The Alleged Contradiction between disobedience and infallibility of Adam: Analyzing the doubts regarding the verses indicating Adam's sin on the basis of analysis of Sayyed Mortaza and Allamah Majlisi

The infallibility of the prophets is one of the definite principles of Imamiyah School, but the purports of some verses of the Qur'an suggesting that Adam has committed a sin and error give rise to doubts concerning the inerrancy of the prophets. This research seeks to analyze and evaluate the doubts about the infallibility referring to the verses indicating the sins and errors of Adam based on the analysis presented by Sayyed Murtaza and ʿAllamah Majlisi. The two scholars have studies and answered about seven doubts that have been cast about the infallibility of Adam and finally the infallibility of all prophets according to what appears from some verses. These doubts are derived from words and expressions such as disobedience ('usyān), misguidance (ghawāyīt), injustice, repentance, error, forgiveness, and opposition to the divine prohibition that is attributed to Prophet Adam in the Holy Qur’an. However, it pears from the explanations of the two scholars that based on the intellectual and scriptural principles of Imamiyah, firstly, the concepts and terms based on which the arguments have been developed, have multiple meanings and applications inasmuch as they do not indicate sin and error only. Secondly, these concepts are graded so that the way they reflect their manifestations is not equal. Thirdly, Prophet Adam only violated a recommended order and perpetrated a less preferred act. Fourthly, due to the definitive proofs of infallibility of the prophets the appearance of the above mentioned texts are not trustable. The method of the research is descriptive – analytic with an inference approach.