed as terq e ola. I personally cannot define this term but only remember an example of it. I am sure you know of the story of Prophet Nooh when he was asked to find Gods worst creation and chose a black dirty dog? Well this was a terq e ola and because of the possibility of committing such by 123999 of our Prophets they are not infallibles at the level of the chosen fourteen.

Also another point bearing in mind when asking about purity of Prophets and selected other individuals is that the Ehle Kisa were created from the very light of God himself. Before any of Gods creations, this world this universe and other universes there was only the noor of Allah and from that noor came the Ehle Kisa. So their purity is of the highest calibre. Imam Ali has stated that he was present when the clay model of Adam was being made. Well I hope this helps in answering your question.

[Tayyaba]

Alhamdullilah and thank you bro qarrar .. this answer's my question infact, i kinda had to also xplain some frenz and you have written it well. Ahsant.

[abuali]

Answer by Shk. Aliasghar Karmali

First of all, Imams and prophets are both humans and they can make mistakes but they choose themselves not to commit any sins or do any mistakes because of their understanding of God.

Both Imams and prophets can do tarke awla(i.e it’s a mistake which is not punishable by God but brings hardships to them because this act wasn’t expected from them as opposed to sin which if committed, the doer deserves God's punishment).

But we don’t have examples of Imams having done tarke awla because they chose not to, but we have examples of some prophets having done tarke awla(but not sins- Note that). So they are both infallibles as both don’t commit sins.